Candida is one of the popular plays of G. B. Shaw, yet it has some faults and shortcomings. Elaborate.

Candida is one of the ‘pleasant plays’ in G. B. Shaw’s ‘Plays, Pleasant and Unpleasant’. Written in 1895, it has always enjoyed immense popularity. For the first time, Shaw introduced the New Age Woman in Candida. After many years, its mystery and its secret still holds the attention of the viewers. The chief worth of the play lies in the dramatisation of contrary ideas, with the focus on three characters, Candida, Marchbanks and Morell.

Despite being one of the most aesthetically satisfying plays of G. B. Shaw, it has some obvious flaws and shortcomings. The first problem is with the character of Marchbanks. His character evolves too rapidly. In the first two Acts, he is an immature, effeminate, delicate and a sentimental person. He has tormented expression and shrinking manner. In the final Act, he is in total control. He is bold, confident, calm and cool person. The Marchbanks of the opening scene is entirely different from the Marchbanks of the last scene.

Then many critics find fault with the romantic love as presented in the play. Shaw has no experience of romantic love. According to a critic, the love-making of the young poet is all wrong. A guy in love would not talk in a mock heroic style. Then, no boy in love with a beautiful woman would ever feel disgusted when she peeled potatoes or trimmed lamps. He would simply feel that “potatoes had become poetical and the lamps had gained an extra sight”. It seems also quite surprising that Burgess, a vulgar, coarse and unrefined person could be father of the most refined and fascinating woman as Candida. Moreover, there is nothing in common between the two. Shaw has also failed to show any human bond between the two. They remain separate throughout the play.

The ending of the play is also puzzling. The young poet goes out into the night with a secret in his heart. We may understand his secret but we have little notion of what is going to be his life henceforth, nor can we have any idea of the future life of Candida and Morell. In fact, as another critic says, the play “gives us little sense of a larger life than that experienced by its few characters”. The characters in the play do not have an extra dimension; they are self-contained pieces.