Pygmalion (New Mermaids)

George Bernard Shaw

ISBN 10: 0713679972 / ISBN 13: 9780713679977

Published by Methuen Drama, 2008

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 9780713679977

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Pygmalion (New Mermaids)
• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0713679972
• ISBN 13: 9780713679977
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

`Not bloody likely'




Ever since Pygmalion opened in London in April 1914 it has proved a very controversial play, from the (then) shocking language, to arguments about its correct ending. Critical interpretations have been similarly disputatious, encompassing views of the transformation of the impoverished Eliza Doolittle by phonetics expert Henry Higgins as either a story of economic and social liberation, or an example of the perpetuation of male control and self-interest. With subsequent film and musical adaptations and many stage revivals, Pygmalion remains one of Shaw's most engaging, provocative, and accessible plays.




This new edition of Pygmalion includes Shaw's definitive text, with both Preface and Sequel, and provides the most comprehensive scholarly treatment of the play to date, containing:


- a substantial introduction with biographical information on Shaw

- detailed discussion of the genesis and sources of the play

- varying interpretations, and a lengthy international stage history.

- textual notes on each page explaining language, allusions, and staging

- Appendices with Shaw's discarded scenes for the play, the British Censor's 1914 report, and texts of all stage and film endings of Pygmalion.

About the Author

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was an Irish playwright and critic, whose plays are famous for their wit, eloquence and interest in provocative ideas. Inspired mainly by the social dramas of Ibsen, he began to write plays of his own while working as an arts critic, though they were not performed until later. His play Mrs Warren's Profession was banned by the Lord Chamberlain until 1925. Unable to find commercial audiences for his plays, Shaw wrote extensive Prefaces for them, elaborating on the social and moral themes that they explore. Subsequent plays include Major Barbara, Pygmalion, Heartbreak House, Back to Methuselah, and Saint Joan. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1925, and an Academy Award in 1938, for the screenplay of the film adaptation of Pygmalion, a film which would later form the basis for My Fair Lady.