Pygmalion

George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and critic. Before writing plays, he worked for years as a music and art critic, wrote book and theatre reviews, and was an active member of the Fabian Society. Later, even as he established himself as a prominent playwright, his writings and speeches made him a controversial public figure for much of his life. Widowers’ Houses was his first play in which he highlighted social and economic issues instead of romance and adopted the ironic comedic tone. He described his early plays as “unpleasant” because they forced the spectator to face unpleasant facts. He received the Nobel Prize in 1925.

Then Shaw wrote four “pleasant” plays, including Arms and the Man and Candida. His next plays include Caesar and Cleopatra and Man and Superman. Shaw used comedy to explore society’s foibles in Major Barbara, The Doctor’s Dilemma, and Pygmalion.