George Bernard Shaw

Paper Summary:

This paper describes the works, political and social beliefs and life of playwright George Bernard Shaw. It also discusses Shaw's influence on British and world theater and analyzes his most successful plays and the characters.

From the Paper:

"George Bernard Shaw would hate to be called a great English playwright. Not that the "great" part would bother him. But he was born in Ireland (and died there at age 94). As one of his biographers put it: "Shaw draws from his own nation two unquestionable qualities, a kind of intellectual chastity, and the fighting spirit." Where some "names" we may be familiar withm\, Oscar Wilde and Noel Coward, sparred and took on "society" with clever words, Shaw was far more than a writer of clever, interesting plays. He was opening the eyes of his audiences well beyond the theatre to the struggle of class, and education. There is always a social moral to be found in his plays. As a pacifist and a Fabian socialist, he usually undertook to defend the poor and the unwary against the foibles of the leisure class."

More papers on George Bernard Shaw:

• Analytical Essay # 136506 : "George Bernard Shaw: "Arms and the Man"
• Analytical Essay # 104765 : "George Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara"
• Book Review # 111260 : "George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: