Man and Superman and Three Other Plays

by George Bernard Shaw, John A. Bertolini (Introduction)

Man and Superman and Three Other Plays, by George Bernard Shaw, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:

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Acclaimed as a “second Shakespeare,” Irish-born George Bernard Shaw revolutionized the British theater. Although his plays focus on ideas and issues, they are enlivened by fascinating characters, a brilliant command of language, and dazzling wit.

One of Shaw’s finest and most devilish comedies, Man and Superman portrays Don Juan as the quarry instead of the huntsman. John Tanner, upon discovering that his beautiful ward plans to marry him, flees to the Sierra Nevada mountain range, where he is captured by a group of rebels. Tanner falls asleep, and dreams the famous “Don Juan in Hell” sequence, which features a sparkling Shavian debate among Don Juan, the Devil, and a talkative statue. With its fairy-tale ending and a cast literally from hell, Man and Superman is a hilarious cocktail of farce, Nietzschean philosophy, and Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

Also included in this volume are Candida, Shaw’s first real success on the stage, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, which poked fun at the Victorian attitude toward prostitution, and The Devil’s Disciple, a play set during the American Revolution.

Genres: Plays, Classics, Drama, Theatre, Fiction

576 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2003

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of plays - love Shaw.

[Samwise Chamberlain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mrs. Warren's Profession - 4/5
Candida - 3.5/5
The Devil's Disciple - 5/5
Man and Superman 4.5/5

[Bruce Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Man and Superman. Some parts reminded me of Oscar Wilde. Shaw can be witty, just not as witty as Wilde. Shaw's play has more philosopy in it than Wilde's plays. Shaw draws on Nietzsche's philosophy of the Ubermensch and leans heavily on the concept of the Life Force (elan vital), a term first used in 1848.

Man and Superman is Shaw's version of Don Giovanni (Don Juan). Act 3 is Shaw's answer to Dante's Inferno and Milton's Paradise Lost. It is a dream sequence set in Hell with thinly disguised characters from Acts 1 and 2. The stage play could cut Act 3 without suffering any impact on the audience.

Shaw's play is witty and criticizes early 20th century upper class British society.

[Matt Whitworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The acting, too, required courage and character as well as skill and intelligence. The veto of the Censor introduced quite a novel element of moral responsibility into the undertaking. And the characters were very unusual on the English stage. The younger heroine is, like her mother, an Englishwoman to the backbone, and not, like the heroines of our fashionable drama, a prima donna of Italian origin. Consequently she was sure to be denounced as unnatural and undramatic by the critics. The most vicious man in the play is not in the least a stage villain; indeed, he regards his own moral character with the sincere complacency of a hero of melodrama.

[Shelley]

Read this years ago and just re-read.

[Genia Aslanian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mrs. Warren's Profession 3.5
The Devil's Disciple 4.5
Man and Superman 5
Heartbreak House 4.5

[Jeni Enjaian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to start with the disclaimer that plays (reading them) is just not my cup of tea. I also need to mention that this project to read through all the classics I own (which has taken far too long) may be draining my enthusiasm and setting the bar a book must reach to engage me a bit too high.
The book itself:
For a playwright, Shaw is quite wordy. Each play (and many acts within the plays) begin with several paragraphs of character explanation covering everything from physical description to internal motivation, the latter of which should either be discovered in the dialogue of the play or left up to the actor's interpretation. (IMHO)
I also found the title play to be quite odd and hard to follow thanks to the deep allegorical rabbit trail two thirds of the way through.
I also need to mention that I waited way too long (over a week after I finished) to write the review and thus many other observations were lost due to my forgetful memory.

[H · Rating 3 out of 5]

الإنسان و الإنسان الأمثل لجورج برنارد شو:
مسرحيّة لا يُمكن أن تغضَّ عنها، فيها أشتاتٌ من فلسفة و علم اجتماع و سياسة و حب و أشياء أخرى تخالها ضربًا من الخيال و لكنك ستددارك ذلك ..
رغم الغرابة و التحفظ على بعض الأجزاء و لكنها تبقى جديرة بالاطلاع.
مسرحيّة مغلّفة بالسّخرية تفتح لك باباً للتساؤل أيّ الشخصياتِ هو الشخصية الأمثل؟

[Sachin Sparker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Felt Boring.