Pygmalion and Major Barbara Contributor(s): Shaw, George Bernard (Author) |
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ISBN: 055321408X ISBN-13: 9780553214086 Publisher: Bantam Classics OUR PRICE: $5.36 Product Type: Mass Market Paperbound - Other Formats Published: July 1992 Annotation: George Bernard Shaw was the greatest British dramatist after Shakespeare, a satirist equal to Jonathan Swift, and a playwright whose most profound gift was his ability to make audiences think by provoking them to laughter. In one of his best-loved plays, "Pygmalion," which later became the basis for the musical "My Fair Lady," Shaw compels the audience to see the utter absurdity and hypocrisy of class distinction when Professor Henry Higgins wagers that he can transform a common flower girl into a lady--and then pass her off as a duchess--simply by changing her speech and manners. In "Major Barbara" Shaw spins out the drama of an eccentric millionaire, a romantic poet, and a misguided savior of souls, Major Barbara herself, in a topsy-turvy masterpiece of sophisticated banter and urbane humor. His brilliant dialogue, combined with his use of paradox and socialist theory, never fails to tickle, entertain--and challenge. |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Drama | European - English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh - Performing Arts | Theater - General |
Dewey: 822.912 |
LCCN: 97811070 |
Series: Bantam Classics |
Physical Information: 0.75" H x 4.23" W x 6.9" (0.36 lbs) 336 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: George Bernard Shaw was the greatest British dramatist after Shakespeare, a satirist equal to Jonathan Swift, and a playwright whose most profound gift was his ability to make audiences think by provoking them to laughter. In one of his best-loved plays, Pygmalion, which later became the basis for the musical My Fair Lady, Shaw compels the audience to see the utter absurdity and hypocrisy of class distinction when Professor Henry Higgins wagers that he can transform a common flower girl into a lady--and then pass her off as a duchess--simply by changing her speech and manners. In Major Barbara Shaw spins out the drama of an eccentric millionaire, a romantic poet, and a misguided savior of souls, Major Barbara herself, in a topsy-turvy masterpiece of sophisticated banter and urbane humor. His brilliant dialogue, combined with his use of paradox and socialist theory, never fails to tickle, entertain--and challenge. |