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One of George Bernard Shaw's most performed and studied plays, "Arms and the Man" is a classic example of Shaw's comedic wit. First produced in 1894, the play is set during the Serbo-Bulgarian war and tells the story of Raina Petkoff, a young Bulgarian woman, who is engaged to Sergius, a soldier away at war whom she idolizes. While both her father and fiancé are away fighting, Raina, at home with her mother, has a very innocent and romantic idea...
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First performed in 1905 and published in 1907, "Major Barbara" is a dramatic play by the famed Irish playwright and activist George Bernard Shaw. The story centers around its title character who, as an officer in the Salvation Army, becomes disenchanted by the increasing social problems that she sees and the willingness of her organization to accept money from armament manufacturers. Barbara is disillusioned about the good work the Salvation Army...
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The Devil's Disciple is an 1897 play written by Irish dramatist George Bernard Shaw. The play is Shaw's eighth, and after Richard Mansfield's original 1897 American production it was his first financial success, which helped to affirm his career as a playwright. It was published in Shaw's 1901 collection Three Plays for Puritans together with Captain Brassbound's Conversion and Caesar and Cleopatra. Set in Colonial America during the Revolutionary...
4) Candida
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"Candida" is the story of its title character, a woman who is married to the Reverend Morell. Candida is a woman of many talents and her husband has his wife to thank for much of his success. When a young man by the name of Marchbanks professes his love for Candida, Morell must reexamine his relationship with his wife and ultimately discovers a side to her that he never knew existed. "Candida" is a play written during a time of great empowerment of...
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First staged in 1906, "The Doctor's Dilemma" is a play that revolves around a community of doctors, most specializing, unbeknownst to them, in different types of expensive, fraudulent treatments. Dr. Ridgeon, who has actually discovered a vaccine for tuberculosis, is conflicted about administering his limited remedy, for the husband of a woman he is in love with can pay, but his kind yet poverty-stricken colleague Dr. Blenkinsop cannot. Shaw's drama...
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Mrs. Warren's Profession is a play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1894, and first performed in London in 1902. The title refers to prostitution. The story centres on the relationship between Mrs Kitty Warren and her daughter, Vivie. Mrs. Warren, a former prostitute and current brothel owner, is described as "on the whole, a genial and fairly presentable old blackguard of a woman." Vivie, an intelligent and pragmatic young woman who just graduated...
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When Julius Caesar arrives in Egypt and finds Cleopatra in hiding, he encourages her to return to the palace and embrace her role as queen. Shaw depicts an unlikely pair that bond over a common goal.
As Roman forces invade Egypt, Julius Caesar stumbles across a young Cleopatra hiding amongst the statues. He initially conceals his identity, as the queen expresses concern over Caesar and his impending army. When he convinces her to return to the...
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George Bernard Shaw, one of Britain's most acclaimed playwrights, produced a large wealth of dramatic and comedic plays during his lifetime. In "Man and Superman and Three Other Plays," four of his most famous works are presented. In 1903's "Man and Superman," we find a play that on the surface is a mere comedy of manners but upon deeper examination delves into the philosophic themes outlined by Nietzsche's "Ubermensch," or more distinctly man's journey...
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As suggested by the reference to Nietzsche's "Übermensch" in the title of the play, George Bernard Shaw intended Man and Superman to be not only a light romantic comedy but also a deeply philosophical work. In this highly entertaining play, he lays out his perspective on life and the cosmos with unsurpassable wit and verve.
Upon the death of her father, Ann Whitefield is left in the care of two guardians, Roebuck Ramsden and John Tanner. Tanner,...
10) Heartbreak House
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Ellie Dunn, her father, and her fiancé are invited to one of Hesione Hushabye's infamous dinner parties, to be held at the house of her father, the eccentric Captain Shotover, an inventor in his late 80s who is trying to create a psychic ray that will destroy dynamite. The house is built in the shape of the stern of a ship. Lady Utterword, Shotover's other daughter, arrives from Australia, but he pretends not to recognise her. Hesione says they are...
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"The Man of Destiny" is one of Shaw's shorter works, just a one-act play, in which we see the mastery of character development that is so common to the playwright's works. The play is an investigation of a young twenty-seven year old general by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte who has yet to achieve the accomplishments for which make him such an important figure in world history. In the play, we find him waiting impatiently at an inn on the road between...
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Using intriguing characters and sparkling dialogue, George Bernard Shaw explored ideas and issues that transformed the conventions of British theater. "Don Juan in Hell" showcases the master's art at its best. An episode from Act Three of Man and Superman, "Don Juan in Hell" is often presented independently of the rest of the play. Rooted in the Don Juan legend--particularly as it appears in Mozart's opera Don Giovanni--this dream sequence forms a...
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Originally published in George Bernard Shaw's 1901 collection "Three Plays for Puritans" and first performed in 1900, "Captain Brassbound's Conversion" is the drama of its title character, a sort of refined latter-day pirate who resides in Morocco. When two jaded English tourists, Sir Howard Hallam, a judge of the criminal bench, and Lady Cicely Waynflete, his sister-in-law, arrive at the Moroccan coast and endeavor to explore the interior, Captain...
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Major Barbara is, thought to be one of Shaw's most controversial works. While trying to give a realistic presentation of Christianity, many accused him of blasphemy. Major Barbara Undershaft thought it hypocrisy that her church accepted charity from companies, such as a whisky distiller, and eventually decided that it would be more fulfilling to bring salvation to people, who had plenty of vices, the people in need. Shaw intended to show that no matter...
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Table of Contents
George Bernard Shaw by G. K. Chesterton
Plays:
Widowers' Houses (1892)
The Philanderer (1898)
Mrs. Warren's Profession (1898)
The Man Of Destiny (1897)
Arms And The Man: An Anti-Romantic Comedy in Three Acts (1894)
Candida (1898)
You Never Can Tell (1897)
Three Plays for Puritans:
The Devil's Disciple (1897)
Captain Brassbound's Conversion (1900)
Caesar and Cleopatra: A History (1901)
The Gadfly Or The Son of the Cardinal (1898)
The...
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Hailed by T. S. Eliot as "a dramatic delight," George Bernard Shaw's only tragedy traces the life of the peasant girl who led French troops to victory over the English in the Hundred Years' War. An avid socialist, Shaw regarded his writing as a vehicle for promoting his political and humanitarian views and exposing hypocrisy. With Saint Joan, he reached the height of his fame, and it was this play that led to his Nobel Prize in Literature for 1925....
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"The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet: A Sermon in Crude Melodrama" is a 1909 play in one act by George Bernard Shaw. Described by Shaw as a religious tract in dramatic form, it was originally refused a performance license due to comments made by the protagonist about God, considered blasphemous at the time.
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Pygmalion remains one of the most popular stories - but mainly in the medium of the musical; the evergreen My Fair Lady. But much of the charm and wit comes from the words and timing in Shaw's original play. Here are the characters of Professor Higgins, his friend Colonel Pickering, and their charge, Eliza Doolittle.
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