George Bernard Shaw and the Socialist Theatre

A biographically based study of George Bernard Shaw and his milieu, this book offers a non-laudatory reading of Shaw's economic practices and theories, augments feminist and postcolonial critiques that preoccupy the study of literary history in the 1990s, and provides a long overdue revisionist reading of Shaw for an undergraduate readership. It traces the theatrical and political influences on Shaw from his earliest days in London; tracks his interest in socialism as an activist and author of tracts, novels, and plays emphasizing certain polemical traits; and follows his career as a major literary figure into the mid-20th century. The overarching themes of theatre and politics are narrated in relation to attempts by Shaw and his contemporaries to identify an audience and aesthetic for socialist theatre. The bibliographic essay that concludes the book is particularly helpful for student readers, who can benefit from a manageably-sized orientation to the mountain of Shavian scholarship.

.,."the book's greatest strength lies precisely in its not being confined to biography, which allows Davis to present cogent historical analyses of the development and principles of socialism on several fronts....Davis makes it essential by the inclusion of a bibliographical essay that provides an exhaustive overview of background reading to broaden the context of the context this book presents. Anyone interested in pursuing further study on any of the issues touched on in the book itself will find ample suggestions here, arranged chronologically in the order the issues are discussed in the book. It is in its combination of biographical, socio-political, historical, and critical study that it becomes an invaluable resource for the "undergraduate readership" it seeks."-New England Theatre Journal, ?...the book's greatest strength lies precisely in its not being confined to biography, which allows Davis to present cogent historical analyses of the development and principles of socialism on several fronts....Davis makes it essential by the inclusion of a bibliographical essay that provides an exhaustive overview of background reading to broaden the context of the context this book presents. Anyone interested in pursuing further study on any of the issues touched on in the book itself will find ample suggestions here, arranged chronologically in the order the issues are discussed in the book. It is in its combination of biographical, socio-political, historical, and critical study that it becomes an invaluable resource for the "undergraduate readership" it seeks.?-New England Theatre Journal, ?What distinguishes this effort from other recent interpretations of Shaw, apart from its emphasis on theatrical trends and innovations, is a reading of the dramatist in the context of feminist, postmodernist, and post-colonial concerns--perspectives that do not often receive the attention they deserve. For college and university libraries.?-Choice, "What distinguishes this effort from other recent interpretations of Shaw, apart from its emphasis on theatrical trends and innovations, is a reading of the dramatist in the context of feminist, postmodernist, and post-colonial concerns--perspectives that do not often receive the attention they deserve. For college and university libraries."-Choice, ..."the book's greatest strength lies precisely in its not being confined to biography, which allows Davis to present cogent historical analyses of the development and principles of socialism on several fronts....Davis makes it essential by the inclusion of a bibliographical essay that provides an exhaustive overview of background reading to broaden the context of the context this book presents. Anyone interested in pursuing further study on any of the issues touched on in the book itself will find ample suggestions here, arranged chronologically in the order the issues are discussed in the book. It is in its combination of biographical, socio-political, historical, and critical study that it becomes an invaluable resource for the "undergraduate readership" it seeks."-New England Theatre Journal

TRACY C. DAVIS is Associate Professor of Theatre and English at Northwestern University. She has contributed to numerous books and anthologies, and is the author of Actresses as Working Women: Their Social Identity in Victorian Culture (1991).