# Mr. Bernard Shaw — Orthodoxy character guide

> Mr. Bernard Shaw in Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mr. Shaw, Shaw, Bernard Shaw

**First appearance:** 0003-i-introduction-in-defence-of-everything-else

## Snapshot

The dazzling playwright and pamphleteer whose confident modernism the narrator treats as a sparring partner rather than an enemy.

## Who they are

He represents the clever, articulate, self-assured spirit of the age — the kind of man whose brilliance makes his assumptions hard to see. The narrator's quarrel with him is not that he is stupid but that his very cleverness lets him skate past the questions that matter, substituting wit for wonder. He matters because arguing with Shaw forces the narrator to say plainly what he actually believes, rather than what he merely doubts.

## Relationships

### [Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orthodoxy_se/characters/narrator)

_rivalry_

Bernard Shaw is a contemporary intellectual rival whose progressive ideas the narrator frequently critiques and debates.

## In the story

### [Introduction in Defence of Everything Else](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orthodoxy_se/chapters/i-introduction-in-defence-of-everything-else)

Mentioned as a contrast; Chesterton defends Shaw against the charge of mere paradox.

### [The Suicide of Thought](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orthodoxy_se/chapters/iii-the-suicide-of-thought)

Cited as an example of a modern with a large heart but not in the right place; later discussed as a proponent of the philosophy of Will.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orthodoxy_se/characters/mr_bernard_shaw
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orthodoxy_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orthodoxy_se/characters