Bernard Shaw

Born in Dublin on July 26, 1856, Bernard Shaw became one of the most influential playwrights in the English language. He wrote more than sixty plays and was also a critic, essayist, and public speaker, with a style that mixed humor, provocation, and serious social debate.

Many of his best-known works take familiar subjects—romance, ambition, religion, war, class—and turn them inside out. Pygmalion became especially famous for its story of language and social class, while Man and Superman, Major Barbara, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, and Saint Joan show the range of his ideas and dramatic energy.

Shaw was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for 1925, and his influence on modern theatre lasted far beyond his lifetime. He died on November 2, 1950, in Ayot St. Lawrence, England, leaving behind plays that are still admired for their intelligence, comedy, and fearless questioning of accepted beliefs.