# Scene II explained — Short Plays > Chapter companion for Short Plays by George Bernard Shaw. ## What happens The scene is set at the Agricultural Hall in Islington, where a boxing match is held before Cetewayo and his Zulu chiefs. Cashel Byron fights Paradise, who cheats by tearing off his gloves and attacking with bare knuckles, leading to a chaotic melee. Cetewayo and his chiefs join the fray, causing a general panic. Cashel rescues Lydia and defeats the Zulus, but is bitten by Paradise, causing Lydia to faint. ## Themes in this chapter ### Social Class and Mobility Paradise's lower-class dialect and Cashel's rise as a champion highlight class distinctions and the possibility of social mobility through sport. ### Love and Sacrifice Cashel's heroic rescue of Lydia and his declaration 'Twas all for thee' underscore the theme of love motivating self-sacrifice. ### Hypocrisy and Convention Cetewayo's critique of English civilization as cowardly and the chaotic breakdown of rules in the fight expose the hypocrisy of claimed English superiority. ## Character check-ins ### Cashel Byron The champion boxer who fights Paradise and later defeats the Zulus, saving Lydia and the crowd. ### Lydia Carew A spectator in the balcony who watches the fight with anxiety and later swoons in Cashel's arms after he is bitten. ### Lucian The master of ceremonies who introduces the fighters and engages Cetewayo with his umbrella during the chaos. ### Cetewayo The Zulu king who observes the match, criticizes English cowardice, and later joins the melee. ### Paradise The opponent boxer who cheats by removing his gloves and biting Cashel, causing the latter's injury. ### Lord Worthington A spectator in the balcony who reassures Lydia about Cashel's prowess. ## Key lines > No man has took my number down. I scale Close on twelve stun; my age is twenty-three; And at Bill Richardson’s Blue Anchor pub Am to be heard of any day by such As likes the job. No one has ever defeated me. I weigh nearly twelve stone, I am twenty-three years old, and anyone who wants to find me can ask at Bill Richardson's Blue Anchor pub. _Paradise introduces himself boastfully, emphasizing his undefeated record and rough background._ > There’s a divinity that shapes our ends Rough hew them how we will. A higher power determines our fate, no matter how we try to control it. _Cashel quotes Shakespeare's Hamlet, reflecting on fate before the fight._ > The English dare not look upon the sky. They are moles and owls: they call upon the soot To cover them. The English are afraid of the open sky, like moles and owls, and they prefer to hide under the soot from their factories. _Cetewayo criticizes English industrial society for its avoidance of nature and sunlight._ > Th’ importunate clutching of the coward’s hand From wearied Nature Devastation’s secrets Doth wrest; when straight the brave black-livered man Is blown explosively from off the globe. The greedy grasping of the cowardly hand wrests destructive secrets from exhausted Nature, and then the brave dark-skinned man is blown off the earth. _Cetewayo condemns English technological progress as cowardly and destructive, leading to the annihilation of brave peoples._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_plays_se/chapters/act-ii-scene-ii - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_plays_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_plays_se/chapters