Vikki's+Group-+Playwright

= __ **Research on George Bernard Shaw (aka. Bernie!)** __ =

Lucas S, James, Tim, Katie, Maria, Moses, Sara and Vikki.
=__//**Bernie's involvement with the Fabian society- By Tim**//__=

In 1884 Shaw joined the Fabian Society, a middle-class socialist group and served on its executive committee from 1885 to 1911.

By 1886, Shaw tended to concentrate his efforts on the work that he did. He believed that capitalism had created an unjust and inefficient society. The Fabian society members agreed that the ultimate aim of the group should be to reconstruct "society in accordance with the highest moral possibilities". As Shaw pointed out: "Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not."


 * //__Little bit of his beliefs:__//**

Shaw believed that "property was theft" and believed that capitalism was deeply flawed and was unlikely to last.


 * //__And some random quotes i thought maybe relevant:__//**

Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.
 * George Bernard Shaw**

Lack of money is the root of all evil.
 * George Bernard Shaw**

BY TIM :)

=__Belief + Culture By Sara__=

In his will, Shaw stated that his religious convictions and scientific views cannot at present be more specifically defined than as those of a believer in creative revolution. He requested that no one should imply that he accepted the beliefs of any specific religious organization, and that no memorial to him should "take the form of a cross or any other instrument of torture or symbol of blood sacrifice.

Ethnicity: George Bernard Shaw was born in Synge Street, Dublin in 1856 to George Carr Shaw (1814–85), an unsuccessful grain merchant and sometime civil servant, and Lucinda Elizabeth Shaw, née Gurly (1830–1913), a professional singer. He had two sisters, Lucinda Frances (1853–1920), a singer of musical comedy and light opera, and Elinor Agnes (1855–76).

=**__Bernie's education- By lucas SPYKERMAN__**=
 * At an early age he was tutored in classics by an uncle, and when he was 10 years old, he entered the Wesleyan Connexional School in Dublin. There his academic performance was largely a failure. Shaw later described his own education: "I cannot learn anything that does not interest me. My memory is not indiscriminate, it rejects and selects; and its selections are not academic." **
 * he then moved to a private school near Dalkey, and from there to Dublin's Central Model School. Shaw finished his formal education at the Dublin English Scientific and Commercial Day School.However he was largely self taught, going to the British museum to learn, his father was a drunkard who did not have enough money for shaws education, as a reasult he did not attend university. **

__**teachers/role models-**__ The Norwegian playwright __[|Henrik Ibsen]__ had a great influence on Bernies's thinking. For a summer meeting of the Fabian Society in 1890, he wrote THE QUINTESSENCE OF IBSENISM (1891), in which he considered Ibsen a pioneer, "who declares that it is right to do something hitherto regarded as infamous."
 * In summarry:**
 * 1) ** He did go to school for his primary and secondary education- Wesleyan Connexional school, Dublins Central Model school, and he finished his education at Dublin sceintific and commercial day school **
 * 2) He did not do well at school, not paying attention :D
 * 3) He did teach himself literacy skills and gained alot of knowledge by going to the british museum.
 * 4) Part of his non-academic training was handled by his mother, a music teacher and a mezzo-soprano; Shaw studied music and art at the same time.
 * 5) ** His father was a drunkard, that spent all his money on booze, as a result Bernie couldnt go ** ** to University. **
 * 6) He studied different languges.

Above: The british museum, where he learnt his knowledge, and later thought at.

> **PICKERING: Have you no morals, man?**

> **DOOLITTLE: Can't afford them, Governor.**

> (from //Pygmalion//) > lucas .s (^_^)



=__George Bernard Shaw: Awards and Recognition By Moses__=

=
George Bernard Shaw is the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize for Literature (1925) and an Oscar (1938), for his contributions to literature and for his work on the film Pygmalion (adaptation of his play of the same name), respectively. Shaw wanted to refuse his Nobel Prize outright because he had no desire for public honors, but accepted it at his wife's behest: she considered it a tribute to Ireland. He also refused to accept acceptance to the order of merit twice and a knighthood saying that "merit" in authorship could only be determined by the posthumous verdict of history=====

=__Katie - Biography simple Life facts of George Bernard Shaw__= George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw was born in the 26th of July 1856 and died on the 2 November 1950. He was born on Synge Street, Dublin. His father was George Carr Shaw was an alcoholic and an unsuccessful man and his mother was called Lucinda Elizabeth Shaw who was a professional singer. He had two sisters Lucinda Frances who was also a singer and Elinor Agnes. In 1876 he movied to London to join his mother and sister.

In 1898 Bernard Shaw married Charlotte Payne-Townshed who was a wealthy lady who was a fellow Fabian. He had many affairs with other women. They moved to the Hertforshire village of Ayot St. Lawrence. They were together until death and there ashes were scattered together. Shaw died at Ayot St. Lawrence at the age of 94 of renal failure caused by falling while pruning a tree.

__ BERNIES CHILDHOOD: __ by maria

• George Bernard Shaw was born in Synge Street, Dublin in 1856

• Father: George Carr Shaw (1814–85)

Employment: unsuccessful grain merchant and sometime civil servant,

• Mother: Lucinda Elizabeth Shaw, (1830–1913)

a professional singer.

Siblings: He had two sisters, Lucinda Frances (1853–1920), a singer of musical comedy and light opera, and Elinor Agnes (1855–76).

• He despised the education system of his youth

• At first tutored by a clerical uncle, Shaw basically rejected the schools he then attended, and by age 16 he was working in a land agent's office.

• Shaw's childhood was troubled. His father was a drunkard.

• During Shaws youth his father, George Carr Shaw, was ambivalent about his wife’s adultery and her subsequent departure to England. This unusual situation of a sexually magnetic man and woman interacting with an “odd-man-out” male figure would become common in Shaw’s plays: Candida, Man and Superman, and Pygmalion.

• George Bernard grew up in an atmosphere of genteel poverty, which to him was more humiliating than being merely poor.

=// George Bernard Shaw’s Influence By Vikki //=

// George Bernard Shaw’s Influence spanned over many years while he was alive, but more interesting than that, is the influence of his work that is still felt in theatre and literature today. //

// In one article, Pascal was picked with the Pope and Hitler as one of the ten most famous men of 1938. Many films have been inspired by George Bernard Shaw’s work, showing how his universal idea’s and timeless relationships have spanned into modern times and been observed and appreciated by as many people, if not more, now, than when his work was ‘recent’ and ’relevant’. Some films inspired by Shaw's plays include //// Saint Joan //// (1927), //// How He Lied to Her Husband //// (1931), //// Arms and the Man //// (1932), //// Major Barbara //// (1941), and //// My Fair Lady //// (1964). //

//George Bernard Shaw is a model to all struggling writers. He started at the bottom, moving to London to be a music critic after learning a love of composition from his mother, but soon found his place as a theatre critic, whose often harsh reviews were widely respected, but this did not make it any easier for him to make his debut in the literacy world. Throughout his 30s, he wrote five novels – all of them failed. Yet, he did not give up, instead, he simply focussed his time more on writing plays. It was not until 1856, at the age of 38, that his dramatic work made its professional debut. Even then, it took some time before his plays became popular. //

//Although he wrote mostly comedies, Shaw greatly admired the natural realism of Henrik Ibsen. //// Shaw felt that plays could be used to influence the general population. And since he was filled with ideas, George Bernard Shaw spent the rest of his life writing for the stage, creating over sixty plays. He won a Nobel Prize for Literature for his play The Apple Cart. Also, his cinematic adaptation of Pygmalion earned him an Academy Award. //

// The importance of his influence is emphasised by the fact that at the beginning of the his career, George Bernard Shaw was regarded in literary circles as a writer without a serious moral purpose, while today he is looked upon not only as a brilliant wit but also as a profound thinker. In this way, he taught people. //

// To sum up Shaw was a simple lifer who shunned luxury of every kind, and for whom the best recreation was work. His tastes were simple. He did not require much, as having the ability to share his art form with others was enough for him. He was a vegetarians and a non-smoker, but not overly into exercise or socialising also. //

// Above all he was a writer with a purpose, and though he is dead now, the message he left behind will //// continue to inspire and influence man and art alike. //

= // George Bernard Shaw’s Plays By James // = b