Plays by George Bernard Shaw

by George Bernard Shaw

Book Overview

George Bernard Shaw demanded truth and despised convention. He punctured hollow pretensions and smug prudishness--coating his criticism with ingenious and irreverent wit. In Mrs. Warren's Profession ,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451529448
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Signet
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.1" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

G.B. Shaw collection

Plays: Man & Superman; Candida; Arms & the Man; Mrs Warren's Profession [Signet Classics] Well worth the purchase and just what I needed.

The best of GBS

This should be required reading just for the "Don Juan in Hell" act of Man and Superman --an excerpt "Your friends are all the dullest dogs I know. They are not beautiful: they are only decorated. They are not clean: they are only shaved and starched. They are not dignified: they are only fashionably dressed. They are not educated: they are only college passmen. They are not religious: they are only pewrenters. They are not moral: they are only conventional. They are not virtuous: they are only cowardly...." One of my science teachers recited this famous speech in the lab one day, just to show off, and I started appreciating Shaw. Funny thing is that of all the playwrights, GBS is the best just to read. Except for Pygmalion and maybe Arms and the Man, most of Shaw's plays are too "talky" to stage well, but read like short stories. If you haven't read them, you are in for a treat.

A Good Shaw Overview

This would be an excellent collection to have for anyone looking for a taste of Shaw's basic philosophies about socialism--and of course, a good way of finding out how his writing suits you.Some thought provoking social statements are made in all four plays, though some of the prefaces might be more informative about the author than the plays themselves. Great witticisms and depsite the sometimes heavy philosophy, the reading is light and quick. The last play, Man And Superman, perhaps his most significant play in terms of philosophy, pure and simple, would be fun reading but the socialist's handbook given at the end would definitely not be everyone's cup of tea, unless they're philosophy students. This can be skipped without spoiling the play though, which contains some of the most excellent dialogue I've come across in a play with philosophical overtones.All Oscar Wilde and Chesterton lovers would appreciate the epigrams and the witty one-liners. If for nothing else, Shaw is worth reading for his lovely style of execution, the flowing conversations and some uncanny insight.