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Royal Irish Academy - O'Toole Fintan

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184 pages

English

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GBS was the first great brand - discover how he created this most modern of concepts. The fourth book in the Royal Irish Academy's award-winning 'Judging' series looks at the legacy of George Bernard Shaw, Nobel prizewinner for literature. George Bernard Shaw has left a vast legacy of theatrical, fictional, polemical, critical and philosophical writing. The first person to win both a Nobel Prize and an Academy Award, Shaw bridges the Victorian era and the contemporary culture of celebrity. The GBS brand came to be recognised globally as referring to an Irish provocateur with a red beard and startling opinions. He was a master of self-invention, a nobody who captured the zeitgeist and one of the first private individuals to understand fully how to generate-and how to use-global fame. The timing of Judging Shaw is fortuitous, as it will serve to reintroduce GBS to an Irish and international readership. The book is an interesting, informative, and well-written survey of Shaw/GBS and will be a welcome addition to the library of those who know Bernard Shaw perhaps only as the author of Pygmalion, his most popular and frequently performed play.

Informations

Publié par	Royal Irish Academy
Date de parution	17 octobre 2017
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781908997173
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	6 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,1400€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Portrait of Shaw by Hazel Lavery, 1925.
Judging
SHAW
The radicalism of GBS
FINTAN O TOOLE
Judging Shaw
First published 2017
by Prism Prism is an imprint of the Royal Irish Academy 19 Dawson Street Dublin 2 www.ria.ie
Text 2017 Fintan O Toole
ISBN 978-1-908997-15-9 (Hardback) ISBN 978-1-908997-16-6 (pdf) ISBN 978-1-908997-17-3 (epub) ISBN 978-1-908997-18-0 (mobi)
All rights reserved. The material in this publication is protected by copyright law. Except as may be permitted by law, no part of the material may be reproduced (including by storage in a retrieval system) or transmitted in any form or by any means; adapted; rented or lent without the written permission of the copyright owners.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The author and publisher are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce documents, photographs and illustrations in this book, or for their assistance in sourcing images: Abbey Theatre Archive, National University of Ireland, Galway; Associated Press Archives; British Library; Chaplin Picture Database, Paris; University of Glasgow; Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin; London School of Economics; National Archives of Ireland; National Gallery of Ireland; National Library of Ireland; National Portrait Gallery, London; New York Public Library; School of History and Archives, University College Dublin; University of Guelph; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Wesley Bates; James O Nolan; Mary Broderick, James Harte, Glenn Dunne and Berni Metcalfe at the National Library of Ireland; Eric Colleary and Reid Echols at the Harry Ransom Center; Barry Houlihan and Conor Dent at NUI Galway; Dave McKeon and Jeff Wilson at the Royal Irish Academy; Hazel Menton and Tom Quinlan at the National Archives of Ireland; Leah Benson and Andrew Moore at the National Gallery of Ireland; Anna Towlson at the London School of Economics; Celine Smith at the Victoria and Albert Museum; Sarah Poutch at UCD Archives; Ryan Kirkby at University of Guelph; Niki Russell at University of Glasgow; Arnold Lorenzo and Kate Guyonvarch at the Chaplin Picture Database, Paris; Thomas Lisanti at the New York Public Library.
During the production process some documents, photographs and illustrations have been retouched or tinted for aesthetic purposes. Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders of the images reproduced and to ensure the accuracy of their captions. See Image credits.
Editor: Helena King Design and production: Fidelma Slattery Picture research: Barry Houlihan Index: Lisa Scholey
This publication has been supported by Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

Printed in Spain by Castuera
5 4 3 2 1
To my father Samuel O Toole, Shavian, man and superman
G.B.S. was so big that we all have our private Shaws.
NEW STATESMAN EDITORIAL, 11 NOVEMBER 1950
-
You are a strange puzzle-I thought once I understood you, and wrote your biography to demonstrate you. But you yourself have proved stranger than all the myths.
ARCHIBALD HENDERSON TO GBS, 6 MARCH 1911

Photo titled Bernard Shaw on the steps with a newspaper in his hands , undated.

Cartoon image of Shaw emerging from a pile of laurel and maple leaves, with a wreath of leaves on his head, undated.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Chronology
Introduction
1. The invention of GBS
2. Revolt into style: GBS versus England
3. After the revolution: GBS versus Ireland
4. The thinking cap and the jester s bells: Shaw s theatre
5. GBS s war on poverty
6. The death and resurrection of GBS
7. The lethal chamber: the dark side of GBS
8. The air we breathe: judging GBS
Endnotes
Image credits
Acknowledgements
There are perhaps only two good rules for life: never invade Russia and never write a book about Bernard Shaw. Both terrains are vast and unconquerable.
I have never been tempted to break the first rule but Shaw has always been harder to resist. I may well have held out, however, were it not for a direct invitation from Ruth Hegarty and Pauric Dempsey at the Royal Irish Academy to contribute to the outstanding Judging series. The idea of attempting an overview of Shaw s achievements and failures is presumptuous-how can one be Olympian about the ultimate Olympian? Yet it also proved irresistible. I am very grateful for the challenge.
The attraction was not just to GBS but to the brilliant publishing team at the RIA: Ruth Hegarty, Fidelma Slattery, Helena King and Niamh Mongey. Working with them again has been an utter delight.
I am also very grateful to Barry Houlihan for his terrific work in tracking down the images that make this book what it is, and to my agent Natasha Fairweather. I am especially indebted to the librarian and staff at the Firestone Library in Princeton University where much of the research was conducted, to Mary Broderick at the National Library of Ireland, and to Leonard and Ellen Milberg for their kindness and generosity.
Thanks too to Gabriel Byrne, James O Nolan, Catriona Crowe and Nick Dunning, and to all the actors and directors over many years who have illuminated Shaw s plays for me.
I owe a great deal to the anonymous readers who conducted the peer review of the manuscript with such diligence and insight-the remaining faults are my own, but they would otherwise be much more glaring.
My deepest gratitude, as ever, is to my wife Clare Connell for her patience and support, and to my Dad for bringing GBS into the house.
Chronology 1852 17 June Marriage of George Carr Shaw and Lucinda Gurly ( Bessie ) at St Peter s church, Aungier St, Dublin 1856 26 July Birth of George Bernard Shaw at 3 Upper Synge St (later 3 Synge Street). The Shaws already have two daughters, Lucinda (Lucy) Frances and Elinor Agnes 1864 20 January Shaw, aged 7, sees his first play, Tom Taylor s Plot and passion , together with the pantomime Puss in boots , at the Theatre Royal Unknown date: George John ( Vandaleur ) Lee begins using the Shaws house for rehearsals and music lessons 1865 Early May Shaw begins attendance at Wesleyan Connexional School, St Stephen s Green 1866 The Shaws and Lee spend most of the year at Torca Cottage, Dalkey, before moving together into 1 Hatch Street, probably in early 1867 1869 1 February On Lee s advice, Shaw is sent to Central Model Boy s School in Marlborough St, mixing with Catholic fellow-pupils 11 September Shaw leaves the Model School and later enrolls in the Dublin English Scientific and Commercial Day School, on Aungier St, where he stays until October 1871 1870 Shaw sees Hamlet at the Theatre Royal, starring his idol Barry Sullivan, and a local Ophelia who reduces him to paroxysms of laughter 1871 1 November Shaw begins work at highly genteel estate agents Uniacke Townshend, 15 Molesworth St 1873 February June Shaw becomes head cashier of Uniacke Townshend Lee sails to London, followed shortly by Bessie and Agnes Shaw-Lucy joins them later 1874 Shaw is living with his father in lodgings at 61 Harcourt St 1875 3 April Shaw s first publication, a letter to the London weekly Public Opinion , sceptical of the American revivalists Moody and Sankey 1876 1 April Shaw sails from Dublin to join his mother and Lucy in London, Agnes having died of TB in March November Shaw begins ghost-writing Lee s music reviews for The Hornet 1878 Shaw begins his earliest experiment in drama, a profane passion play in blank verse. He also begins a novel, The Legg papers , soon abandoned 1879 22 February Shaw s unsigned essay Opera in Italian published in the Saturday Musical Review November Shaw s novel Immaturity rejected by two publishers; Shaw begins work for the Edison Telephone Company 1880 February Shaw is promoted to head of the Way-Leave department at Edison-he resigns the job in July December Shaw finishes second novel The irrational knot 1881 January Shaw begins his experiments with vegetarianism March Rejection of The irrational knot May Shaw begins third novel Love among the artists ; contracts smallpox 1882 February Rejection of Love among the artists September Shaw hears the American economist Henry George speak on land nationalisation and begins study of radical economics 1883 February Reads Karl Marx s Das kapital in French translation Finishes fourth novel Cashel Byron s profession May Rejection of Cashel Byron s profession July Begins fifth novel An unsocial socialist 1884 March- December An unsocial socialist , after rejection by book publishers, appears as a serial in socialist magazine To-Day 16 May Attends his first meeting of the recently formed Fabian Society August- November Works on a drama, later called Widowers houses October Publishes first Fabian tract, A manifesto 1885 8 February Shaw s first article as music critic of the Dramatic Review 19 April Shaw learns of the death of his father 30 June Buys first Jaegar suit with insurance payment 26 July Celebrates 29th birthday by losing his virginity to Jenny Patterson 1886 February Cashel Byron s profession appears in book form 10 March Shaw shocks meeting of the Shelley Society by declaring himself like Shelley, a Socialist, Atheist and Vegetarian 14 September First mention of meeting Oscar Wilde in Shaw s diaries 1887 September Begins Fabian tract no. 6, urging taxation of unearned income, 8-hour working day, nationalisation of railways and votes for women 13 November Shaw takes part in leftist Bloody Sunday demonstration in Trafalgar Square, broken up by police and army 1888 12 February Shaw meets W.B. Yeats for the first time- talked about Socialism a good deal June Shaw begins his long career as an outdoor speaker, addressing a socialist meeting on Clapham Common 24 September Congratulates Jack the Ripper for drawing attention to the poor of the East End 1889 15 February First appearance of Shaw s Corno di Bassetto music criticism in The Star 7 June Sees Janet Achurch as Nora in Ibsen s A doll s house - falls