George Bernard Shaw

1895 - 1910 - Fabianism and a time for social reform

(1856-1950) George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw was a writer of great élan and perception who brought much colour and vivacity to contemporary life of the period. His writings were diverse and covered the fields of politics, religion, and literature. He was noted for his satire and verbal artistry, the controversy around him, his politics, and the persona of 'GBS'. He was an early and devoted member of the Fabian Society, joining it in September 1884, and he contributed to and edited the definitive Fabian Essays in Socialism (1889). He adopted a pragmatic and welfare-oriented approach to politics in which the concepts of right and faith were central to a progressive socialist realism seeking equality. He was a local government councillor in St.Pancras from 1897-1903.

He and the Webbs were to disagree over the School's purpose and its political neutrality. For Shaw the School should be explicitly collectivist in outlook and teaching; for the Webbs, the School had one purpose: unbiased and objective study to discover the truth of the matter. The Webb perspective was to guide the School, and Shaw's political energies were absorbed elsewhere.

Shaw first made his name as a music critic (1888-94) and by his dramatic criticism (1895-98). Post 1898, his reputation stems from his qualities as a playwright and the 'Shavian' style and themes he developed in his work throughout his career. He is best remembered for his drama, plays like Candida (1897), Man and Superman (1902), Misalliance (1910), and Heartbreak House (1919). The 'anti-romantic' comedy Pygmalion (1913) was subsequently turned into the musical My Fair Lady. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925 'for his work which is marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty.'