Introduction

George Bernard Shaw is remembered for his playwrighting prowess, bringing us works such as Pygmalion and Mrs Warren's Profession. Unlike many other artists, who perish penniless and are brought into the canon posthomously, Bernard Shaw rose to prominence in his time. This prominence only obscured him; rumours swirled about the next great playwright. He seldom gave interviews about his personal life, but what he was willing to be vocal about is politics. Bernard Shaw served as a figure of the Labor Party, cementing his place as a political and dramatic icon.

Although often biographies and books are written about writers long after they have passed, George Bernard Shaw was the subject of intense scrutiny resulting in many books claiming to comprehend the enigmatic figure. Very little is heard from Shaw himself. When he did speak in public, it was about politics. This was how Shaw chose to represent himself--by not representing himself at all, and instead speaking for the disenfranchised of Britain.

He seemed aware that by doing so, he was subjecting himself to even more criticism: "whenever famous writers protest against this imposture--say, Voltaire and Rousseau and Tom Paine in the eighteenth century, or Cobbett and Shelley, Karl Marx and Lassalle in the nineteenth, or Lenin and Trotsky in the twentieth--you are taught that they are atheists and scoundrels; and often it is made a criminal offence to buy or seel their books" (Freedom, 1072). Shaw appears willing to undergo great risk, likely because he believed so intently on the cause of the Labor movement. This also suggests that Shaw has little interest in commercial success or celebrity, possibly explaining his resistence to the comprehension of biographers.