
A sharply witty voice opens the drama in 1908, taking the audience on a lively tour through the tangled arguments surrounding marriage. The speaker, a self‑styled “advanced” thinker, lays out the paradox of a law that many deem inhuman yet remain impossible to escape. He catalogs the restless rebels who fashion secret unions, the young women who beg for counsel, and the endless jargon that masks what marriage really means in different cultures.
Through clever sarcasm and pointed observation, the piece exposes how even the most daring attempts to sidestep the institution end up mirroring its own constraints. The dialogue spirals from philosophical quips about Nietzsche and George Eliot to a pragmatic assessment of why, for most, marriage remains the inevitable framework for domestic life. Listeners are invited to question the assumptions baked into legal and social conventions, while the play’s humor keeps the critique lively and thought‑provoking.
Language
en
Duration
~5 hours (333K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Eve Sobol and Distributed Proofreaders HTML file produced by David Widger
Release date
2004-05-01
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1856–1950
Known for witty, talkative plays that poke at class, politics, and human vanity, he helped reshape modern drama. His work ranges from sharp comedies to serious social critique, with "Pygmalion" remaining one of the best known.
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