George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw (July 26, 1856 – November 2, 1950) was an Irish playwright and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925.

Biography

Born in Dublin, Ireland to rather poor Protestant parents, Shaw was educated at Wesley College, Dublin and moved to London during the 1870s to embark on his literary career. He wrote five novels, all of which were rejected, before finding his first success as a music critic on the Star newspaper. In the meantime he had become involved in politics, and served as a local councillor in the St Pancras district of London for several years from 1897. He was a noted socialist who took a leading role in the Fabian Society.

Related Topics:
Dublin, Ireland - Protestant - Wesley College, Dublin - London - 1870s - Novel - St Pancras - 1897 - Socialist - Fabian Society

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In 1895, he became the drama critic of the Saturday Review, and this was the first step in his progress towards a lifetime's work as a dramatist. In 1898, he married an Irish heiress, Charlotte Payne-Townshend. His first successful play, Candida, was produced in the same year. He followed this up with a series of classic comedy-dramas, including The Devil's Disciple (1897), Arms and the Man (1898), Mrs Warren's Profession (1898), Captain Brassbound's Conversion (1900), Man and Superman (1902), Caesar and Cleopatra (1901), Major Barbara (1905), Androcles and the Lion (1912), and Pygmalion (1913). After World War I, on which he took a controversial stance, he produced more serious dramas, including Heartbreak House (1919) and Saint Joan (1923). A characteristic of Shaw's published plays is the lengthy prefaces that accompany them. In these essays, Shaw wrote more about his usually controversial opinions on the issues touched by the plays than about the plays themselves. Some prefaces are much longer than the actual play.

Related Topics:
1895 - 1898 - The Devil's Disciple - Arms and the Man - 1900 - Man and Superman - 1902 - Caesar and Cleopatra - 1901 - Major Barbara - 1905 - Androcles and the Lion - 1912 - Pygmalion - 1913 - World War I - 1919 - Saint Joan - 1923

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The political turmoil in his native country did not leave him untouched. He is said to have commented regarding the Easter Rising that not enough slum homes were destroyed that could have been rebuilt, and he campaigned against the executions of the rebel leaders. Shaw became a personal friend of the Cork-born IRA leader Michael Collins, whom he invited to his home for dinner while Collins was negotiating the Anglo-Irish Treaty with Lloyd-George in London. After Collins' assassination in 1922, Shaw sent a personal message of condolence to one of Collins' sisters.

Related Topics:
Easter Rising - Cork - IRA - Michael Collins - Anglo-Irish Treaty - Lloyd-George

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Shaw's correspondence with Mrs. Patrick Campbell was adapted for the stage by Jerome Kilty as DEAR LIAR: A Comedy of Letters. His letters to another prominent actress, Ellen Terry, have also been published and dramatised.

Related Topics:
Mrs. Patrick Campbell - Ellen Terry

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By the time of his death, Shaw was not only a household name in Britain, but a world figure. His ironic wit endowed the language with the adjective "Shavian", to refer to such clever observations as "England and America are two countries divided by a common language." http://www.worldandi.com/newhome/public/2003/may/bkpub.asp

Related Topics:
Britain - America

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Despite the fact that he was a democratic socialist, in the 1930s Shaw approved of the dictatorship of Stalin and also made some ambiguous statements that could be interpreted as being pro-Hitler. In 1945 in his preface to his play Geneva Shaw claimed that the majority of the victims of the Nazi extermination camps had in fact died of "overcrowding". However, he also stated that Hitler had become a "mad messiah" over time: Shaw contrasted this with the situation in the Soviet Union where, according to Shaw, "Stalin... made good by doing things better and much more promptly than parliaments". Shaw also made numerous anti-semitic comments at this time, although the extent to which he was merely being ironic or provocative is unclear. His (un-ironic) pro-Stalin bias is undeniable, however, although it is rarely commented on in discussions of his work. Perhaps the kindest way of looking at Shaw's political position is that he remained in many ways an Edwardian who never fully understood the politics of a totalitarian age.

Related Topics:
Democratic socialist - 1930s - Stalin - Hitler - 1945 - Nazi - Extermination camps - Soviet Union - Edwardian - Totalitarian

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Concerned about the inconsistency of English spelling, he willed a portion of his wealth to fund the creation of a new phonemic alphabet for the English language. On his death bed, he did not have much money to leave so no effort was made to start such a project. However, his estate began to earn significant royalties from the rights to Pygmalion when My Fair Lady, a musical based on the play, became a hit. It then became clear that the will was so badly worded that the relatives had grounds to challenge the will and in the end an out of court settlement granted a small portion of the money to promoting a new alphabet. This became known as the Shavian alphabet. The National Gallery of Ireland also received a substantial donation.

Related Topics:
English spelling - Phonemic - English language - My Fair Lady - Musical - Shavian alphabet - National Gallery of Ireland

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Shaw had a long time friendship with Gilbert Keith Chesterton, the Catholic-convert British writer, and there are many humorous stories about their complicated relationship. Another great friend was the composer Edward Elgar.

Related Topics:
Gilbert Keith Chesterton - Catholic - Edward Elgar

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Shaw is the only person ever to have won both a Nobel Prize (Literature in 1925) and an Academy Award (Best Screenplay for Pygmalion in 1938).

Related Topics:
1925 - Academy Award - 1938

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From 1906 until his death in 1950 at the age of 94 from natural causes, Shaw lived at Shaw's Corner in the small village of Ayot St Lawrence, Hertfordshire. The house is now a National Trust property, open to the public.

Related Topics:
1906 - 1950 - Shaw's Corner - Ayot St Lawrence - Hertfordshire - National Trust

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Shaw is the great uncle of author, actor, and filmmaker Scott Shaw.

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The Shaw Theatre, Euston Road, London was opened in 1971 to honour G.B. Shaw.

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