George Bernard Shaw is perhaps the most popular playwright in the world known for his unique approaches to common social and political themes in his works. This Dublin-born literary icon won Nobel Prize in Literature in the year 1925.
Personal Profile of Bernard Shaw
Born in 1856 to George Carr Shaw and Lucinda Elizabeth Shaw, the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw celebrated his birthday on the 26th day of July. After completing formal school education from different schools in Dublin, Shaw worked as an estate office clerk for a couple of years, quite reluctantly. The budding of his literary career started shortly after he moved to London to his mother. In London, as an active member of the Fabian Society he wrote pamphlets for them. While in London, he also visited the reading rooms of the British Museum and the public libraries, for extensive studies. By this time, he had made up his mind to become a professional writer.
The first published literary work of Bernard Shaw comprised the ghost-writings, which he did for the musical albums of Vandeleur Lee. The literary career of Shaw witnessed temporary setbacks between 1879 and 1883, when the readers disapproved a handful of his novels. However, there was no looking back for Shaw in the post-1885 era, which discovered him as an established literary and art critic.
Unique Features of Shavian Works
The name of Shaw is associated with the advent of modern literature. The literary achievements of Bernard Shaw include dramas, novels, and critical literary essays. However, it is the Shavian dramas which have earned him immense fame and popular accolades not only in his lifetime, but till date as well. The distinctive trait of Shavian works is that Shaw was capable of offering completely new outlook and dimension to even the most unpleasant aspects of life like prostitution.
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Hence, in "Mrs. Warren's Profession", he depicted prostitution not as a social stigma but explored its root cause, poverty, which compelled women to carry on with this profession. Again in "Arms and the Man", he deliberately attacked the false beliefs associated with both love and warfare. He stripped off war from all glories and heroisms, revealing the naked truth that a soldier's life was not romantic, but shadowed by impending deaths. Similarly, he did justice with the notion of love, as nurtured by the aristocratic women of the time. In the process, he made love the target of his satires, discouraging unnecessary hero-worship, which required a lot of pretensions on the part of the lovers.
The comic style which Shaw used in his plays shadowed the grave undertones contained in them. In fact, wit defined the true essence of Shavian comedies. His sense of humor was unparalleled. Satire was the tool which helped him to indicate various institutionalized flaws prevalent in the then society. Shavian character portrayals involved clarity and diversity. The theme of Shavian dramas were time and again, the problems associated with social and institutions like marriage, class distinction, social bigotry, education, government, health care and religion.
Shavian Works
Bernard Shaw's drama are categorized into pleasant and unpleasant plays. Pleasant plays, were comedies like Candida, Arms and the Man, You Can Never Tell and The Man of Destiny, which were written by Shaw to entertain and amuse the audience. Widower's House, Mrs Warren's Profession, The Philanderer, Major Barbara, Caesar & Cleopatra, St Joan and Man and Superman are some of his unpleasant plays. Treatise on parents and children, How to write a popular play and Quintessence of Ibsenism are some of the popular essays of Bernard Shaw.
The world famous Irish playwright died on November 2, 1950. George Bernard Shaw will always be remembered as one of the greatest literary figures of all times.
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