Shaw, George Bernard

Shaw, George Bernard (1856–1950) Irish dramatist, critic, and member of the Fabian Society. Shaw transformed Victorian theatre, rejecting melodrama in favour of socially conscious drama. Although many of his plays were comedies, they expressed his often radical political and philosophical ideas. His first play was Widower's Houses (1892). Mrs Warren's Profession (1893) was considered immoral and banned from performance. Arms and the Man (1894) was Shaw's first publicly performed play. Other early plays include Candida (1897). Plays such as Man and Superman (1905) and Major Barbara (1905) were first performed at the Royal Court, London. Pygmalion (1913) was turned later into the musical My Fair Lady (1956). Other major plays include Heartbreak House (1920), Back to Methuselah (1922), and Saint Joan (1923). The prefaces to his plays were published separately. In 1925, Shaw received the Nobel Prize in literature.