The Man of Destiny

The Man of Destiny
Written by	George Bernard Shaw
Date premiered	1 July 1897
Place premiered	Grand Theatre, Croydon
Original language	English
Subject	A woman attempts to outwit Napoleon
Genre	Chamber piece
Setting	An inn at Tavazzano

The Man of Destiny is an 1897 play by George Bernard Shaw, set in Italy during the early career of Napoleon. It was published as a part of Plays Pleasant, which also included Arms and the Man, Candida and You Never Can Tell. Shaw titled the volume Plays Pleasant in order to contrast it with his first book of plays, Plays Unpleasant.

Characters

• Napoleon Bonaparte
• Sub-Lieutenant
• Giuseppe Grandi
• Strange Lady

Plot

12 May 1796, an inn at

. If he is known to have read the letter it will cause a duel. Napoleon, concerned about a public scandal, decides to pretend that the dispatches are still missing. He calls the lieutenant back, and tells him to go and find the missing documents or be court martialed. To save the lieutenant from disgrace, the lady leaves and switches to her male disguise. As soon as she reappears the lieutenant recognises the "brother" who robbed him. Pretending to have magical powers, she finds the dispatches in Napoleon's coat. Napoleon says he's been outwitted by an Englishwoman, and makes a series of comments about the English ability to constantly have things both ways ("As the great champion of freedom and national independence, he conquers and annexes half the world, and calls it Colonization"). He gives the woman the letter unopened; she burns it.

Productions

The play was written for

as Napoleon.

A version aired on BBC television in 1939,[2] and is believed to be lost.^[3]

A version of it aired on Australian television in 1963.^[4]

An American television version was broadcast on 21 November 1973,^[5] with Stacy Keach as Bonaparte and Samantha Eggar as The Lady.

A radio production directed by Pat Trueman was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 8 May 1980,^[6] with David Suchet as Napoleon and Paola Dionisotti as The Lady.

A

as The Lieutenant.

References

External links

• The Man of Destiny at Project Gutenberg
• ​The Man of Destiny​ at the Internet Broadway Database