Monologue

Tanner Monologue from Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy

From Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy by Bernard Shaw

male · philosophical · 1:35 min

It's all my own doing: that's the horrible irony of it. He told me one day that you were to be Ann's guardian; and like a fool I began arguing with him about the folly of leaving a young woman under the control of an old man with obsolete ideas. (RAMSDEN: My ideas obsolete!!!!!) Totally. I had just finished an essay called Down with Government by the Greyhaired; and I was full of arguments and illustrations. I said the proper thing was to combine the experience of an old hand with the vitality of a young one. Hang me if he didn't take me at my word and alter his will--it's dated only a fortnight after that conversation--appointing me as joint guardian with you! (RAMSDEN: I shall refuse to act.) What's the good of that? I've been refusing all the way from Richmond; but Ann keeps on saying that of course she's only an orphan; and that she can't expect the people who were glad to come to the house in her father's time to trouble much about her now. That's the latest game. An orphan! It's like hearing an ironclad talk about being at the mercy of the winds and waves.

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