George Bernard Shaw Biography Notable works and facts

George Bernard Shaw Profile

Name: G.B. Shaw

Full Name: George Bernard Shaw

Birth Date: 26 July 1856

Birth Place: Portobello, Dublin, Ireland

Death Date: November 1950

Death Place: Ayot St Lawrence, Hertfordshire, England

Cause of Death: Kidney Failure

Death Age: 94

Buried place: Shaw's Corner, Ayot St Lawrence

Nationality : (Dual nationality)British (1856-1950), Irish (1934-1950)

Occupation: Playwright, Polemicist Critic,  political activist

Parents: George Carr Shaw (Father), Lucinda Elizabeth Shaw (Mother)

Siblings: Lucinda (Lucy) Frances Shaw (1953-1920) and Elinor Agnes Shaw (1855-1976)

Spouse: Charlotte Payne-Townshen (m. 1898; died 1943)

Children: Jane Bernard Shaw, Robert Bernard Shaw

NOTABLE WORKS

1. Arms and the Man
2. Man and Superman
3. Saint Joan
4. Caesar and Cleopatra
5. Heartbreak House
6. Major Barbara
7. The Doctor's Dilemma
8. Androcles and the Lion
9. Mrs Warren's Professor's
10. Pygmalion
11. The Man of Destiny
12. You Never Can Tell
13. Devil's Discipline

Awards And Achievements

1. Nobel Prize in Literature (1925)
2. Academy Award for Best Writing Adapted Screenplay (1939)
3. New York Drama Critics' Circle Special Citation (1952)

George Bernard Shaw Early Life and Education

George Bernard Shaw was an Irish dramatist. He was one of the greatest dramatists all over the world. Also, he is called the father of modern English literature. After Shakespeare, no dramatist equals Shaw in a variety of characters. George Bernard Shaw status as the greatest playwright soon after Shakespeare. He is known as the greatest modern dramatist.

Shaw was born on July 26, 1856, At his ten, he was sent to school but he received from there a scanty education. Most of his cultural background, he owned to his mother. At the age of fifteen, Shaw worked for five years as a clerk in a land agent's office. Then he went to London with his mother where he now and then earned a few shilling.

George Bernard Shaw Career and Contribution of Literature

He became an active member of the Fabian Society which was founded in 1884. He did much in the campaign to disseminate the ideals of Fabian socialism. He earned popularity as a journalist and critics. From 1873 to 1883, George Bernard Shaw tried to become a novelist by writing four novels. But they were a failure and this failure made him a playwright. His play “Widowers” published in 1892, made a mild hit. Afterwards, Shaw wrote play after play. Among them

1. Arms and the Man
2. Candida
3. Man and Superman and
4. Saint Joan are famous.

He adopted a humorous and witty approach in his play “ Arms and the Man.” It was a pleasant play where he satirized the romantic conception of soldiers. The book achieved great popularity. Shaw's other books like ‘Candida’, The Man of Destiny, ‘You Never Can Tell’ etc. present ‘the ordinariness’ of the character. Shaw's work ‘Devil's Disciple', ‘Caesar and Cleopatra’ satirize the melodrama and brings out the narrowness of life.

His comedies have a moral overtone which is thoroughly amusing. He mixes witticism with flippancy in order to reveal an idea. In fact, Shaw's dramas are called a drama of ideas. In other words, he expresses his ideas through the comic and humorous situation.

His masterpiece “Man and Superman” deals half-seriously, half comically with women's pursuits of her mate. Shaw's idea of life force is expressed in this play. He wants to show the world a way to achieve perfection by the selective breeding which will eventually produce the superman.

Features of George Bernard Shaw Plays

1. His Idea

Shaw believed that the ideas of his plays were the most important features. He saw the stage as a platform for his views. He will be remembered as a dramatist, because of the ideas with which he inspired his generation. The fundamental aim in his drama was the bettering of a lot of humanity.

He examines the man and his social institution with intellectual courage and mocks at the romantic view of life. Slum-dwellers, prostitution, marriage convention, money, property, social prejudices, romanticised soldiers, the medical profession, religion etc. are but some of the people and things that came under the microscope of his rationalism. Shaw tries to show the other side of the accepted picture of life and society.

2. His Prefaces

In the prefaces, he expounds his views which are more or less connected with the theme of his play. Sometimes it seems that the preface itself gives us a definite statement of his ideas rather than the plays. Often they reveal deep thought. He appears as a reformer in his prefaces.

3. His Wit

Shaw's wit runs through his plays. With “Arms and the Man” it began to have great prominence. His sense of fun is undying. In his drama there is an endless stream of exuberant vitality and gaiety of spirit. Shaw hardly touches the depth of true tragic. He seems to distrust the emotion towards love and marriage but idea matters to him.

4. His Character

After Shakespeare, no dramatist equals Shaw in a variety of character. The characters of Shaw are largely seen as the products, good or bad of society. They are the representative of ideas. Shaw caricatures them. He is also successful in the creation of a woman character. However, he has no real here and no villains.

5. His dramatic Technique

In spite of his emphasis on ideas, Shaw has shown great skill in his art if characterization. He makes use of mistaken awareness, variety of mood to suit his purpose. His unconventional use of the traditional convention makes his a unique dramatist in the modern age.

Nobel Prize

In 1925, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his great contribution in literature.

Death

Three weeks after his ninety-fifty birthday, George Bernard Shaw died 1950.