The Man of Destiny

by George Bernard Shaw

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Genres: Plays, Drama, Classics, Irish Literature, Fiction, Theatre, British Literature

46 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1896

About the author

George Bernard Shaw stands as one of the most prolific and influential intellectuals of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a man whose literary output was matched only by his fervent commitment to social reform. Rising from a modest background in Dublin to become a global icon of letters, Shaw redefined the purpose of the stage, transforming it from a place of mere entertainment into a forum for rigorous intellectual debate and moral inquiry. His unique "Shavian" style—characterized by sharp-witted dialogue, paradoxical reasoning, and a relentless assault on Victorian hypocrisy—ensured that his voice resonated far beyond the footlights. As a playwright, critic, and philosopher, he remains a singular figure in history, being one of only two individuals to have been honored with both a Nobel Prize in Literature and an Academy Award. This rare crossover of high-art recognition and mainstream cinematic success speaks to his versatility and the enduring relevance of his narratives. His dramatic work, which includes over sixty plays, often tackled the most pressing issues of his day, from the rigid structures of the British class system to the complexities of gender roles and the ethical dilemmas of capitalism. In masterpieces like Pygmalion, he used the science of phonetics to demonstrate the artificiality of class distinctions, a theme that would later reach millions through the musical adaptation My Fair Lady. In Man and Superman, he delved into the philosophical concepts of the "Life Force" and the evolution of the human spirit, while Major Barbara forced audiences to confront the uncomfortable relationship between religious idealism and the industrial military complex. Beyond his theatrical achievements, Shaw was a foundational force in political thought, serving as a leading light of the Fabian Society. His advocacy for gradual socialist reform, rather than violent revolution, helped shape the trajectory of modern British politics and social welfare. He was instrumental in the creation of the London School of Economics, an institution that continues to influence global policy and economic theory. Shaw was also a formidable critic, whose reviews of music and drama set new standards for the profession, characterized by an uncompromising honesty and a deep knowledge of the arts. His personal lifestyle was as distinctive as his writing; a committed vegetarian, teetotaler, and non-smoker, he lived with a disciplined focus that allowed him to remain productive well into his ninth decade. He was a man of contradictions, often engaging in provocative public discourse that challenged the status quo, even when his views sparked intense controversy. His fascination with the "Superman" archetype and his occasional support for authoritarian figures reflected a complex, often elitist worldview that sought the betterment of humanity through radical intellectual evolution. Despite these complexities, his core mission was always rooted in a profound humanitarianism and a desire to expose the delusions that prevented society from progressing. He believed that the power of the written word could strip away the masks of respectability that hid social injustice, and his plays continue to be staged worldwide because the human foibles he satirized remain as prevalent today as they were during his lifetime. By blending humor with gravity and intellect with accessibility, Shaw created a body of work that serves as both a mirror and a compass for modern civilization. His legacy is not just in the scripts he left behind, but in the very way we think about the intersection of art, politics, and the individual’s responsibility to the collective good. He remains the quintessential public intellectual, a man who never feared to speak his mind or to demand that the world become a more rational and equitable place.

Reviews

[فايز غازي Fayez Ghazi · Rating 3 out of 5]

- استمعت اليها من خلال قناة الإذاعة المصرية على اليوتيوب، الصوت ممتاز واللغة المستعملة ممتازة.

- اما المسرحية، فهي تحصل في نزل في ايطاليا، حبكتها عادية جداً (سرقة رسائل)، شخصياتها اريعة: نابليون ( قبل ان يسطع نجمه)، حيث يظهره برنارد شو بالإنسان الطموح لكنه متكبر، متغطرس ونرجسي، السارقة، الملازم المخدوع وصاحب الفندق المتملق (ذكرني بكتابات عزيز نيسن).

- المسرحية تسمي الإنكليز بإسمهم وتستهزء بهم لكنها ايضاً لا تستثني نابليون من السخرية، ولو اتت هذه السخرية مبطنة واقل وضوحاً. برناردشو عرف ان يصيغ الحوار ليخدم افكاره ويطوعه لتمرير الرسائل المبطنة، خصوصاً تلك الرسائل التي تمس الطبقات الإجتماعية واستهتار الجنرالات بالدماء.

- من الإقتباسات اللاذعة "وهكذا نجد ان كل ما ينجزه الإنكليز انما ينجزونه من طريق المبدأ. فتبعاً للمبدأ الوطني يهرعون الى المعركة، وتبعاً لمبدأ الاعمال يقدمون على نهبك. وتبعاً للمبدأ الإمبريالي يحوّلونك الى عبد. وتبعاً للمبدأ الملكي يناصرون ملكهم، وتبعاً للمبدأ الجمهوري يقطعون رأس الملك. اما شعارهم الدائم فهو الواجب"

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shaw’s one-act play about Napoleon, The Man of Destiny (1897). is memorable for at least four reasons: 1) it gives us a glimpse of an indisputably great man at the point when he begins to realize his greatness, 2) it presents us with a battle of minds and wills between that great man and an equally resourceful woman, 3) it is filled with witty, diverting dialogue, and 4) it allows G.B.S.--through the mouth of Napoleon—to deliver a devastating assessment of the character of the English people.

The play takes place at a Northern Italian inn where Napoleon has set up his temporary headquarters. It is two days after the battle of Lodi, a battle which—though indecisive in its outcome—helped convince Napoleon he was indeed a “man of destiny,” more gifted than his fellow generals. The general is determined to retrieve a packet of stolen dispatches and letters which—he suspects—are now in the possession of an attractive Englishwoman who is staying at the inn. The search for this packet—and the contents of one particular letter—are at the center of this absorbing and entertaining play.

Here follows an excerpt of Napoleon’s assessment of the English character (which I believe could—with a few minor alterations--be equally well applied to the American people):

No Englishman is too low to have scruples: no Englishman is high enough to be free from their tyranny. But every Englishman is born with a certain miraculous power that makes him master of the world. When he wants a thing, he never tells himself that he wants it. He waits patiently until there comes into his mind, no one knows how, a burning conviction that it is his moral and religious duty to conquer those who have got the thing he wants. Then he becomes irresistible….He is never at a loss for an effective moral attitude. As the great champion of freedom and national independence, he conquers and annexes half the world, and calls it Colonization. When he wants a new market for his adulterated Manchester goods, he sends a missionary to teach the natives the gospel of peace. The natives kill the missionary: he flies to arms in defence of Christianity; fights for it; conquers for it; and takes the market as a reward from heaven. In defence of his island shores, he puts a chaplain on board his ship; nails a flag with a cross on it to his top-gallant mast; and sails to the ends of the earth, sinking, burning and destroying all who dispute the empire of the seas with him. He boasts that a slave is free the moment his foot touches British soil; and he sells the children of his poor at six years of age to work under the lash in his factories for sixteen hours a day.

[Heba Hssn · Rating 3 out of 5]

وهنا يعجز تفكيري
من هذه العقلية برنارد شو الذي فطن لأهمية الطبقة الوسطى وأظهر المجتمع الطبقي بكل شفافية وصدق أذهلني ذلك و أنه من أشهر من رفض جائزة نوبل حين قدمت له وقال: " إن هذا طوق نجاة يلقى به إلى رجل وصل فعلا إلى بر الأمان، ولم يعد عليه من خطر"
وكان له إقتباس أخر
((إنني أغفر لنوبل إنه اخترع الديناميت لكنني لا أغفر له أنه اخترع جائزة نوبل.))


بالرجوع لطبقية المجتمع
الناس في هذه الدنيا ثلاث طبقات سفلي وسطي وعليا فالأولي والأخيرة السفلي والعيا تجمعهم صفة واحده فإنهم لا يعرفون الفضيلة وردع الضمير
السفلي أحقر من الفضيلة ولا تتسامي إليها ،
العليا أرفع من الفضيلة ولا تتنازل إليها
فأنا لا أحسب حسابا لهذه الطبقتين فأولي جاهلة ولا تعرف من ضميرها رادعا والاخري دون عمد فهي لا تعرف هذا الرادع فإنها تتلاشى
طبقة الوسطي فيها الخطر فيها المعرفة والهدف المحدد إلا أن نقطه ضعفها حساسية الضمير مما يجعلهم يرسفون في أغلال الفضائل ويتمسكون بأعتاب الإحتشام...

[Astraea · Rating 3 out of 5]

1354مرد سرنوشت...ترجمه جواد شیخ الاسلامی...شركت سهامي انتشارات خوارزمي
اولین کتابی بود که از شاو میخوندم. خوب بود. طنز زیبایی داشت. داستان نامه مهمی که از طرف بدخواه همسر ناپلئون، برای ناپلئون فرستاده شده که در ایتالیا مشغول جنگ است ...
در این کتاب، شاو از سیاست های استعماری انگلیس بشدت انتقاد میکنه

[Kenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 #3 of my 2018 Shaw Project

This is a typical, yet witty, Shavian battle of the sexes involving dispatches that Napoleon, in conflict with the Austrian army at Lodi, is expecting his lieutenant to deliver. Those missives, however, go astray when the ineffectual man entrusts them to a seemingly ineffectual man whom he's met on his important journey. As it happens, the double-dealing young man turns out to have been a woman in disguise -- a woman who has just checked in at an obviously popular hostelry run by the obsequious Giuseppe.

Napoleon and the lady are soon engaging at length in the playwright's standard level of witty repartee. Their banter centers around whether he'll entice her to hand over the letters and, when she does, whether she'll entice him to return them -- or at least the one which seems to have value to her for personal reasons that are never fully explained.

I enjoyed this very much, but to get the full impact of Man of Destiny, it must be seen in performance.

[Rahma.Mrk · Rating 3 out of 5]

العشرة دقائق الاخيرة من المسرحية حين يشرح
نابليون بونابرت أخلاق امة الانجليز .
تستحق نجمة لحالها لانها تنطبق على أمم لا حصر لها.

لاستماع :
https://youtu.be/QiDwLwx0jrc

10-sptembre-19 🌹

[David Sarkies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Napoleon Outwitted
14 January 2016

This is a short one act play about a guy named Napoleon. Just in case you don't know what Napoleon looked like here is a picture:



If you don't happen to know who Napoelon is then I suggest you check him out on Wikipedia. Now that we have sorted out everybody who didn't pay attention in high school history (and those who weren't taught about this guy in high school history – if history was actually taught at their high school because some people, like Henry Ford, believe that history is bunk) I can now start talking about the play without having to go into a huge about of background material.

The play is set at an inn in the Italian Alps when Napoleon was still a general and after he had defeated the Italians at the battle of Lodi. According to Shaw Napoleon came to the conclusion that cannons would be a lot more effective if you actually fired them at the enemy as opposed to, well, anywhere eles (though I'm sure military commanders were always firing cannons at people because, unless those people are behind a wall, what is the good of having a cannon – okay, to knock down walls, but I'm sure armies used cannons for a lot more than knocking down walls and scaring horses). He also indicated that Napoleon made effective use of an underpaid and unequipped army simply by telling them that once that had won the battle then they were free to plunder the enemy (which, once again, I hardly consider all that original).

Anyway, the play isn't about the battle, or Napoleon's tactics, but rather a tête-à-tête between Napoleon and an unnamed lady. We are never revealed the name of this woman (I thought that it may have been Josephine, but it is suggested that he was already married to Josephine at the time). This lady had managed to convince one of Napoleon's officers to hand over some correspondence that was being delivered from Paris, and then proceeds to spend the entire play teasing Napoleon about having this correspondence, but not actually giving it to him.

Actually, come to think of it, it could have been Josephine since one of the letters was about how Josephine was having an affair in Paris with one of the directors, and if Napoleon were to receive this letter then it would cause a huge disruption inside France, which would hinder it's ability to successfully rage war against, well, everybody else. Why Napoleon never actually recognised her is beyond me, but then again I suspect that Shaw was using a bit of poetic license (and once again, as I have suggested, the lady's identity is never revealed to us).

The title of the play gives us a hint as to one of the themes running through it, namely that this event occurs before Napoleon becomes emperor, but also at a time when he is on the cusp of seizing power. We are reminded throughout the play of his common origins, and the fact that not only was he technically not French, but he was also provincial. We are also reminded that he wasn't the best soldier, and was also a failed novelist, and the idea of him even getting to this point was nothing short of absurd – yet here he is. The play looks forward to what he is to become – an emperor and a conqueror. In a way it is suggesting that destiny is truly behind Napoleon because a man of his stature, and origins, is not the type of person one would expect to sit on the cusp of ruling continental Europe.

In a way the play is very typical of Shaw. We are not seeing Napoleon as a great hero (or a nasty villain) but as a ordinary man in an ordinary situation. Further, we are seeing him being bamboozled by a woman, not so much because Shaw is making him a laughing stock (though I wouldn't put it past him because the British were well known for their caricatures of the French Emperor), but rather painting him as an ordinary person in an extra-ordinary situation. I guess there are also elements of the romantic in this play, though this isn't necessarily a story of how two lovers come together, but rather the tension that exists between the sexes (though I did sense a lot of sexual tension in the play).

Another interesting thing that I did pick up is how Napoleon is portrayed as somewhat of a buffoon. In a way the British portrayal of Napoleon seems to be different to the portrayal of Hitler – who was a dangerous man that had to be stopped. Sure, Napoleon had conquered Europe, but England spent a lot of the war comfortably sitting on their island across the channel. In fact it seems that, with the exception of Trafalgar, the British didn't sent troops to the continent until Napoleon was well and truly defeated. After Trafalgar it seemed as if the attitude was 'he can't get us, so let's just sit back and watch the show'. I guess the play also adds to that rather clownish image that has come down to us.



A Nation of Shopkeepers
16 January 2016

It isn't normal that I would go back to a book so soon after I have published a review of it online, however for some reason thoughts continued to swim around my head, especially in relation to the last couple of pages where we have a reasonably long discourse from Napoleon in relation to the character of England. While historically, when Napoleon referred to England as being a nation of shopkeepers, no doubt he was painting the nation as being weak militarily and that all they were interested in was running their shops. I suspect he also thought that by simply cutting off their ability to trade would cripple them significantly. Obviously he was wrong, considering he lost his navy at the battle of Trafalgar, and was eventually beaten by them twice in the twilight of his reign.

The climax of the play comes down to a harsh criticism of English Colonialism in Shaw's time, and of course Shaw does this by putting it into the mouth of Napoleon. It is a very clever way of doing it because by putting such criticism into the mouth of England's traditional enemy the audience can chose to listen to it and think about it, or simply write it off as typical French propaganda. Mind you, by the time of this play the traditional alliances had shifted to the point that England and France were no longer fighting against each other, but fighting with each other. Still, the Napoleonic Wars were still fresh in the mind of the English that Napoleon was seen (and in many ways is still seen) as the enemy of Britain.

It is interesting how Shaw has turned this idea of the nation of shopkeepers around. Where Napoleon originally made the statement to suggest that it was a weakness of England, Shaw paints this idea as being not so much one of England's strengths, but rather that which paints England as little more than another imperialist power. As a background Shaw creates the idea of three segments to society – the low, the middle, and the high. Shaw suggested that the low and the high (being the aristocracy and the peasantry) are not guided by morality, namely because the peasantry are a crude lot that pay no attention, while the aristocracy consider themselves to be above morality. It is the middle class that Shaw points out as the dangerous class as they are the ones that are guided by morality.

It is interesting that Shaw makes this observation because I read a similar thing in Slavoj Zizek's First a Tragedy, then a Farce where he also talks about three elements to society: the working class, the middle class, and the ruling class. Like Shaw's example, the ruling class has always been threatened by the middle class namely because they are educated. The working class has always been controllable, namely because while they may be educated, they generally spend their lives drinking, gambling, and are easily distracted. It is the middle class that needs to be controlled because that is the class that questions what is thrown at them. In the modern age it is seen as the modern urban professional, the ones sitting in their inner city cafes drinking latte's and discussing literature, while the working class tends to sit in the pubs watching football, playing pool, and then going home to continue drinking.

Yet Shaw indicates that it is the English who are the dangerous ones, namely because they use this ideal of merchantilism to push their agenda. Being a shopkeeper is not seen as a bad occupation, and opening up areas for trade is not seen in a similar light as raising armies and sending them across borders to rape and pillage the land. While in the past England had sent troops onto the continent for the purpose of conquest this had not happened since the Hundred Years War. Ever since they were pushed out of the continent England's focus on expansion, after bringing the British Islands together under the monarchy, had been to the rest of the world. Their wars of conquest had not been on the continent, but rather in the colonies.

Yet Shaw indicates that these wars of expansion were thinly disguised under the auspices of expanding trade and of spreading religion. As one writer had put it, the English would first send out the missionaries, and once the missionaries had established themselves, then would come the colonist, and finally the army would arrive to protect the colonies. Mind you, it wasn't as if the government intentionally sent out the missionaries, the churches would generally do that of their own accord. However they were still British subjects on foreign soil, and if the missionaries landed up in trouble, then the troops wouldn't be far behind.

It is also interesting how he paints England as a land of contrasts, similar to Orwell's doublespeak. England claims that there is no slavery on their shores, yet children would be working horrendous hours in appalling conditions in the factories. People would be locked up on the simplest of pretexts, and then set across the ocean as labourers to establish new colonies. The British army would invade other lands, sometimes quite brutally, to push their trade agenda. If a market refused to trade with the merchants, then the navy would go in to force them to open up. This new idea of conquest has been taken up in the 20th Century by the United States, where we had them sending warships into the Japanese Harbour in the late 19th Century, as well as troops into the Middle East in an attempt to create new markets and access new resources. What Shaw is suggesting is that the term 'A Nation of Shopkeepers' is not a term of mockery, or a reference to weakness, but rather a new form of imperialism that he hidden by a veil of respectability.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such gems as this: With his troops at an inn Napoleon is both amused and impressed by the innkeeper, Guiseppe. Napoleon's Lieutenant says something somewhat naive at least to Napoleon's mind. Napoleon turns to Guiseppe and says (paraphrasing) "Oh Guiseppe, what shall I do with this Lieutenant? Everything he says is wrong?" To which Guiseppe wryly replies, "Make him a general, your excellency, and everything he says will be right!"

This is a great play that pits Napoleon, the great, against the common man. A must read.

[Yasmeen · Rating 3 out of 5]

"وهكذا نجد أنّ كل ما ينجزه الإنجليز إنما ينجزونه من طريق المبدأ؛ فتبعاً للمبدأ الوطني يهرعون إلى المعركة، وتبعاً لمبدأ الاعمال يقدمون على نهبك، وتبعاً للمبدأ
الإمبريالي يحوّلونك إلى عبد، وتبعاً للمبدأ الملكي يناصرون ملكهم، وتبعاً للمبدأ الجمهوري يقطعون رأس الملك. أمّا شعارهم الدائم فهو الواجب"
دى جملة ساخرة اتقالت على لسان نابليون بونابرت ف حق الإنجليز واللى برنارد شو بيسخر منه هو شخصياً!
الآن فى طريقى لضرب عصفورين بحجر 😂🏍

[Mohammad Ali Shamekhi · Rating 3 out of 5]

کمدی بودن در این نمایشنامه نسبت به نمایشنامه ی دیگری که از او خواندم یعنی کاندیدا بیشتر است. داستان جذابیت خاصی دارد و به خواندنش می ارزد. تکه های شاو به ناپلئون و به خود انگلیسی ها و ... ظرافت های جالبی دارند.

[مروة الجزائري · Rating 4 out of 5]

رجل الاقدار في هذه المسرحية هو نابليون بونابرت ، تصوره لنا المسرحية في زمن كان لا يزال فيه قائداً عسكرياً شابا"مملوءاً بالطموح ويتطلع الى ان ينشر، هو الآخر، قواته العسكرية ومبادئه في العالم كله، منافساً الانكليز في هذا.اثناء استراحته في ايطاليا بإحدى الفنادق الرخيصة يتعرض لسيدة مجهولة انكليزية سرقت مراسلاته من احد الضباط
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فكان من ضمن اولى الحوارات التالي
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"-يقولون يا صاحب السعادة؛ انك تحرص على كل شيء الا حياة البشر
-ان الحياة البشرية ياصديقي هي الشيء الوحيد الذي يحرص على نفسه "
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ويسخر برناردشو من الانكليز على لسان بونابرت قائلا" قبيل انتهاء المسرحية:
الناس في هذه الدنيا ثلاث طبقات: السفلى والوسطى والعليا؛ الطبقتان السفلى والعليا تجمعهما صفة واحدة انهما لاتعرفان الفضيلة ولا ردع الضمير. فالطبقة السفلى أحقر من الفضيلة ولا تتسامى إليها. والعليا ارفع من الفضيلة ولا تتنازل اليها.
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وانا لا احسب لهاتين الطبقتين حساب. فالأولى جاهلة ولا تعرف من ضميرها رادعا" فهي تعبدني عبادة؛ والأخرى دون عمد لاتعرف ذلك الرادع، فهي تتلاشى امام إرادتي.
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اما الطبقة الوسطى ففيها الخطر ومنها اخاف فعندها المعرفة و الهدف المحدد. على ان لها هي الاخرى نقطة ضعف ذلك لأن لافرادها من حساسية الضمير مايجعلهم يرسخون في الفضائل ويتمسكون بعبارات الاحتشام.
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وان الانكليز جنس يخرج عن دائرة هذا الحكم.
فأن الإنكليزي لا يبلغ به الانحطاط درجة يعرف فيها حساسية الضمير. كما لا يبلغ به الارتقاء درجة يتحرر بها من جبروته.
هامش//
لم تكن مسرحية"رجل الأقدار"ما صنع شهرة جورج برنارد شو 1856-1950 الكبيرة، وإن كانت هذه المسرحية، بفضل سخريتها اللاذعة من الانكليز، اعداء شو الأول بصفته ارلندياً واشتراكياً في الوقت نفسه، وطالما دافع عن حق الشعوب المستعمرة في ان تتخلص من مستعمريها، اعتبرت في زمنها واحدة من اكثر مسرحياته شعبية. وشو، كما هو معروف، كتب المسرحيات وكتب في الفكر والسياسة، وكان اشتراكياً معتدلاً. ومن بين مسرحياته الكبيرة"الانسان والسوبرمان"و"الأسلحة والانسان"و"ببغماليون"و"قيصر وكليوباترا"و"جزيرة جون بول الاخرى"... وهو تمتع بحس ساخر وتهكمي في معظم اعماله، لا سيما حين كان يتناول الانكليز.
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. تنويه . استمعت لهذا العمل الكلاسيكي على قناة الاذاعة المصرية على اليوتيوب. بحثت كثيرا" ولم اجد النص فكان من الممتع الاستماع لهذه التحف المنسية.
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[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised by how readable and undated the language felt.Wonderfully witty story about Napoleon and an attempted spy. The short list of characters allows for them to all be filled out and intriguing as individuals, while commenting on human nature and national characteristics.

[Rehab Saad · Rating 1 out of 5]

رجل الاقدار
مسرحية من تأليف برنارد شو
ألفها ذلك الايرلندي للسخرية من الفرنسين والانجليز
ربما كان هذا هو السبب فى شهرتها - وهو ما سبب العدواة لبارنارد شو
لم تعجبني بالقدر الكافى الذي عرفت به
اعتقد انة ينبغي على ان اقرا شئ اخر لبرنارد
سأعطية نجمة واحدة هذة المرة

[Bobby Sullivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very, very talky. I'm not even sure what Shaw was trying to say with this one.

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected more

[Khaled Al-Bahnsawy · Rating 4 out of 5]

مسرحيه من فصل واحد للكاتب الايرلندى الاشهر الأديب الساخر جورج برنارد شو
فى لقطه خاطفه و واقعه محدده يلقى النظر على رجل الأقدار الذى ما هو الا الأمبراطور نابيلون بونابرت لكن فى فترة شبابه
يبرز فى مسرحيته شخصية العسكري الفرنسي الذي كان يتطلع، من خلال قضية محقة على اي حال، لأن يصبح بطلاً و يكشف عن انانيته وحب العظمة لديه
لا تفوته الفرصه ان يلسع الشعب الانجليزي بكلماته اللاذعه القويه
قد لا تكون افضل كتابته لكن تظل مسرحية قويه وتستحق القراءة

[Michael P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Shaw's short play about Napoleon. He manages to bring his usual themes of class and money into it, but to tell you the truth, I read it a year and a half ago and barely remember it. I remember that I liked it OK at the time, but the plot, the other characters, all have faded. Thus I conclude, not one of Shaw's more memorable works.

[Paul LaFontaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A five character play including Napoleon Bonaparte during his invasion of Italy well before he became an Emperor. Best described as a battle of wits, a spy is captured and the game is on. Excellent characters and interaction. Enjoyed it.

[Tinquerbelle]

Shaw, George Bernard
The Complete Bernard Shaw Plays

In compilation only.

[Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shaw's "The Man of Destiny" is a one-act play, longer than a regular act but shorter than a regular play. The plot concerns Napoleon Bonaparte and a lady spy who meet at a hotel in Italy in 1796. They have much witty banter back and forth, culminating in a speech by Napoleon characterizing the English and Irish nations. (He discovers that the woman has some English and Irish ancestry.) Reading this I had the feeling that this was Shaw's favorite part of the play. He, after all, was an Irishman who made his career in England.

I enjoyed "The Man of Destiny" and would recommend it to those interested in Shaw as well as those interested in Napoleon.

[Ahmad El-Saeed · Rating 5 out of 5]

العمل هو من الادب الايرلندي والاديب برنارد شو، وفيه يقوم بالسخرية الشديدة من الانجليز والفرنسيين في مسرحيته ويظهر اسوأ ما فيهم من أمور، كما ينهي المسرحية بحوار الجينرال يقوم فيه بسرد حقيقة الانجليز الشريرة ورؤيتهم وارادتهم في السيطرة على كل ما يستطيعون ان يبتلعوه بحجج فارغة واهية..

"هو يزعم مفاخراً بأن العبد يصبح حراً متى وطأت قدماه الارض البريطانية بينما هو يبيع اطفال فقراءه في السادسة من عمرهم ليعملوا بالمصانع تحت نار السياط ستة عشرة ساعة في اليوم"

"ولكنه لا يخطيء ابداً، يعمل كل شيء استناداً إلي مبدأ ، يسلبك إستناداً إلي مبدأ التجارة، يستعبدك استنادا الي مباديء الامبراطورية"

" الانجليز، قوم اغبياء "

[Omima Ashraf · Rating 3 out of 5]

عدد الصفحات: 30
المؤلف: جورج برنارد شو

برنارد شو والسخرية اللاذعة التي يتميز بها أسلوبه، كان من أفضل ما يُشّرح بها نفسية الإنجليز والفرنسيين وخصوصاً نابليون بونابرت، حيث هو نقد الإنجليز وقام بتفصيل شخص نابليون نفسه وليس باعتباره حاكم وانتهى.

الفلسفة في حديثه وتقسيمه للشعوب وطبائعها التي تنم عن فهم وتحليل دقيق واستقراء للواقع المحيط به.

_ قصيرة ومكثفة المعنى، أقرب إلى التقرير منها للأسلوب المسرحي.

[أمير العطار · Rating 3 out of 5]

المسرحية متوسطة المستوي في المجمل ، وهي التجربة الأولى لي بالاستماع للكتب الصوتية ، وإحقاقًا للحق فقد استمتعت بتلك التجربة للغاية وأعطتني دافعًا لتكرارها مرة أخري .

لينك الإستماع :
https://youtu.be/QiDwLwx0jrc

[Amr]

"There is nothing so bad or so good that you will not find Englishmen doing it; but you will never find an Englishman in the wrong. He does everything on principle. He fights you on patriotic principles; he robs you on business principles; he enslaves you on imperial principles."

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

First seen performed at American Player's Theater in Spring Green, WI. July 6, 2019

[Abd Almjeed Gh · Rating 3 out of 5]

لم تجذبني الفكرة ككل . لكن الحوار بين الشخصيات كان رائع للغاية .

[syna|سينا · Rating 3 out of 5]

مسرحية ذات طابع محلي

[Hamed · Rating 5 out of 5]

مسرحية رائعة وأجمل مافيها نهايتها التي تحوي رأي شو في الإنجليز

[Michael P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is sooooo Shawvian. The play has gone up in my opinion.

[Wilbur · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weak