Widowers’ Houses is one of three of Shaw’s plays known as the as Plays Unpleasant. His first staged play, Widowers’ Houses, premiered at the Royalty Theatre in 1892. He shifted his focus from politics to playwriting in the 1890s and would establish a reputation as a major dramatist by the beginning of the 20th century. Shaw’s support of socialism often figures thematically into his writing. He joined the Fabian Society, a recently formed British socialist organization, in 1884. Shaw became politically active during this time, attending meetings with the Social Democratic Federation. His first published works were novels, though he is best known for his dramas. Shaw took odd jobs while in London, but it wasn’t until the 1880s that he began to make a livable income from writing. Bessie left for London in 1873 with his two older sisters, and Shaw followed them there in 1876. Shaw unhappily attended four schools in his youth and developed a deep distaste for formal education. George Bernard Shaw was born in 1856 in Dublin, the youngest child of George Carr Shaw, a civil servant, and Lucinda Elizabeth (Bessie) Shaw, a singer.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |