Literature: 1925

Shaw, George Bernard (1856-1950), an Irish-born playwright, critic, and essayist, became one of the most famous writers of the 1900's. Shaw was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1925. He wrote over 50 plays in a remarkable career that spanned 70 years. His plays are performed more than those of any English-language playwright except William Shakespeare.

Shaw's dramas are filled with wit, challenging ideas, forceful characters, and vigorous, eloquent dialogue. While the plays often treat serious matters and promote Shaw's views, their points are frequently twisted, compromised, or emphasized through comedy. Shaw thought that a sense of humor can give balance and depth to seriousness.

Shaw also gained fame as a witty and wise "character." The press eagerly sought him out. Shaw was a political, social, and religious thinker. He was a critic of art, music, and theater, as well as a socialist, vegetarian, and feminist. Shaw had so many stimulating opinions and presented them so sharply that his views are often quoted. He defended his ideas in a series of essays, many published as prefaces to his plays. Like the plays, the essays are stimulating for their brilliance and wit, even when the causes they argue no longer seem daring or unconventional.

Early life: Shaw was born on July 26, 1856, in Dublin. In 1876, he settled in London. He wrote five novels, but none were successful. In 1884, Shaw joined the Fabian Society, an organization of socialists who believed that political and economic change could be gained through reform. Soon he represented the society in essays and lectures, and became known as one of England's finest public speakers. Shaw wrote music reviews from 1888 to 1894 and theater criticism from 1895 to 1898. He proved himself the keenest critic in London and among the best of any time.

Shaw promoted the realistic social dramas of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in a long essay, The Quintessence of Ibsenism (1891). The radical subject matter of two early plays showed Ibsen's influence. Widowers' Houses (1892) attacks slum landlords. Mrs. Warren's Profession, written in 1893, highlights the social causes of prostitution. It was immediately censored and not produced until 1902. Because of the unpopularity of these plays, Shaw then combined his unconventional views with more pleasant, often comic ingredients in Arms and the Man (1894), Candida (1897), The Devil's Disciple (1897), and Caesar and Cleopatra (1901).

Mature period: Shaw's plays were little known in England until many were performed at the Royal Court Theatre from 1904 to 1907. Man and Superman (1905) presents Shaw's theory of God as a "life force" evolving through humanity. In Major Barbara (1905), the ideals of the Salvation Army are challenged by the social philosophy of an armaments tycoon.

Shaw's popular Pygmalion (1913) was adapted into the musical My Fair Lady in 1956. In this ironic Cinderella story, a professor of phonetics (speech sounds) demonstrates the absurdity of class distinctions by teaching an ignorant Cockney girl how to speak and act like a duchess. Heartbreak House (1920) depicts the negligent society that allowed World War I (1914-1918) to occur. Saint Joan (1923) is a humanistic portrayal of the sainthood of Joan of Arc.

Shaw's later plays became increasingly political and fanciful. He also wrote an important book on socialism, The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism (1928) and a religious parable called The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God (1933). Shaw died on Nov. 2, 1950.

Contributor: Charles A. Berst, Ph.D., Professor of English, University of California, Los Angeles.