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Bernard Shaw's Commentary on Ibsen's aims and methods, including
evaluations of plays: "Brand," "Peer Gynt," "Ghosts," "Hedda
Gabler," and others.
Pygmalion, Heartbreak House, and Saint Joan are widely considered
to be three of the most important in the canon of modern British
theatre. Pygmalion (1912) was a world-wide smash hit from the time
of its premiere in Vienna 1913 and it has remained popular to this
day. Shaw was awarded an Academy Award in 1938 for his screenplay
of the film adaptation. It was, of course, later made into the
much-loved musical My Fair Lady. Heartbreak House (1917), which was
finally performed in 1920 and published in 1921, bares the
hallmarks of European modernism and a formal break from Shaw's
previous work. A meditation on the war and the resultant decline in
European aristocratic culture, it was perhaps staged too soon after
the conflict; indeed, it did not have the success of his earlier
works, which was likely due to his experimental aesthetics combined
with a war-weary audience that sought lighter fare. However, while
this contemporary reception was muted, it is now recognised as a
modernist masterpiece. Saint Joan (1923) marked Shaw's resurrection
and apotheosis. The first major work written of Joan of Arc after
her canonization (1920), the play interrogates the origins of
European nationalism in the post-war era. Like Pygmalion, it was an
immediate world-wide hit and secured Shaw the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1925. Drawing upon the transcripts of Joan's trial,
Shaw blended his trademark wit to produce a hybrid genre of comedy
and history play. Despite the historical setting, Saint Joan is
highly accessible and continues to delight audiences.
‘If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise
they’ll kill you.’ One of the most prolific and respected
playwrights of the twentieth century, Bernard Shaw’s legacy shows
no signs of waning, and his beautifully written plays, laced with
wry wit and invective alike, have seen countless performances over
the years, their finest lines paraded in literary conversation and
review. Meticulously selected by Simon Mundy, the Wit and Acid
series collects the sharpest lines from the Shaw’s oeuvre in
small neat volumes, allowing the reader to sample some of the very
best barbs and one-liners the twentieth century has to offer, and
this, the second volume, covers lines from the great writer’s
works published after 1911. With an introduction by Simon Mundy, a
poet, novelist, trenchant music critic and occasional playwright.
'If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise
they'll kill you.' One of the most prolific and respected
playwrights of the twentieth century, Bernard Shaw's legacy shows
no signs of waning, and his beautifully written plays, laced with
wry wit and invective alike, have seen countless performances over
the years, their finest lines paraded in literary conversation and
review. Meticulously selected by Simon Mundy, Wit and Acid collects
the sharpest lines from the Shaw's oeuvre in one neat volume,
allowing the reader to sample some of the very best barbs and
one-liners the twentieth century has to offer.
George Bernard Shaw's public career began in arts journalism-as an
art critic, a music critic, and, most famously, a drama critic-and
he continued writing on cultural and artistic matters throughout
his life. His total output of essays and reviews numbers in the
hundreds, dwarfing even his prolific playwriting career. This
volume of Shaw's Major Cultural Essays introduces readers to the
wealth and diversity of Shaw's cultural writings from across the
breadth of his professional life, beginning around 1890 and ending
in 1950. Topics covered include the theatre, of course, but also
music, opera, poetry, the novel, the visual arts, philosophy,
censorship, and education. Major figures discussed at length in
these works include Ibsen, Wagner, Nietzsche, Shakespeare, Wilde,
Mozart, Beethoven, Keats, Rodin, Zola, Ruskin, Dickens, Tolstoy,
and Poe, among many others. Coursing with Shavian flair and vigor,
these essays showcase the author's broad aesthetic sensibilities,
trace the intersection of culture and politics in Shaw's worldview,
and provide a fascinating window into the vibrant cultural moment
of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
A new collection of Shaw's major political writings presents an
opportunity to reflect on his influential role as a public
intellectual. At the forefront of economic and political debate
from the 1880s to the 1950s, George Bernard Shaw was once the most
widely read socialist writer in the English language, and his
lifelong crusade against inequality and exploitation is far from
irrelevant today. The thorough interpenetration of Shaw's literary
and political engagements is an unusual story in modern literature,
and this volume offers a portrait of Shaw as a political artist in
the purest possible sense: that is, as a writer of essays,
articles, pamphlets, and books with explicitly and expressly
political aims. The selected writings in this volume showcase
Shaw's most influential and most accomplished political work, but
also provide a cross-section that is representative of the whole of
his long career. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford
World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature
from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's
commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a
wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions
by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text,
up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
Nobel Laureate George Bernard Shaw remains one of the world's most
important and popular writers. His plays are regularly performed
around the world, from the boards of Broadway and the West End to
regional, community, and college stages. The three plays selected
here are widely considered to be three of the most important in the
canon of modern British theatre: Man and Superman: a four-act
comedy for serious people, staged in part at Royal court in 1905,
it is one of the early works of Modernism to take an ancient myth
and restage it in contemporary mode (and its influence extends
across world literature, palpable in writings from Mann to Joyce).
Its story of how a sensitive woman compels a superman-figure to
adjust to her needs and those of the real world provides an updated
commentary on Nietzsche's still-fashionable notions of ubermensch;
and its famous third act introduces a persistent Shavian theme,
which goes back as far as earliest religious literature-that the
truly damned are those who are happy in hell. John Bull's Other
Island takes up that idea: to the visionary, hell may be the
ultimate modern dream of efficiency and rational administration, as
manifested in a colonial Ireland run by liberal exploiters.
Commissioned by WB Yeats to mark the opening of Ireland's National
Theatre, the Abbey, the play was promptly refused by its Directors
(who disliked its mechanical mockeries of mechanism but may have
missed its visionary qualities). It was performed to huge acclaim
in London in November 1904 and it made Shaw famous, the supreme
example of the Playwright as Thinker and, ever afterwards, one of
the most valued commentators on Anglo-Irish relations. Major
Barbara: a three-act drama which in classic Shavian style unmasks
the motivation of puritan idealists and dedicated industrialists,
this work (like the previous two) pits a strong woman against a
sardonic, practical man. Having exposed the mendacity of apostles
of efficiency, Shaw seems then to submit to their doctrine, arguing
that a pure private charity towards the destitute is no adequate
substitute. Like the previous two works, this is a problem play, in
the course of which the audience sympathy is aroused and then
repelled in all directions. The suggestion that it may be
acceptable to take money from tainted sources, such as arms
manufacturers, caused much debate in 1905--and even more after the
carnage wrought by mechanized guns in World War One.
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Pygmalion (Paperback)
George Bernard Shaw; Contributions by Mint Editions
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R142
Discovery Miles 1 420
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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"Shaw will not allow complacency; he hates second-hand opinions; he
attacks fashion; he continually challenges and unsettles,
questioning and provoking us even when he is making us laugh. And
he is still at it. No cliche or truism of contemporary life is safe
from him." -Michael Holroyd Of all of George Bernard Shaw's plays,
Pygmalion has been the most enduring. Based on the Greek Classical
myth, this work is both extremely witty and psychologically
penetrating. Composed in five acts, the play examines social and
ethical issues and the inherent flaws of human interactions. Henry
Higgins, a London phonetics teacher, wagers a bet with a colleague
that he can transform the cockney-accented diction and manners of
an impoverished flower girl, and pass her off as member of high
society. The girl, Eliza Doolittle, accepts to take part of the
experiment in the hope that her consequential metamorphosis will
aid her in procuring a job in a proper flower shop. Her
transfiguration, however, comes at great cost. Shaw's exceptionally
sharp dialogue and characteristic wit is unmatched in this classic
and timeless work of drama. With an eye-catching new cover, and
professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Pygmalion is
both modern and readable.
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Pygmalion (Paperback)
George Bernard Shaw
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R95
R76
Discovery Miles 760
Save R19 (20%)
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Ships in 5 - 10 working days
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HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of
best-loved, essential classics. George Bernard Shaw's classic play
and satire of the British class system, first performed in 1913.
p>George Bernard Shaw.
Adapted and abridged by Aurand Harris
Comedy
Characters: 3 male, 2 female. Interior Set
Probably Shaw's most popular play, "Candida" recounts the love
sickness of young poet Eugene Marchbanks for Candida, wife of the
Rev. Morell. At first, Morell is amused; but when he begins to
doubt his wife's love, he becomes disturbed and angered. The poet
becomes the stronger suitor, Morell realizes his weaknesses and
Candida, one of the most remarkable women in dramatic literature,
gives strength to her husband and teaches Marchbanks how to love.
Harris offers a superb adaptation for competition, for study, and
for introduction to one of the classics of modern theatre.
Raina Petkoff has grand ideas about heroism and war that are soon
thwarted by a Swiss solider using her bedroom to hide from the
authorities. Arms and the Man is a three act play that's filled
with insightful observations about politics, tradition and
courtship. Raina is a young woman who's hopelessly devoted to her
fiance Sergius Saranoff. While he's away at war, she meets Captain
Bluntschli, a Swiss mercenary who enters her bedroom seeking
shelter from enemy troops. During his short stay, the pair engage
in a lively discussion about battles and bravery exposing their
opposing views. This random encounter sparks a series of events
that leads to a political and emotional awakening that changes
Raina's life forever. Arms and the Man is one of George Bernard
Shaw's earliest successes. It's a refreshing commentary on the
romanticism of war and faulty traditions. The play was originally
produced in 1894 and has been performed around the world for more
than hundred years. With an eye-catching new cover, and
professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Arms and the Man
is both modern and readable.
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 palace, she
soon discovers his true name. Following a brief exchange, the young
woman is relieved as Caesar has quelled her worst fears. Yet, in
the midst of a Roman occupation, Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy
engage in a bitter battle for the Egyptian throne. In Caesar and
Cleopatra, George Bernard Shaw explores the unique dynamic between
two of history's most notable figures. It's a cynical but
entertaining view of the political warfare that ravaged Ancient
Egypt. With his sharp prose, Shaw revitalizes the classic story and
its infamous characters. With an eye-catching new cover, and
professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Caesar and
Cleopatra is both modern and readable.
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 palace, she
soon discovers his true name. Following a brief exchange, the young
woman is relieved as Caesar has quelled her worst fears. Yet, in
the midst of a Roman occupation, Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy
engage in a bitter battle for the Egyptian throne. In Caesar and
Cleopatra, George Bernard Shaw explores the unique dynamic between
two of history's most notable figures. It's a cynical but
entertaining view of the political warfare that ravaged Ancient
Egypt. With his sharp prose, Shaw revitalizes the classic story and
its infamous characters. With an eye-catching new cover, and
professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Caesar and
Cleopatra is both modern and readable.
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Saint Joan (Paperback)
George Bernard Shaw; Introduction by Simon Mundy
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R242
Discovery Miles 2 420
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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The life of fifteenth-century heroine Joan of Arc is the stuff of
legend, and her cruel death (burnt at the stake aged just nineteen)
led to her being declared a martyr, granting her an impressive
legacy. Following her canonisation in 1920, and against a history
of overly romanticised retellings of the story, Bernard Shaw put
pen to paper to give a more accurate account, without resorting to
demonising her persecutors; as he writes in his preface, 'there are
no villains in the piece'. It was an immediate success, securing
him the Nobel Prize for Literature, although critics were initially
divided by this frank approach - T.S. Eliot was outraged, saying,
'instead of the saint or the strumpet of the legends... he has
turned her into a great middle-class reformer.' Nonetheless - or
perhaps even because of this controversy - Saint Joan is considered
one of Bernard Shaw's finest and most important plays. This edition
has an introduction by Simon Mundy, who has spent several years as
Vice-President of PEN International's Writers for Peace Committee,
and extensive explanatory notes.
The four dramas in this volume are some of George Bernard Shaw's
most interesting plays. They stretch from 1929 to 1935 and coincide
with the Great Depression, the intensification of the crisis of
democracy that began after the war, and the rise of
totalitarianism, all of which find expression in these plays. They
also signal the beginning of an important new phase in Shaw's
writing, one marked especially by the development of two new Shaw
genres: the political extravaganza and the political allegory. The
Apple Cart (1929) marked Shaw's return to playwriting after the
long hiatus that followed Saint Joan (1923). The Apple Cart is
perhaps the most pointed critique of parliamentary democracy in the
entire Shavian canon. Too True to Be Good (1931) is another
'political extravaganza', with the opening stage direction - 'The
patient is sleeping heavily. Near her, in the easy chair, sits a
Monster' --signaling that Shaw is advancing further into uncharted
dramaturgical territory. He began writing shortly before his trip
to the Soviet Union and finished the play and wrote the preface
after his return. In the preface Shaw asserts that the USSR is a
new Catholic church. The dark mood continues in Shaw's next play,
On the Rocks (1933) which Shaw subtitled, 'a political comedy'. It
is reminiscent of The Apple Cart in that it is sharply focused on
British politics and set in the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street
during the economic depression of the 1930s. Shaw started writing
The Millionairess in 1934 and finished it in 1935. On the surface,
it is a simple comedy, and if not for the preface we might
acquiesce to Shaw's assessment that the play 'oes not pretend to be
anything more than a comedy of humorous and curious contemporary
characters such as Ben Jonson might write'. Yet the preface
appended to the play is entirely about leadership and declaims at
great length on Mussolini and Hitler.
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Pygmalion (Paperback, New Ed)
George Bernard Shaw; Introduction by Nicholas Grene
2
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R245
R192
Discovery Miles 1 920
Save R53 (22%)
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Ships in 5 - 10 working days
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‘Yes, you squashed cabbage leaf … you incarnate insult to the English language: I could pass you off as the Queen of Sheba’ Pygmalion both delighted and scandalized its first audiences in 1914. A brilliantly witty reworking of the classical tale of the sculptor Pygmalion, who falls in love with his perfect female statue, it is also a barbed attack on the British class system and a statement of Shaw’s feminist views. In Shaw’s hands, the phoneticist Henry Higgins is the Pygmalion figure who believes he can transform Eliza Doolittle, a cockney flower girl, into a duchess at ease in polite society. The one thing he overlooks is that his ‘creation’ has a mind of her own. This is the definitive text under the editorial supervision of Dan H. Laurence, with an illuminating introduction by Nicholas Grene, discussing the language and politics of the play. Included in this volume is Shaw’s preface, as well as his ‘sequel’ written for the first publication in 1916, to rebut public demand for a more conventionally romantic ending.
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of
best-loved, essential classics. George Bernard Shaw's classic play
and satire of the British class system, first performed in 1913.
When professor of phonetics Henry Higgins wagers with Colonel
Pickering that he could teach even a gutter-mouthed flower seller
how to speak like a duchess, little does he expect that his social
experiment will be riddled with difficulties, and that behind her
cockney parlance the girl in question, Eliza Doolittle, has a mind,
ideas and aspirations of her own. Things come to a crux when the
creature starts to rebel against her creator – and the scene is
set for a play that questions the class system, social appearances
and the role of women in society. Universally regarded as Shaw’s
most successful work, Pygmalion – here presented in its
definitive 1941 version, with footnotes indicating the textual
variants from the first volume edition of 1916 – has spawned a
great number of adaptations, among them the famous 1956 Broadway
musical My Fair Lady, and shows ancient myth’s undiminished
ability to find new incarnations in modern life.
Enriched Classics offer readers accessible editions of great works
of literature enhanced by helpful notes and commentary. Each book
includes educational tools alongside the text, enabling students
and readers alike to gain a deeper and more developed understanding
of the writer and their work. An idealistic professor transforms an
unsophisticated Cockney girl into a refined young lady in this
classic drama set in turn-of-the-century London. This edition
includes: -A concise introduction that gives readers important
background information -A chronology of the author's life and work
-A timeline of significant events that provides the book's
historical context -An outline of key themes and plot points to
help readers form their own interpretations -Detailed explanatory
notes -Critical analysis including contemporary and modern
perspectives on the work -Discussion questions to promote lively
classroom and book group interaction -A list of recommended related
books and films to broaden the reader's experience Enriched
Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of
literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The
scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to
appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their
full potential.
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