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be that the Diamond King was no gentleman after all？ However； it
was easy to ignore a rich man's solecism。 The ungentlemanly
clause was not mentioned again； and the backs soon bowed
themselves back into their natural shape。
But I hear you asking me in alarm whether I have actually put all
this tub thumping into a Don Juan comedy。 I have not。 I have only
made my Don Juan a political pamphleteer； and given you his
pamphlet in full by way of appendix。 You will find it at the end
of the book。 I am sorry to say that it is a common practice with
romancers to announce their hero as a man of extraordinary
genius； and to leave his works entirely to the reader's
imagination； so that at the end of the book you whisper to
yourself ruefully that but for the author's solemn preliminary
assurance you should hardly have given the gentleman credit for
ordinary good sense。 You cannot accuse me of this pitiable
barrenness； this feeble evasion。 I not only tell you that my hero
wrote a revolutionists' handbook： I give you the handbook at full
length for your edification if you care to read it。 And in that
handbook you will find the politics of the sex question as I
conceive Don Juan's descendant to understand them。 Not that I
disclaim the fullest responsibility for his opinions and for
those of all my characters； pleasant and unpleasant。 They are all
right from their several points of view； and their points of view
are； for the dramatic moment； mine also。 This may puzzle the
people who believe that there is such a thing as an absolutely
right point of view； usually their own。 It may seem to them that
nobody who doubts this can be in a state of grace。 However that
may be； it is certainly true that nobody who agrees with them can
possibly be a dramatist； or indeed anything else that turns upon
a knowledge of mankind。 Hence it has been pointed out that
Shakespear had no conscience。 Neither have I； in that sense。
You may； however； remind me that this digression of mine into
politics was preceded by a very convincing demonstration that the
artist never catches the point of view of the common man on the
question of sex； because he is not in the same predicament。 I
first prove that anything I write on the relation of the sexes is
sure to be misleading； and then I proceed to write a Don Juan
play。 Well； if you insist on asking me why I behave in this
absurd way； I can only reply that you asked me to； and that in
any case my treatment of the subject may be valid for the artist；
amusing to the amateur； and at least intelligible and therefore
possibly suggestive to the Philistine。 Every man who records his
illusions is providing data for the genuinely scientific
psychology which the world still waits for。 I plank down my view
of the existing relations of men to women in the most highly
civilized society for what it is worth。 It is a view like any
other view and no more； neither true nor false； but； I hope； a
way of looking at the subject which throws into the familiar
order of cause and effect a sufficient body of fact and
experience to be interesting to you； if not to the play…going
public of London。 I have certainly shown little consideration for
that public in this enterprise； but I know that it has the
friendliest disposition towards you and me as far as it has any
consciousness of our existence； and quite understands that what I
write for you must pass at a considerable height over its simple
romantic head。 It will take my books as read and my genius for
granted； trusting me to put forth work of such quality as shall
bear out its verdict。 So we may disport ourselves on our own
plane to the top of our bent； and if any gentleman points out
that neither this epistle dedicatory nor the dream of Don Juan in
the third act of the ensuing comedy is suitable for immediate
production at a popular theatre we need not contradict him。
Napoleon provided Talma with a pit of kings； with what effect on
Talma's acting is not recorded。 As for me； what I have always
wanted is a pit of philosophers； and this is a play for such a
pit。
I should make formal acknowledgment to the authors whom I have
pillaged in the following pages if I could recollect them a11。
The theft of the brigand…poetaster from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is
deliberate； and the metamorphosis of Leporello into Enry Straker；
motor engineer and New Man； is an intentional dramatic sketch for
the contemporary embryo of Mr H。 G。 Wells's anticipation of the
efficient engineering class which will； he hopes； finally sweep
the jabberers out of the way of civilization。 Mr Barrio has also；
whilst I am correcting my proofs； delighted London with a servant
who knows more than his masters。 The conception of Mendoza
Limited I trace back to a certain West Indian colonial secretary；
who； at a period when he and I and Mr Sidney Webb were sowing our
political wild oats as a sort of Fabian Three Musketeers； without
any prevision of the surprising respectability of the crop that
followed； recommended Webb； the encyclopedic and inexhaustible；
to form himself into a company for the benefit of the
shareholders。 Octavius I take over unaltered from Mozart； and I
hereby authorize any actor who impersonates him； to sing 〃Dalla
sua pace〃 （if he can） at any convenient moment during the
representation。 Ann was suggested to me by the fifteenth century
Dutch morality called Everyman； which Mr William Poel has lately
resuscitated so triumphantly。 I trust he will work that vein
further； and recognize that Elizabethan Renascence fustian is no
more bearable after medieval poesy than Scribe after Ibsen。 As I
sat watching Everyman at the Charterhouse； I said to myself Why
not Everywoman？ Ann was the result： every woman is not Ann； but
Ann is Everywoman。
That the author of Everyman was no mere artist； but an
artist…philosopher； and that the artist…philosophers are the only
sort of artists I take quite seriously； will be no news to you。
Even Plato and Boswell； as the dramatists who invented Socrates
and Dr Johnson； impress me more deeply than the romantic
playwrights。 Ever since； as a boy； I first breathed the air of
the transcendental regions at a performance of Mozart's
Zauberflote； I have been proof against the garish splendors and
alcoholic excitements of the ordinary stage combinations of
Tappertitian romance with the police intelligence。 Bunyan； Blake；
Hogarth and Turner （these four apart and above all the English
Classics）； Goethe； Shelley； Schopenhaur； Wagner； Ibsen； Morris；
Tolstoy； and Nietzsche are among the writers whose peculiar sense
of the world I recognize as more or less akin to my own。 Mark the
word peculiar。 I read Dickens and Shakespear without shame or
stint； but their pregnant observations and demonstrations of life
are not co…ordinated into any philosophy or religion： on the
contrary； Dickens's sentimental assumptions are violently
contradicted by his observations； and Shakespear's pessimism is
only his wounded humanity。 Both have the specific genius of the
fictionist and the common sympathies of human feeling and thought
in pre…eminent degree。 They are often saner and shrewder than the
philosophers just as Sanc