Page 6 - pygmalion demo

About George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw, born on July 26, 1856, was a leading dramatist of his time.
In addition to his contributions as a playwright, he was a music and theater critic, a
novelist, and an outspoken social reformer.

Shaw was born in Dublin as the third and last child of George Carr and Lucinda
Elizabeth Gurly Shaw. He suffered what he described as “a devil of a childhood.” His
father was a civil servant turned unsuccessful corn merchant, as well as an alcoholic—
all of which reduced the family to living in genteel poverty. His mother—the daughter
of a well-to-do family—found escape from the family difficulties in music. A
professional singer and student of the conductor George Vandeleur Lee, she eventually
followed him to London to pursue her own career and improve her situation. These
life events encouraged Shaw to be a life-long teetotaler (person who does not drink
alcohol), imbued him with a strong interest in music, and kindled his sensitivity to the
plight of women in Victorian society.

In 1876, Shaw joined his mother and Vandeleur Lee in London. He expanded his
knowledge of music to include literature. He read voraciously, attended socialist
lectures and debates, and pursued a career in journalism and writing. His first attempts
to write prose—a string of five novels—were rejected by publishers. However, he did
land a job as a freelance critic for an influential daily paper, the Pall Mall Gazette.
The liberal political leanings of the paper were in line with Shaw’s growing interest in
socialism. His articles and critiques of art, music, and theater written for this and other
publications brought him at last to the attention of London literary society.

Shaw’s interest in socialism had a profound effect on his writing. In 1884, he joined
the recently established Fabian Society, a British socialist organization intent on
advancing the principles of non-Marxist evolutionary socialism. He became one of
its leading members and regularly wrote and lectured on socialist topics. Often he
focused on themes of marriage, education, politics, class struggle, and religion. As
a self-professed socialist, Shaw was a vigorous proponent of gender equality. He
believed that all people have a purpose in life and that women were being denied the
chances to play their critical roles in society. He actively supported efforts to alter the
marriage laws, eliminate patriarchy, establish female suffrage, and recast gender roles.
Shaw felt that “unless woman repudiates her womanliness, her duty to her husband, to
her children, to society, to the law, and to everyone but herself, she cannot emancipate

4 Pygmalion - George Bernard Shaw