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Lecture Eight: George Bernard Shaw: Arms and The Man (1894), Satirizing Romantic Attitudes Toward Love Candida (1893)

George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright who revolutionized the Victorian stage with plays of ideas. In John Bull's Other Island, one of Shaw's lesser revived plays, he thematically returned to his homeland of Ireland. The 1904 comedy deals with Harry Doyle, an Irishman, and Tom Broadbent, an Englishman, who run a firm in London but travel to Roscullen, where Doyle was born, to develop some land. Broadbent becomes popular with the locals and ends up marrying Nora Reilly and running for Parliament, while Doyle is happy to leave Roscullen behind. The play was commissioned by W.B. Yeats but rejected as too long and controversial, though it was a success when produced

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73 views

Lecture Eight: George Bernard Shaw: Arms and The Man (1894), Satirizing Romantic Attitudes Toward Love Candida (1893)

George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright who revolutionized the Victorian stage with plays of ideas. In John Bull's Other Island, one of Shaw's lesser revived plays, he thematically returned to his homeland of Ireland. The 1904 comedy deals with Harry Doyle, an Irishman, and Tom Broadbent, an Englishman, who run a firm in London but travel to Roscullen, where Doyle was born, to develop some land. Broadbent becomes popular with the locals and ends up marrying Nora Reilly and running for Parliament, while Doyle is happy to leave Roscullen behind. The play was commissioned by W.B. Yeats but rejected as too long and controversial, though it was a success when produced

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Andrada Matei
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lecture Eight: George Bernard Shaw

18561950, Irish playwright and critic. He revolutionized the ictorian stage, then do!inated
"y arti#icial !elodra!as, "y presenting vigorous dra!as o# ideas. $he lengthy pre#aces to
%haw&s plays reveal his !astery o# 'nglish prose. In 19(5 he was awarded the )o"el *rize in
+iterature.
I. 'arly +i#e and ,areer
a- .orn in /u"lin, %haw was the son o# an unsuccess#ul !erchant0 his !other was a
singer who eventually le#t her hus"and to teach singing in +ondon.
"- %haw le#t school at 11 to wor2 in an estate agent&s o##ice.
c- In 1836 he went to +ondon and #or nine years was largely supported "y his parents.
He wrote #ive novels, several o# the! pu"lished in s!all socialist !agazines.
d- %haw was hi!sel# an ardent socialist, a !e!"er o# the 4a"ian %ociety, and a
popular pu"lic spea2er on "ehal# o# socialis!.
e- 5or2 as a 6ournalist led to his "eco!ing a !usic critic #or the Star in 1888 and #or
the World in 18900 his enthusias! #or 5agner proved in#ectious to his readers.
#- 7s dra!a critic #or the Saturday Review a#ter 1895, he won readers to I"sen 0 he
had already written The Quintessence of Ibsenism 81891-.
g- In 1898 %haw !arried ,harlotte *ayne9$ownshend, a wealthy, well"orn
Irishwo!an. .y this ti!e his plays were "eginning to "e produced.
II. *lays
a- 7lthough %haw&s plays #ocus on ideas and issues, they are vital and a"sor"ing,
enlivened
9 "y !e!ora"le characterizations,
9 a "rilliant co!!and o# language,
9 dazzling wit.
"- His early plays were pu"lished as Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant 8( vol., 1898-.
$he :unpleasant: plays were
9 Widower's Houses 8189(-, on slu! landlordis!0
9 The Philanderer 8written 189;, produced 1905-0
9 and rs! Warren's Profession 8written 189;, produced 190(-, a 6i"e at the
ictorian attitude toward prostitution.
$he :pleasant: plays were
9 "rms and the an 81891-, satirizing ro!antic attitudes toward love
and war0
9 #andida 8189;-0
9 and $ou %ever #an Tell 8written 1895-.
c- In 1893 The &evil's &isciple' a play on the 7!erican <evolution, was produced
with great success in )ew =or2 ,ity. It was pu"lished in the volu!e Three Plays for
Puritans 81901- along with #aesar and #leopatra 81899-, nota"le #or its realistic,
hu!orous portraits o# historical #igures, and #aptain (rassbound's #onversion
81900-.
d- /uring the early (0th cent. %haw wrote his greatest and !ost popular plays>
) an and Superman 8190;-, in which an idealistic, cere"ral !an succu!"s to
!arriage 8the play contains an e?plicit articulation o# a !a6or %havian the!e
@that !an is the spiritual creator, whereas wo!an is the "iological :li#e
#orce: that !ust always triu!ph over hi!-0
) a*or (arbara 81905-, which postulates that poverty is the cause o# all evil0
) "ndrocles and the +ion 8191(0 a short play-, a char!ing satire o#
,hristianity0
9 and Py,malion 8191;-, which satirizes the 'nglish class syste! through the
story o# a coc2ney girl&s trans#or!ation into a lady at the hands o# a speech
pro#essor. $he latter has proved to "e %haw&s !ost success#ul wor2@as a play,
as a !otion picture, and as the "asis #or the !usical and #il! y -air +ady
819560 1961-.
e- A# %haw&s later plays, Saint .oan 819(;- is the !ost !e!ora"le0 it argues that Boan
o# 7rc, a har"inger o# *rotestantis! and nationalis!, had to "e 2illed "ecause the
world was not yet ready #or her.
#- In 19(0 %haw, !uch criticized #or his antiwar stance, wrote Heartbrea/ House' a
play that e?posed the spiritual "an2ruptcy o# the generation responsi"le #or 5orld 5ar
I.
III. Bohn .ullCs Ather Island 81901-
a- a co!edy a"out Ireland, written "y D. .ernard %haw in 1901.
"- this is the only %hawian play where he the!atically returned to his ho!eland.
c- $he play deals with +arry /oyle, #ro! Ireland, and $o! .road"ent, an 'nglish!an.
$hey are civil engineers who run a #ir! in +ondon. $hey go to <oscullen, where
/oyle was "orn, to develop so!e land. /oyle has no illusions a"out Ireland while
.road"ent is ta2en with the ro!ance o# the place. .road"ent, a lively !an, who is not
always aware o# the i!pression he !a2es, "eco!es a #avourite o# the people. .e#ore
the play is over, it is clear he will !arry )ora <eilly, the wo!an waiting #or /oyle
8who is !ore than happy to let her go- and "eco!e the area&s candidate #or *arlia!ent
8a#ter /oyle re#uses to stand-.
d- $he play was co!!issioned "y 5... =eats #or the opening o# /u"lin&s 7""ey
$heatre, "ut =eats re6ected it as too long, too controversial, and too di##icult to
produce.
e- $he play pre!iered in +ondon at the ,ourt $heatre on )ove!"er 1, 1901. It was a
great success and the ,ourt would go on to produce !any other %haw plays, "oth old
and new. /ealing with the Irish Euestion o# the ti!e, the play was seen "y !any !a6or
.ritish political #igures. 7 co!!and per#or!ance was given #or Fing 'dward II.
#- It was #inally staged in /u"lin in 1916 to pac2ed houses.
g- 7s popular as the play was originally, it is not one o# %haw&s !ore revived pieces,
li2ely due to the dated nature o# the politics involved.

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