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MonkeyNotes-Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw
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In 1884 the Fabian society was founded. It was a British adaptation of Marx. Shaw persuaded Sidney Web to join the Fabian society; this association with Web lasted till the latter died. The other people he met through the Fabian society were Annie Besant and William Morris. The Fabian society wanted to " reconstruct society in accordance with the highest moral principles." Shaw was interested in socialism because he wished to wipe out poverty because poverty bred poor citizens.

The next important landmark in his life was his association with William Archer whom he had met at the British Museum. He was a Scottish drama critic who was translating the plays of Ibsen into English. Through him Shaw became art critic of the "World," music critic for the "star" and he reviewed books for "The Pall Mall Gazette." From 1890 to 1894 he reviewed music for the "World".

Ibsen's "A Doll's House" was produced for the first time in England by the Independent Theatre in 1889. In 1891 they produced Ibsen's "Ghost". This was to be one of the most important literary influence on Shaw and also on British drama. In 1891 Shaw published "The Quintessence of Ibsenism" which was the first important interpretation of Ibsen in English.

Shaw's first play, "Widower's Houses" was produced by the Independent Theatre in 1892. Another major writer Oscar Wilde's first play 'Lady Windermere's Fan" was also produced in the same year. "Widower's Houses" was followed by "Mrs. Warren's Profession" which was banned but subsequently produced in 1902 . With the success of "Arms and the Man" and "Candida" in 1894 Shaw was established as a leading British playwright. Between 1895 and 1898, he became London's leading drama critic and wrote for "Saturday Review." This experience was of great importance, as he was a good judge of drama. These essays were published later in three volumes as "Our Theaters in the Nineties" by Miss Charlotte Payne Townshend.


In 1898 he married an old friend whom he had met in the Fabian society. From 1892 to 1900 he produced "Plays Unpleasant", which included "Widower's Houses", "Miss Warren's Profession" and "The Philanderer" : these were propagandist plays; "Plays Pleasant" include "Arms and the Man" "Candida", "You Never Can Tell" and "The Man of Destiny" and "Plays for Puritans" which includes "The Devil's Disciple," Caesar and Cleopatra" and "Captain Brassbound's Conversion."

In 1899 he wrote "Captain Brassbound's Conversion" and "Caesar and Cleopatra" and in 1903 he wrote "Man and Superman" with a full-scale Shavian preface. "Man and Superman" was produced in 1905 and was a great success. Under the management of Granville Barker and J.E. Vedrenne, Shaw's plays were performed at the Royal Court Theatre. The plays were so successful that between 1904 and 1907 there were 711 performances of eleven of Shaw's plays. Some of the plays that were performed were "John Bull's other Island", "Major Barbara" and "The Doctor's Dilemma". His plays were also successfully produced in the continent and in the "United States". The plays that he wrote between 1908 and 1910 are less interesting, they are "Press Cuttings", "Getting Married" and "Misalliance". Between 1911 and 1914 "Fanny's First Play", "Androcles and the Lion" and "Pygmalion" were written and were very successful. "Pygmalion" was successful in London's fashionable "West End Theaters". The success of "My Fair Lady" a musical adaptation of "Pygmalion" was phenomenal both on stage and screen. After the war broke out in 1914, he wrote "Heartbreak House" and "Back to Methuselah" followed by "St. Joan" in 1923. He received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1925. In 1929 he wrote "The Apple Cart". In 1932 he went to the United States for the first time, he then went to New Zealand. His wife died in 1943 and he passed away on November 2, 1950.

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