1 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/georgebernardshaw.jpg]] |
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3 | George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950) was an Irish playwright, noted for his satirical wit. |
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5 | His best-known plays include ''Theatre/{{Pygmalion}}'', ''Theatre/ArmsAndTheMan'', ''Mrs. Warren's Profession'', ''Man and Superman'', ''Theatre/TheDevilsDisciple'' and ''Theatre/SaintJoan''. |
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7 | ''Arms and the Man'' inspired the operetta ''The Chocolate Soldier'', and ''Pygmalion'' inspired the musical ''Theatre/MyFairLady''. |
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9 | Shaw is the only writer to have been awarded both the UsefulNotes/NobelPrizeInLiterature and an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward (the latter for the screenplay of the 1938 film adaptation of ''Pygmalion''). |
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11 | His will funded a contest to create a new non-Latin alphabet for the English language. Four of the winning entries were combined to create [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shavian_alphabet the Shavian alphabet]], which first appeared in 1962 in a special edition of another Shaw play, ''Theatre/AndroclesAndTheLion''. |
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13 | [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%89_George_Bernard_Shaw_(P64) The Irish Navy has decided to honour his legacy by naming a ship after him.]] |
14 | ---- |
15 | !!Works by George Bernard Shaw with their own trope pages include: |
16 | [[index]] |
17 | * ''Theatre/AndroclesAndTheLion'' |
18 | * ''Theatre/ArmsAndTheMan'' |
19 | * ''Film/CaesarAndCleopatra''[[note]]film adaptation of the play, he collaborated on it[[/note]] |
20 | * ''Theatre/TheDevilsDisciple'' |
21 | * ''Theatre/MajorBarbara'' |
22 | * ''Theatre/{{Pygmalion}}'' |
23 | * ''Theatre/SaintJoan'' |
24 | [[/index]] |
25 | ---- |
26 | !!Other works by George Bernard Shaw provide examples of: |
27 | |
28 | * ActuallyIAmHim: In ''Caesar and Cleopatra'', 16-year-old Cleopatra is hiding from the invading Romans, and she runs into a nice old man who turns out to be Caesar ''after'' she's said quite a few things she wouldn't have if she'd known, including repeating a rumour that Caesar has a nose as big as an elephant's. |
29 | * AuthorFilibuster: His socialist views (he was a prominent figure in the Fabian Society) sneak into many characters. |
30 | * DumpThemAll: In ''Theatre/MrsWarrensProfession''. |
31 | * AHellOfATime: In the "Don Juan in Hell" sequence in ''Man and Superman'', Hell is a relatively pleasant place... |
32 | --->'''Don Juan:''' Hell, Señora, is a place for the wicked. The wicked are quite comfortable. |
33 | * LiteraryAllusionTitle: "Man and Superman" is an allusion to ''Literature/ThusSpakeZarathustra'' |
34 | * NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: |
35 | ** "Immenso Champernoon" (Creator/GKChesterton) in ''Back to Methuselah''. |
36 | ** "Private Meek" (UsefulNotes/TELawrence) in ''Too True to Be Good''. |
37 | * SatanIsGood: In the "Don Juan in Hell" dream-sequence interlude of ''Man and Superman'', the difference between Heaven and Hell is not presented as being between good and evil. Rather, Hell is a place for those who love pleasure, love and beauty to be happy; Heaven is a place for the higher-minded, intellectual, aspiring sorts who worship the "Life Force" (a philosophical concept in which Shaw, apparently, actually believed). The Devil is a gentleman who left Heaven and set up Hell because he found Heaven intolerably boring. God is not mentioned at all; the implication is that there is no God, save the Life Force. |
38 | * ThereAreTwoKindsOfPeopleInTheWorld: ''Maxims for Revolutionists'' #124: |
39 | -->The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. |
40 | * UnbuiltTrope: ''The Doctor's Dilemma'', written in 1906, features a character named Jennifer Dubedat. At that point "Jennifer" was a very rare feminine name, to the extent that Shaw had to have her explain its origin. With Jennifer eventually becoming a common, almost cliched name for girls later in the century, the exchange becomes HilariousInHindsight |
41 | -->'''Mrs. Dubedat''': My name is Jennifer.\ |
42 | '''Ridgeon''': A strange name.\ |
43 | '''Mrs. Dubedat''': Not in Cornwall. I am Cornish. It’s only what you call Guinevere. |
44 | * TheUnpronounceable: |
45 | ** In ''Caesar and Cleopatra'', none of the Romans can pronounce the name of Cleopatra's nurse Ftatateeta. |
46 | --->'''Ftatateeta:''' Who pronounces the name of Ftatateeta, the Queen's chief nurse?\ |
47 | '''Caesar:''' Nobody can pronounce it, Tota, except yourself. |
48 | ** In ''Misalliance'', there's a running joke of no one being able to pronounce (or spell) Lena Szczepalowska's last name -- while Lena herself can't fathom why everyone's having so much trouble with it[[note]]It's a perfectly normal [[UsefulNotes/{{Poland}} Polish]] surname (maybe ''Szczepałowska'' would be more standard, but this is pronouncable), so she has a point[[/note]]. |
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