“wake up and be ashamed of yourself, you unfeeling sinful girl, falling asleep like that and your father hardly cold in his grave” . Mrs. Dudgeon who pretends to be an upright religious lady who abides by her religious teachings feels comfortable in torturing this helpless girl , she even denies her the right to sleep. Moreover, she always reminds her of her father’s mistake “your history isn’t fit enough for your own ears to hear.” She also loves to give orders and instruct people. She never respects anyone “Don’t answer me Miss, show your obedience by doing what I tell.” This behaviour is extended to her son Christy as well “ how long are you going to stare there like a stuck pig”. Any feeling of love or compassion has no place in her heart , she is a representative of those Puriatns who pretend to be religious ,however, there discipline contradict with this allegations. Mrs. Dudgeon is a character who disrepects others, even her gestures reflect nervousness and ruthlessness. In the stage directon Bernard Shaw meant to express that each and every action of her denotes such personality “displeased” , “ Shutting the door sharply behind her as if even it had to be made do its duty with ruthless hand.” . Furthermore, her name itself reflects this bitter temper.
As a Puriatn lady, Mrs. Dudgeon thinks highly of herself, she regards herself as better than others ; thus she shouldn’t be put on equal scale with others “Why should we do our duty and keep God’s law if there is to be no difference made between us..”. Consequently, She demeans any person who tries to help her or show respect for her. Mrs. Dudgeon boasting herself that she is the only lady in the parish who is keen on going to church every Sunday. Such concept of hers shows her superficialty and hypocracy for she considers “heart” to be deceitful “above all things” therefore, she never surrenders to her heart or allowing such passions to penetrate into her thoughts because it’s against religion as she thinks. Her heart never knows softness or forgiveness, this explains why she has denied her elder son Richard every possible chance of being forgiven .This behaviour allowed her to considered her husband as a “softheaded” man because he forgave his son before his death. She even cursed him before leaving the house saying “my curse on you, my dying curse”. Her boastfullness and arrogance was the reason as well for insulting the minister, Anthony Anderson , the priest who stands for religion. The way she treated him and insulted him reflects the hateful nature of this woman who doesn’t respect anyone or anything in her life to the extent that she allows herself to rebuke a religious man who came to console her telling him “Don’t lie Mr. Anderson”, “ you minister of the gospel to act as his accomplice” . She disregarded his position as a priest, and went on humiliating him “Eli Hawkins to whose pulpit you’ve succeeded though you don’t deserve to loose his shoe latcht”. Here lies all her insolence as well as it represents her fake Purtianism, this religion that she takes as a disguise to cover her complexes and her true nature as a stone hearted woman who doesn’t know sympathy or respectability. “aye mother keeping up appearances as usual” this statement simply sums up Mrs. Dudgeon’s behaviour and ethics.Not just so, she was also rude with Judith, this delicate lady who came to offer her help and console her, Mrs. Dudgeon shows aggressiveness and harshness in the way she received Judith “my house is always ready for anyone to come”, also,“one or two won’t make any difference” these instances reflect how blunt this woman is.
Evidently, Mrs. Dudgeon’s bitterence was the reason behind her hostile attitude towards others. Although Bernard Shaw was against those fanatic puritans ,yet he was to some extent giving Mrs. Dudgeon a reason to behave in this way, he showed how she failed to marry the man she’s always loved and this in order to gain the satisfaction of the church and the priests.In addition, she has lost her property , her own money which she has been deprived from and again yielding to her society’s rules. Therefore, she considers herself a victim to this society that has denied her the right of a successful marriage and a property and left her with nothing. “what else could make me the woman I am” .Mrs. Dudgeon regards herself as a miserable character who has worked a lot and gained nothing except “detestation in her sordid home”, perhaps this explains why she considered Timothy to be a “thief, thief” who has stolen her money taking the chance of being away from Webesterbridge and writing his will to his son. This bitter feelings extended to her children for she considers them to be the outcome of unsuccessful marriage. This may also gives reason for her cold feelings towards her sons and her husband’s death . This feeling towards her man and her sons contributed mainly to this cold relationship between them “a nice comfort my children to me !one son a fool and the other a lost sinner that’s left his home to live with gypsies and smugglers…the scum of earth”. Bernard Shaw wants to show that her exasperated soul led her to be harsh and ruthless with her sons He also desired to introduce her as a slightly pathetic person who has been deprived from everything , even her right to stay in her home “Mrs. Dudgeon now an intruder in her own house, stands inert ,crushed by the weight of the law on women, accepting it as she has been trained to accept all the monstrous calamities.”.However, he didn’t mean to justify her deeds, but just to show that this religion has destroyed the lives of people . Thus, he introduced her as a failer woman,who has failed in everything, even in the way she has brought up her children. Richard himself admitted that when he was talking to Essie, he clarified that he was tortured in this house which knows no sympathy or pity. Eventually, he became the devil’s disciple because he has found his comfort with the devil and not with his mother “he saved me from having my spirit broken in this house of children’s tears.” . This statement sums up the way Mrs. Dudgeon behaved with her children and the reason behind their discipline with her and with others.
In conclusion, Mrs. Dudgeon is considered a tough lady who failed to live happily due to rules and restrictions she has tied herself with in order to satisfy the society regardless to her feelings. Thus leading her to lose everything and dying all alone. Bernard Shaw was aiming behind this character to criticise the Puritan group who are acting as gods and forgetting that there is God who is merciful and forgiving.
***************************
