Presents four plays by George Bernard Shaw, incuding "Mrs. Warren's Profession," "Pygmalion," "Man and Superman," and "Major Barbara," each with an explanatory annotation, and includes information on the author and his work, a chronology, and a selected bibliography.

George Bernard Shaw demanded truth and despised convention. He punctured hollow pretensions and smug prudishness—coating his criticism with ingenious and irreverent wit. In Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Arms and the Man, Candida, and Man and Superman, the great playwright satirizes society, military heroism, marriage, and the pursuit of man by woman. From a social, literary, and theatrical standpoint, these four plays are among the foremost dramas of the age—as intellectually stimulating as they are thoroughly enjoyable. “My way of joking is to tell the truth: It is the funniest joke in the world.”—G. B. Shaw With an Introduction by Eric Bentley and an Afterword by Norman Lloyd

"Shaw saw himself and his dramatic translation of the Nietzschian Superman as the Modern and secularized realization of the ancient concept of poet-creator. He believed (as did Blake, Emerson, and Nietzsche) that the poet-creator had a genius which was the spiritual source of Vision and a Will-to-Power and that these two human faculties, in a Marxist-utopian sense, held the hope of humanity. The poet's quest into the unknown, as Shaw believed, begins with a revolutionary renunciation of inherited duty and worn illusions in order to find the freedom to create a new order of being. The poet's imagination will be the guide. The poet as prophet must herald the new state of being into words, and sometimes deeds: "To desire, to imagine, to will, to create ... in one word, to conceive." The poet's gift is a state of vision and the wherewithal and will to bring that Vision into being before the greater consciousness of humanity."--Cover.

This is a collection of the plays of George Bernard Shaw that includes "The Millionairess", "Too True to be Good" and "The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles".

"Mrs. Warren's Profession" by George Bernard Shaw is a provocative exploration of morality, class, and the role of women in society. The play revolves around the relationship between Mrs. Kitty Warren, a shrewd and successful madam, and her daughter Vivie, a young woman determined to make her own way in the world. As Vivie uncovers the truth about her mother's profession, she is forced to confront her own values and beliefs, leading to a clash of ideals between mother and daughter. Shaw's incisive wit and social commentary shine through in this thought-provoking drama, challenging audiences to reconsider their preconceptions about morality and the choices individuals make in pursuit of success and independence. "Mrs. Warren's Profession" remains a compelling and relevant work that continues to spark conversation and debate.