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كيف كذب على زوجها

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George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin in 1856. Before becoming a playwright he wrote music and literary criticism. Shaw used his writing to attack social problems such as education, marriage, religion, government, health care, and class privilege.Shaw was particularly conscious of the exploitation of the working class.How He Lied to Her Husband is a one act play set in an English drawing room. The characters are Henry, a beautiful young man, a middle aged woman, and her husband, Teddy. Aurora is distressed because poems written by Henry, her lover, are gone. When her husband confronts the two, young Henry tries to convince him the poems were inspired by the goddess Aurora and not Aurora the woman. At the end of the play Teddy wants the poems published as a tribute to his wife. "What shall we call the volume?," Teddy asks. "To Aurora, or something like that, eh?," to which Henry replies, "I should call it How He Lied to Her Husband."

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First published June 1, 2004

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George Bernard Shaw

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George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright, socialist, and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama. Over the course of his life he wrote more than 60 plays. Nearly all his plays address prevailing social problems, but each also includes a vein of comedy that makes their stark themes more palatable. In these works Shaw examined education, marriage, religion, government, health care, and class privilege.

An ardent socialist, Shaw was angered by what he perceived to be the exploitation of the working class. He wrote many brochures and speeches for the Fabian Society. He became an accomplished orator in the furtherance of its causes, which included gaining equal rights for men and women, alleviating abuses of the working class, rescinding private ownership of productive land, and promoting healthy lifestyles. For a short time he was active in local politics, serving on the London County Council.

In 1898, Shaw married Charlotte Payne-Townshend, a fellow Fabian, whom he survived. They settled in Ayot St. Lawrence in a house now called Shaw's Corner.

He is the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize for Literature (1925) and an Oscar (1938). The former for his contributions to literature and the latter for his work on the film "Pygmalion" (adaptation of his play of the same name). Shaw wanted to refuse his Nobel Prize outright, as he had no desire for public honours, but he accepted it at his wife's behest. She considered it a tribute to Ireland. He did reject the monetary award, requesting it be used to finance translation of Swedish books to English.

Shaw died at Shaw's Corner, aged 94, from chronic health problems exacerbated by injuries incurred by falling.

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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
Profile Image for Esraa Jad.
175 reviews17 followers
July 5, 2017
مراجعة
#كيف_كذب_علي_زوجها
إنها التجربة الأولي والرائعة مع #برنارد_شو
عرفت عندما قرأت له أن برنارد شو كاتب مميز لا يكتب أحد مثله ، فنادرا ما تجد من يكتب بأسلوب السخرية اللاذعة هذه مع الكوميدية الظريفة في آن واحد ، بالإضافة إلي حضور الذهن .
هذه المسرحية من مشهد واحد هي مسرحية صغيرة ولكنها تناقش بعض السمات النفسية للرجل والمرأة
ففيها يحب أحدهم واحدة جميلة بل أجمل من ألوف النساء ، وهي أيضا تنساق معه في هذه النزوة بالرغم من كونها متزوجة ، ولكنها تحب أن تكون محبوبة من الجميع ومحط أنظارهم ، ولكن عندما أحست أنها مهددة بفقد زوجها ، تراجعت وأعترفت أنها ظنت أنها مجرد لعبة ستفرغ منها في وقت ما عندما تريد ولم تعرف أن ذلك قد يؤدي إلي انفصالها عن زوجها ، فقررت مع عشيقها الكذب علي زوجها محاولة بذلك الحفاظ علي العلاقة التي بينهم .

يعلم الزوج بخيانة زوجته ولكن الغريب في الأمر أنه لم يثر إلا عندما انكر العشيق أنه يحب زوجته وان العلاقة التي تجمع بينهما هي مجرد علاقة سطحية ولا يكن لها اي مشاعر ، فغضب في حنق شديد ، فذكر له أن زوجته قد أحبها من هم أفضل وأنبل منه فكيف يتجرأ ويقول أنه لم يقع في غرامها وهي التي لم يصمد أمامها رجل لثلاثة أيام .
وفي النهاية. أعترف العشيق بفعلته فارتاح الزوج بل طلب منه نشر القصائد الذي بعث بها إلي زوجته .
نعم هناك بعض الرجال من يشعر بالفخر عندما تكون زوجته محط أنظار الجميع ويتهافت عليها كل الذين يعرفونها ولكنها فضلته عليهم جميعا ، ولكن لا استطيع أن اتقبل أمثاله .
وايضا هناك تلك المرأة التي قد تخون ولكن إذا كان الثمن زوجها وأسرتها تراجعت وايضا لا يمكن أن اتقبلها .
التقييم العام : خمس نجوم
Profile Image for ViZz.
147 reviews1 follower
Read
October 4, 2024
women in male dominated fields (having an affair with a questionably young lover)
2,142 reviews27 followers
February 5, 2016
How He Lied to Her Husband:-

I seem to have lost a review of this play, a most favourite one, that I remember - vividly - writing, only a few weeks ago about this play, and while this is not the first time it has happened it is difficult to think of how it could have.

This play is one of the most delightful ones penned by the writer and it is completely unlike anything anyone (outside old British social life) might imagine. One of the most wonderful plays by Mr. Shaw, full of quite unexpected turns when one is in the world of literature but quite normal in real life, which is what makes it hilarious and sobering.

A very talented and romantic poet who is in love with a beautiful woman, who wishes nothing as much as seeing her every evening for a session of theater and dinner or at least reading poetry to her that is written for her, in praise of her exquisite beauty, and is ever ready to do anything his love might demand of him.

Only, she is married, and to a very rich man who gives her everything she could wish for materially and socially but is no romantic poet, or at any rate not a man of words. On the other hand he is not stingy about providing her with an expensive social lifestyle with dinners, parties, artists invited and theater and carriages, jewellery. And so on. Still, he is no poet. Is he literate, is hard to remember from the play. Does he appreciate her beauty more than in terms of his own pleasure, one doubts to begin with.

There is the whole setting - the very beautiful and wealthy Aurora who is married to a common businessman although able to have a social life of consorting with various artists and so forth.

And then the play begins to unfold. The husband, the very practical and very much bourgeois man who has provided his wife with everything she could ever wish for in terms of wealth and social life, has now rumoured to have found out about the poet and the wife. Someone has told the husband about the poet's writing extensive poetry every day about the wife, and the love (still platonic in fact) that is the soil for the poetry to grow from, and so on. And the wife has come to know about the husband having been informed, and she is frantic in worry about what will happen.

The poet who is in love with her, writing poems to her, willing to do anything for her, whether taking her our to theater every evening or stay in and amuse her or be shot by her husband or elope with her, whatever destiny might have in store for the love of his very exhilarated heights of romance. The poet is willing to do anything she wishes, while his own noble instinct is to accept the blame and confront the husband with the truth and walk off into the sunset with his beloved beautiful Aurora.

What comes next is the typical Shaw sequence of twists and turns that leaves one helpless in hilarious laughter while totally in sympathy with the poor poet. I have no intention of spoiling the delight of reading further by saying another word about what comes next, for those that have not read this yet. Any attempt to describe it will spoil it for the reader, so I shall desist.

Thursday, November 20, 2008.
........................................................................................
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2,142 reviews27 followers
February 5, 2016
How He Lied to Her Husband:-


I seem to have lost a review of this play, a most favourite one, that I remember - vividly - writing, only a few weeks ago about this play, and while this is not the first time it has happened it is difficult to think of how it could have.

This play is one of the most delightful ones penned by the writer and it is completely unlike anything anyone (outside old British social life) might imagine. One of the most wonderful plays by Mr. Shaw, full of quite unexpected turns when one is in the world of literature but quite normal in real life, which is what makes it hilarious and sobering.

A very talented and romantic poet who is in love with a beautiful woman, who wishes nothing as much as seeing her every evening for a session of theater and dinner or at least reading poetry to her that is written for her, in praise of her exquisite beauty, and is ever ready to do anything his love might demand of him.

Only, she is married, and to a very rich man who gives her everything she could wish for materially and socially but is no romantic poet, or at any rate not a man of words. On the other hand he is not stingy about providing her with an expensive social lifestyle with dinners, parties, artists invited and theater and carriages, jewellery. And so on. Still, he is no poet. Is he literate, is hard to remember from the play. Does he appreciate her beauty more than in terms of his own pleasure, one doubts to begin with.

There is the whole setting - the very beautiful and wealthy Aurora who is married to a common businessman although able to have a social life of consorting with various artists and so forth.

And then the play begins to unfold. The husband, the very practical and very much bourgeois man who has provided his wife with everything she could ever wish for in terms of wealth and social life, has now rumoured to have found out about the poet and the wife. Someone has told the husband about the poet's writing extensive poetry every day about the wife, and the love (still platonic in fact) that is the soil for the poetry to grow from, and so on. And the wife has come to know about the husband having been informed, and she is frantic in worry about what will happen.

The poet who is in love with her, writing poems to her, willing to do anything for her, whether taking her our to theater every evening or stay in and amuse her or be shot by her husband or elope with her, whatever destiny might have in store for the love of his very exhilarated heights of romance. The poet is willing to do anything she wishes, while his own noble instinct is to accept the blame and confront the husband with the truth and walk off into the sunset with his beloved beautiful Aurora.

What comes next is the typical Shaw sequence of twists and turns that leaves one helpless in hilarious laughter while totally in sympathy with the poor poet. I have no intention of spoiling the delight of reading further by saying another word about what comes next, for those that have not read this yet. Any attempt to describe it will spoil it for the reader, so I shall desist.

Thursday, November 20, 2008.
............................................................................
............................................................................
Profile Image for Edward Cheer.
519 reviews4 followers
October 16, 2015
Yet another prime example of George Bernard Shaw's excellent skill at writing. And, also, another great look at how to write a good short play. This is probably the shortest play of the short plays that I've read- taking me a record of 30 minutes to read!- but something stands out in this play between Love Suicides, Everyman, and Eurydice, this feels like a completed, condensed drama of characters within the much shorter amount of pages. Yes, it does feel like it could be a part of a larger play, but it's so well-written that it doesn't really matter to me. Probably because the character of Henry is so fleshed-out. He such a smart, sly bastard and such an intriguing character, that you can't help but chuckled during his conversation with Teddy as he slips through accusations and inquiries like a snake. This is one play I certainly feel satisfied after reading, and in such a short time. This is probably one of the best short plays I've read so far.
Profile Image for Anna Kļaviņa.
817 reviews206 followers
January 23, 2012
."Nothing in the theatre is staler than the situation of husband, wife and lover, or the fun of knockabout farce. I have taken both, and got an original play out of them, as anybody else can if only he will look about him for his material instead of plagiarizing Othello and the thousand plays that have proceeded on Othello's romantic assumptions and false point of honour." (George Bernard Shaw about his play How he lied to her husband)
Profile Image for Madhur Katyal.
14 reviews
October 30, 2015
A simple, yet interesting drama,running on the lines of infidelity,budding romance,and the fear of being caught by the better half. A short drama,but every scenario brings sheer pleasure to the reader. The husband of the lady,is the character who in my opinion, embellishes the comic element( for being a blatant idiot and a humbug).
Profile Image for Ben Schroeder.
26 reviews13 followers
April 4, 2016
As far as short comedies go, this is top-shelf, knock-you on-your-ass-faster-than-a-punch-from-a-heavyweight-boxer stuff. It helps to see a proper performance of the thing, but not everyone has time for all that flapdoodle. Anyway, don't take my word for it. Shaw's work has always been rather adept at speaking for itself; the play doesn't need my review to prove its merit.
Profile Image for Ruth.
652 reviews
July 10, 2018
Great short little play, which we saw recently. Twists and turns between a woman, her lover and her husband.
10 reviews10 followers
January 24, 2020
GBS AT HIS UNCHARITABLE BEST

There can be no adverse remark on Bernard Shaw, who is brutally, when analyzing human relations. He is depictive of the manners of his Age and he knows that people are never beyond reproach. This Play is just a sample of his brutal analysis of the hypocritical Times.
Profile Image for Jack.
688 reviews87 followers
May 30, 2022
A bit of light entertainment. Very curious about the single line I read on Shaw's Wikipedia page that his marriage was never consummated. There seems to be a lot going on in this writing, in that sense.
595 reviews12 followers
March 12, 2019
Somehow I missed this short play from 1905 when I was working through that period of Shaw's work. It is an interesting companion piece to his earlier full-length play, "Candida," which is referenced directly by name and indirectly by situation. In both plays, a woman is torn between her husband and a younger, more poetic admirer. It was fairly bland.
Profile Image for Praveen.
86 reviews5 followers
November 28, 2018
My first play of Mr Witty Shaw. Legend of his style. Shortest play with 3 characters revolving around, stunned with the conversation b/w Henry aka Mr Apjohn Aurora aka Mrs Bompas.
Well, I mean it. Yes, I can see feel the transition of the characters when the play started. How does a woman thinks and a teen thinketh.
Good one:)
Profile Image for Gregory Allan.
154 reviews
August 12, 2020
This was a really fun read. My first Bernard Shaw which i thoroughly enjoyed. A good romp.
Profile Image for Luke Langley.
101 reviews
November 3, 2024
This is a short play but quite entertaining! The dialogue is witty and the plot twist was fun. (It was a ruse the whole time between the husband and wife leading the poor poet along as a game.)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
16 reviews
April 18, 2017
Great farcical plot!!!

Couldn't put it down. Great narrative very very Bernard like!! How the lie is despised and the truth works with a very strange effect on the protagonist is why one must read it.
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