--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the preface to my Plays for Puritans I…" description: "\"“In the preface to my Plays for Puritans I explained the predicament of our contemporary English drama, forced to deal almost exclusively with cases of..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/643/george-bernard-shaw-68_don-juan_in-the-preface-to-my-plays-for-puritans_2116461.jpg" --- # In the preface to my Plays for Puritans I explained the… ![“In the preface to my Plays for Puritans I explained the predicament of our contemporary English drama, forced to deal almost exclusively with cases of sexual attraction, and yet forbidden to exhibit the incidents of that attraction or even to discuss its nature. Your suggestion that I should write…” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/643/george-bernard-shaw-68_don-juan_in-the-preface-to-my-plays-for-puritans_2116461.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/643/george-bernard-shaw-68_don-juan_in-the-preface-to-my-plays-for-puritans_2116461.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/643/george-bernard-shaw-68_don-juan_in-the-preface-to-my-plays-for-puritans_2116461.jpg) > ““In the preface to my Plays for Puritans I explained the predicament of our contemporary English drama, forced to deal almost exclusively with cases of sexual attraction, and yet forbidden to exhibit the incidents of that attraction or even to discuss its nature. Your suggestion that I should write a Don Juan play was virtually a challenge to me to treat this subject myself dramatically. The challenge was difficult enough to be worth accepting, because, when you come to think of it, though we have plenty”” [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Shaw was challenged to write a Don Juan play, confronting the taboo of depicting sexual attraction directly, which he found a worthwhile artistic test. **In simple terms:** He accepted a challenge to portray forbidden desire. Key Takeaway Embrace difficult subjects. Themes artistic challenge taboo sexuality drama Mood provocative determined Type dramatic critical When to use this quote - stage productions - writing workshops - cultural critique Key Concepts theatre censorship creative risk Questions to Reflect On - How would you depict taboo topics today? - What risks do you face when confronting norms? A Different Perspective Audience resistance may limit impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Don juan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/don-juan/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [“it annoys me to see people comfortable when they ought to be uncomfortable; and I insist on making them think in order to bring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/it-annoys-me-to-see-people-comfortable-when-they-ought-to-be/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“The prototypic Don Juan, invented early in the XVI century by a Spanish monk, was”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-prototypic-don-juan-invented-early-in-the-xvi-century-by-a/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“what is a Don Juan? Vulgarly, a libertine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/what-is-a-don-juan-vulgarly-a-libertine/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Don Juan speaks of the island of the tonal as something that's in the middle of the ocean ... the nagual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/don-juan-speaks-of-the-island-of-the-tonal-as-something-that-s-in-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Feeling important makes one heavy, clumsy and vain. To be a warrior one needs to be light and fluid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/feeling-important-makes-one-heavy-clumsy-and-vain-to-be-a-warrior-one/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [For me the world is weird because it is stupendous, awesome, mysterious, unfathomable; my interest has been to convince you that you must assume…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/for-me-the-world-is-weird-because-it-is-stupendous-awesome-mysterious/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [The hardest thing in the world is to assume the mood of a warrior. It is of no use to be sad and complain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/the-hardest-thing-in-the-world-is-to-assume-the-mood-of-a-warrior-it/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [As long as a man feels that he is the most important thing in the world he cannot really appreciate the world around him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/as-long-as-a-man-feels-that-he-is-the-most-important-thing-in-the/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [Only if one loves this earth with unbending passion can one relieve one's sadness," don Juan said. "Warriors are always joyful because their love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/only-if-one-loves-this-earth-with-unbending-passion-can-one-relieve/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [A person who is insane has no sense of their place; they've lost that ability, which our friend don Juan describes as the tonal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-person-who-is-insane-has-no-sense-of-their-place-they-ve-lost-that/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Seek and see all the marvels around you. You will get tired of looking at yourself alone, and that fatigue will make you deaf…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/seek-and-see-all-the-marvels-around-you-you-will-get-tired-of-looking/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [Pleasure's a sin, and sometimes sin's a pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/pleasure-s-a-sin-and-sometimes-sin-s-a-pleasure/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Inner silence works from the moment you begin to accrue it. What the old sorcerers were after was the final dramatic, end result of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/inner-silence-works-from-the-moment-you-begin-to-accrue-it-what-the/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [Being popular is the most important thing in the world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/being-popular-is-the-most-important-thing-in-the-world/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Do you know at this very moment you are surrounded by eternity? And do you know that you can use that eternity if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/do-you-know-at-this-very-moment-you-are-surrounded-by-eternity-and-do/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) ## More by George Bernard Shaw > [I love little children too but I don't cut off their heads and stick them in vases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-love-little-children-too-but-i-don-t-cut-off-their-heads-and-stick/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Blasphemy and sedition (meaning the truth about Church and State).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/blasphemy-and-sedition-meaning-the-truth-about-church-and-state/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In the arts of life, man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-life-man-invents-nothing-but-in-the-arts-of-death-he/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“My religious convictions and scientific views cannot at present be more specifically defined than as those of a believer in creative evolution. I desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/my-religious-convictions-and-scientific-views-cannot-at-present-be/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which he habitually acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/what-a-man-believes-may-be-ascertained-not-from-his-creed-but-from/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Men have to do some awfully mean things to keep up their respectability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/men-have-to-do-some-awfully-mean-things-to-keep-up-their/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The schoolmaster is the person who takes the children off the parents' hands for a consideration. That is to say, he establishes a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-schoolmaster-is-the-person-who-takes-the-children-off-the-parents/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/as-long-as-i-have-a-want-i-have-a-reason-for-living-satisfaction-is/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The camera can represent flesh so superbly that, if I dared, I would never photograph a figure without asking that figure to take its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-camera-can-represent-flesh-so-superbly-that-if-i-dared-i-would/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [A man who is not a communist at the age of twenty is a fool. Any man who is still communist at the age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/a-man-who-is-not-a-communist-at-the-age-of-twenty-is-a-fool-any-man/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [But to admire a strong person and to live under that strong person’s thumb are two different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/but-to-admire-a-strong-person-and-to-live-under-that-strong-person-s/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Socialism is the same as Communism, only better English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/socialism-is-the-same-as-communism-only-better-english/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The person who is ignorant enough to believe that his nourishment depends on meat is in a horrible dilemma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-person-who-is-ignorant-enough-to-believe-that-his-nourishment/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In the arts of peace Man is a bungler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-peace-man-is-a-bungler/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) [Explore all 1,640 George Bernard Shaw quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## More Don juan quotes > [Do you know at this very moment you are surrounded by eternity? And do you know that you can use that eternity if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/do-you-know-at-this-very-moment-you-are-surrounded-by-eternity-and-do/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [Being popular is the most important thing in the world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/being-popular-is-the-most-important-thing-in-the-world/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Inner silence works from the moment you begin to accrue it. What the old sorcerers were after was the final dramatic, end result of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/inner-silence-works-from-the-moment-you-begin-to-accrue-it-what-the/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [Pleasure's a sin, and sometimes sin's a pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/pleasure-s-a-sin-and-sometimes-sin-s-a-pleasure/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Seek and see all the marvels around you. You will get tired of looking at yourself alone, and that fatigue will make you deaf…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/seek-and-see-all-the-marvels-around-you-you-will-get-tired-of-looking/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [A person who is insane has no sense of their place; they've lost that ability, which our friend don Juan describes as the tonal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-person-who-is-insane-has-no-sense-of-their-place-they-ve-lost-that/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Only if one loves this earth with unbending passion can one relieve one's sadness," don Juan said. "Warriors are always joyful because their love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/only-if-one-loves-this-earth-with-unbending-passion-can-one-relieve/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [As long as a man feels that he is the most important thing in the world he cannot really appreciate the world around him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/as-long-as-a-man-feels-that-he-is-the-most-important-thing-in-the/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [The hardest thing in the world is to assume the mood of a warrior. It is of no use to be sad and complain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/the-hardest-thing-in-the-world-is-to-assume-the-mood-of-a-warrior-it/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [For me the world is weird because it is stupendous, awesome, mysterious, unfathomable; my interest has been to convince you that you must assume…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/for-me-the-world-is-weird-because-it-is-stupendous-awesome-mysterious/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [Feeling important makes one heavy, clumsy and vain. To be a warrior one needs to be light and fluid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/feeling-important-makes-one-heavy-clumsy-and-vain-to-be-a-warrior-one/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [Don Juan speaks of the island of the tonal as something that's in the middle of the ocean ... the nagual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/don-juan-speaks-of-the-island-of-the-tonal-as-something-that-s-in-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Self-importance requires spending most of one's life offended by something or someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/self-importance-requires-spending-most-of-one-s-life-offended-by/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [We are all incarnate Buddhas. We just have not realized it deeply. We have not moved the mind - what our friend Don Juan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/we-are-all-incarnate-buddhas-we-just-have-not-realized-it-deeply-we/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I would say that he has a rather limited and uncreative way of looking at the situation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-depp/i-would-say-that-he-has-a-rather-limited-and-uncreative-way-of/) [Johnny Depp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-depp/) [Browse all 89 Don juan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/don-juan/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In the preface to my Plays for Puritans I explained the predicament of our contemporary English drama, forced to deal almost exclusively with cases of sexual attraction, and yet forbidden to exhibit the incidents of that attraction or even to discuss its nature. Your suggestion that I should write a Don Juan play was virtually a challenge to me to treat this subject myself dramatically. The challenge was difficult enough to be worth accepting, because, when you come to think of it, though we have plenty”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Bernard Shaw" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-preface-to-my-plays-for-puritans-i-explained-the-predicament/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Don juan" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-preface-to-my-plays-for-puritans-i-explained-the-predicament/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/643/george-bernard-shaw-68_don-juan_in-the-preface-to-my-plays-for-puritans_2116461.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/643/george-bernard-shaw-68_don-juan_in-the-preface-to-my-plays-for-puritans_2116461.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/643/george-bernard-shaw-68_don-juan_in-the-preface-to-my-plays-for-puritans_2116461.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the preface to my Plays for Puritans I explained the predicament of our contemporary English drama…” — George Bernard Shaw", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "George Bernard Shaw", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“In the preface to my Plays...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-preface-to-my-plays-for-puritans-i-explained-the-predicament/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-preface-to-my-plays-for-puritans-i-explained-the-predicament/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```