Shaw, George Bernard

(born July 26, 1856, Dublin, Ire.—died Nov. 2, 1950, Ayot St. Lawrence, Hertfordshire, Eng.) Irish playwright and critic. After moving to London in 1876, he worked for years as a music and art critic, wrote book and theatre reviews, and was an active member of the socialist Fabian Society. In his first play, Widowers' Houses (1892), he emphasized social and economic issues instead of romance, adopting the ironic comedic tone that would characterize all his work.

He described his first plays as “unpleasant” because they forced the spectator to face unpleasant facts; these plays include Mrs. Warren's Profession (1893), which concerns prostitution and was barred from performance until 1902. He then wrote four “pleasant” plays, including the comedies Arms and the Man (1894) and Candida (1895). His next plays include Caesar and Cleopatra (1899) and Man and Superman (1905). He used high comedy to explore society's foibles in Major Barbara (1905), The Doctor's Dilemma (1911), and Pygmalion (1913), his comedic masterpiece. Other notable plays include Androcles and the Lion (1912), Heartbreak House (1919), and Saint Joan (1923). His other writings and speeches made him a controversial public figure for much of his life. He received the Nobel Prize in 1925.

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