George Bernard Shaw

Born July 26, 1856, in Dublin; died Nov. 2, 1950, in Ayot St. Lawrence. English playwright. Irish by birth.

Shaw spent his early years in Dublin and worked as a clerk after he graduated from school in 1871. In 1876 he moved to London and devoted himself to journalism, including work as a music reviewer, and literature. His novels The Irrational Knot (1880), Love Among the Artists (1881), and Cashel Byron’s Profession (1882) and the novel of sharp social content An Unsocial Socialist (1883, separate edition 1887; Russian translation The Amateur Socialist, 1910) were rejected by bourgeois publishers and were printed in socialist periodicals. As one of the leaders of the Fabian Society, Shaw worked for a number of years to propagate the ideas of socialism, publishing tracts, pamphlets, and books.

Even in Shaw’s first literary work, his novels, the heart of his creative method was determined—the use of paradox as a means of overcoming prevailing ideologies. His first play, Widowers’ Houses (1892), caused a scandal and was unsuccessful, as was the play that followed, The Philanderer (1893). Mrs. Warren’s Profession (1894), which dealt with the theme of prostitution, was first staged in England in 1907. The difficulties with production forced Shaw to publish his plays (the press was not subjected to prior censorship). Widowers’ Houses, The Philanderer, and Mrs. Warren’s Profession were published in a collection entitled Plays Unpleasant (1898); a second cycle, Plays Pleasant, was then published, including Arms and the Man (1894), Candida (1894), The Man of Destiny (1895), and You Never Can Tell (1895). These were followed by a third cycle, Three Plays for Puritans (1901), which included The Devil’s Disciple (1896–97), Caesar and Cleopatra (1898), and Captain Brassbound’s Conversion (1899).

One of the founders of the modern “drama of ideas,” Shaw created a type of discussion play, in which the clash of ideas and hostile ideologies posed the most acute problems of social and personal morality. Man and Superman (1901–03), a “comedy and philosophy” by Shaw’s definition, transforms the traditional theme of Don Juan: the hero is pursued by a woman. In the interlude of this play, “Don Juan in Hell,” a strikingly forceful criticism of the vices of capitalist civilization is expressed through the mouth of the Devil. In John Bull’s Other Island (1904), Shaw used his two main characters to contrast not only national types—the Irishman and the Englishman—but correspondingly the “romantic” and the “realist,” as Shaw interpreted them. Major Barbara (1905) contains a criticism of bourgeois philanthropy; in the play Shaw first expressed the idea that bourgeois violence must be opposed by a force that serves social progress and justice. Even in the solution of personal problems, Shaw remained a distinctly social dramatist. The Doctor’s Dilemma (1906) shows how medicine loses its humane character under bourgeois conditions; Androcles and the Lion (1913) criticizes dogmatic Christianity. Getting Married (1908), Misalliance (1910), and Fanny’s First Play (1911) are devoted to questions of family, marriage, and education. The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet (1909) depicts the exposure of the religious sanctimoniousness of the petite bourgeoisie. Pygmalion (1913), which deals with problems of culture based on differing speech patterns and with general spiritual development, shows the moral superiority of a girl from the lower classes over an outwardly intelligent, aristocratic professor of phonetics.

Shaw responded to the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia with the grotesque farce Annajanska, the Bolshevik Empress (1918), in which he spoke out very determinedly for the use of violent methods to transform society. In the play Heartbreak House (1913–19), written under the obvious influence of A. P. Chekhov, he denounces the parasitism of the ruling class, their loss of spiritual values, and the erosion of individuality of character. On the other hand, old Captain Shotover in the play sees salvation in work and in the decisive reform of the entire structure of life. Back to Methuselah (1918–20), a “metabiological” drama consisting of five parts not connected by a common plot, depicts a whimsical utopia inhabited by a race of long-livers. Saint Joan (1923) is a tragedy, the only one written by Shaw. In his treatment of the story of Joan of Arc, Shaw introduced a new theme: the Maid’s power comes not from a psychological obsession, but from reason, which is feared equally by the French and the English. When the “danger” represented by Joan has disappeared after her execution, she is exonerated; however, no one desires that she should come back to life.

After an interval of several years, Shaw returned to writing plays, startling the world with the freshness and wit of his “political extravaganzas” (so-called eccentric comedies): The Apple Cart (1929), Too True to Be Good (1931), On the Rocks (1933), The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles (1934), and Geneva (1938), as well as with the historical play Good King Charles’s Golden Days (1939) and the comedy The Millionairess (1936). The idea that capitalist society has reached an impasse and bourgeois democracy is experiencing an acute crisis runs through all of the plays; fascism is condemned in Geneva.

In 1931, Shaw visited the USSR, of which he had been a friend from the first years of the Great October Socialist Revolution. The fighting spirit of the publicist was evident in his public appearances until Shaw’s last years. His last plays were Buoyant Billions (1948) and Farfetched Fables (1950).

Although their staging was delayed, Shaw’s plays gradually gained widespread recognition and became a major force in the literature of the late 19th and the first half of the 20th century. His work bore the clear stamp of the publicist and was inspired by deep philosophical meditation on the social, cultural, and biological future of mankind. His remarkable skill turned his plays into a forum for social and philosophical discussion. Shaw’s best plays have become part of the standard repertoire of many theaters in the Soviet Union. Shaw was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1925.