Plays Pleasant
Arms and the Man; Candida; The Man of Destiny; You Never Can Tell
Editor - Dan H. Laurence
Introduction by - W. J. McCormack
Penguin Classics : Shaw Library
Paperback
: 27 Mar 2003
£14.99
Introduced by W. J. McCormack
Synopsis
‘Soldiering, my dear madam, is the coward’s art of attacking mercilessly when you are strong, and keeping out of harm’s way when you are weak … Get your enemy at a disadvantage; and never, on any account, fight him on equal terms’
One of Bernard Shaw’s most glittering comedies, Arms and the Man is also a burlesque of Victorian attitudes to heroism, war and empire. In the contrast between Bluntschli, the mercenary soldier, and the brave leader, Sergius, the true nature of valour is revealed. Bernard Shaw mocks self-deluding idealism in Candida when the foolish young poet Marchbanks becomes infatuated with the wife of a Socialist preacher. The Man of Destiny is a witty war of words between Napoleon and a ‘strange lady’, and You Never Can Tell is an exuberant farce, which turns on the chance reunion of a divided family.
While Plays Pleasant were intended by Shaw to be gentler comedies than those in their companion volume Plays Unpleasant, their prophetic satire is still sharp and provocative today. As W. J. McCormack writes, ‘There is amusement but also unease. His wit unsettles us’.
The definitive text, under the editorial supervision of Dan H. Laurence
Table of contents
Chronology
Preface
Arms and the Man: An Anti-romantic Comedy
Candida: A Mystery
The Man of Destiny: A Fictitious Paragraph of History
You Never Can Tell: A Comedy
Composition and Cast Lists
Principal Works of Bernard Shaw
Product details
Format :
Paperback
ISBN: 9780140437942
Size : 129 x 198mm
Pages : 336
Published : 27 Mar 2003
Publisher : Penguin Classics
Other formats for Plays Pleasant:
» ePub eBook: eBook : £11.99
Plays Pleasant
Arms and the Man; Candida; The Man of Destiny; You Never Can Tell
Editor - Dan H. Laurence
Introduction by - W. J. McCormack
£14.99
