# Mendoza — Man and Superman character guide

> Mendoza in Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mendoza Limited, Captain Mendoza, Mendoza Startled, Mendoza Idiot, Mendoza Intercepting Mrs. Whitefield, Louisa Mendoza

**First appearance:** 0004-act-iii

## Snapshot

A Jewish brigand chief in the Sierra Nevada who rules his band with parliamentary procedure, revolutionary rhetoric, and a poet's sense of theater.

## Who they are

Mendoza presides over a band of anarchists and social-democrats who spend three evenings debating courage instead of robbing motorcars, and he keeps the meeting in order with crushing magnanimity and a magnificent fling of his cloak. He is a Jew among brigands, a socialist who has swallowed all the formulas, and a leader who insists that their business is the equitable redistribution of wealth, not abstruse political economy. His comic authority and self-aware oratory make him the dream sequence's most surprising voice of practical idealism.

## Relationships

### [Jack Tanner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_superman_se/characters/jack_tanner)

_rivalry_

Tanner and Mendoza are philosophical and romantic rivals, with Mendoza leading a band of brigands and competing for Ann's attention.

### [Violet Robinson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_superman_se/characters/violet_robinson)

_romantic_

Mendoza is infatuated with Violet, writing poetry for her and nursing a hopeless romantic obsession.

### [Louisa](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_superman_se/characters/louisa)

_romantic_

Louisa is Mendoza's former lover, and their relationship is marked by bitterness and lingering emotional ties.

### [Ann Whitefield](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_superman_se/characters/ann_whitefield)

_social_

Ann and Mendoza have a fleeting, antagonistic acquaintance, with Ann dismissing his romantic advances.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_superman_se/characters/mendoza
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_superman_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/man_and_superman_se/characters