When two people are under the influence of the most violent, most insane, most delusive, and most transient of passions, they are required to swear that they will remain in that excited, abnormal, and exhausting condition continuously until death do them part.

Shaw is satirizing the conventional marriage vow by pointing out the paradox at its heart: society asks people to make a lifelong legal and moral commitment at the very moment when their judgment is most distorted by romantic infatuation. By calling passion “violent,” “insane,” “delusive,” and “transient,” he frames early-stage love as an unstable psychological state—intense but temporary—unsuited to binding promises “until death.” The line reflects Shaw’s broader critique of Victorian/Edwardian social institutions and sentimental ideals, urging a more realistic view of love, desire, and the practical foundations needed for enduring partnership.