6. ‘Extravagant’

‘Extravagant’ discusses how George Bernard Shaw’s plays continue to experiment with dramatic structure and style as he recovers his optimism in social progress amid the devastating effects of the Great War. As he pursued ‘extravagant’ flexibility in stage convention, Shaw was also stepping beyond the confines of his Fabian Socialism. The Apple Cart (1928), On the Rocks (1933), and Geneva (1936) were written at a time when Shaw seriously pondered the efficacy of enlightened authoritarian government in accelerating advancement of the species.

5. ‘Political’

‘Political’ details a difficult time in George Bernard Shaw’s career when his views about the First World War placed him intensely at odds with public opinion. Shaw’s journalism castigates British nationalism and foreign policy, boldly assigning culpability for the conflict to failed government leadership on both sides. His major plays throughout the 1920s were also composed in the war’s long shadow and vitalized by the principles Shaw enumerated in his recent, controversial public writings. The chapter then examines Shaw’s Heartbreak House (1916–17), Back to Methuselah (1918–20), Saint Joan (1923), and Too True to Be Good (1931). The success of Saint Joan and the award of the 1925 Nobel Prize for Literature solidified Shaw as Britain’s pre-eminent playwright.

4. ‘Puritan’

‘Puritan’ focuses on George Bernard Shaw’s moulding of stage comedy to dramatize the workings of his emerging religion, christened ‘Creative Evolution’ in 1916. Under the aegis of the Life Force, Shaw’s ambition to create a ‘big book of devotion for modern people’ was fortified by an evangelism that would yoke all of his varied writings. The chapter then looks at Shaw’s Man and Superman (1901–2), which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre. Two other plays by Shaw—John Bull's Other Island (1904) and Major Barbara (1905)—continue his enquiry into how the institutions of worldly power can best be of service to the Life Force.

1. ‘GBS’

‘GBS’ explores George Bernard Shaw’s early years in Dublin, the forging of his professional roots in London, and the creation of his ‘GBS’ persona. While he would often belie the extent of their influence, his earliest experiences sowed the seeds of that distinctive political and artistic Shavian sensibility. Taking up the mantle of public advocacy, the young Shaw became a sought-after tract writer, speech giver, debater, and activist crusader on behalf of a variety of social causes. He also worked as an art, music, book, and drama reviewer for a number of periodicals. For Shaw, journalism represented an opportunity to inform, inspire, and provoke the public directly.

Introduction: ‘Shavian’

The Introduction presents a vivid portrait of GBS, or George Bernard Shaw. Shaw was at heart a consummate performer, and his meticulous curating of his ‘GBS’ persona across platforms of all kinds made him one of the world’s most recognizable public intellectuals and literary figures throughout much of his long life.

2. ‘Unpleasant’

‘Unpleasant’ studies George Bernard Shaw’s first three plays, which he published together in a volume titled Plays Unpleasant in 1898. Inspired by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, these plays show his understanding of writing for the stage as a unique opportunity for Fabian activism. Widowers’ Houses (1892) focuses on the shameful living conditions of the working poor in urban slums. The Philanderer (1893) and Mrs Warren’s Profession (1893) tackle the constrictions for women in relation to money and marriage. For Shaw, playwriting was another outlet to confront a culture with its own moral hypocrisy and provoke discussion of ‘unmentionable’ topics tied to discrimination, injustice, and social oppression.

3. ‘Pleasant’

‘Pleasant’ examines the plays contained in George Bernard Shaw’s 1898 volume Plays Pleasant, namely Arms and the Man (1893–4), Candida (1894), The Man of Destiny (1895), and You Never Can Tell (1895–6), and concludes with the zenith of Shaw’s ‘pleasant’ comedy, Pygmalion (1912). In them, Shaw turned tropes drawn from romantic and sentimental comedy, the comedy of manners, and farce against one another, challenging the audience’s assumptions and expectations. Frequently making characters who adhere to conventional values and beliefs buffoonish, Shaw uses humour to reclaim the theatre as an arena dedicated to the dissection of the status quo.

7. ‘Farfetched’

‘Farfetched’ focuses on the end of George Bernard Shaw’s life and his own sense of his legacy. In crafting the title of the 1948 allegorical digest of his beliefs Farfetched Fables, Shaw selects the adjective ‘farfetched’ to describe the breadth of its mythic vision. The word is equally apt when applied to Shaw’s longevity, the scale of his thinking, and the extended, sustained reach of his writing. Alongside other attempts in his final years to encapsulate the Shavian sensibility, Sixteen Self Sketches (1949) indicates his investment in shaping how he would be remembered. Shaw’s relationship to posterity is reflected in his extended engagement with William Shakespeare’s work, particularly in Shakes versus Shav (1949).