There Are Two Tragedies In Life

These words are spoken by Mendoza, a Spanish brigand, in Act 4 of Shaw's 1903 play Man and Superman. The paradox closely echoes a line from Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), where the character Dumby says: "In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it." Shaw acknowledged Wilde's influence, and the similar formulation is widely seen as a deliberate homage. The remark fits Man and Superman's central theme — that the "Life Force" drives humans toward desires whose fulfillment is as fraught as their frustration.