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Shaw, Arms and Heroes

Decent Essays

The Nobel Prize winning author George Bernard Shaw was born on July 26, 1856 in Dublin, Ireland. During his early years, Shaw and his two older siblings received their education from their clerical uncle whom provided them with tutoring sessions. He received an irregular education because he disliked the idea of organized training. Shaw grew to explore and appreciate various art forms through the influence of his mother whom would take him on a regular basis to visit the National Gallery of Ireland. During the year 1872, Shaw’s mother left his father taking his two older sisters with her to London. Shaw decided to join his family in London four years later after deciding to pursue writing. His mother supported Shaw financially as he strove to write his first few novels. Unfortunately, these novels met with failure. Publishers rejected them. Therefore, Shaw turned his attention away from novel writing to focus on British academic politics and activities. He joined the Fabian Society during the year 1884 and quickly became heavily integrated within the group. The following year Shaw was able to find writing opportunities by composing critical reviews of literature, art, music and theatre. Shaw was persuaded to join the Saturday Review as a theatre critic in 1895. Shaw took advantage of his position and “decided to write plays in order to illustrate his criticism of the English stage”. Thus, his first collection of works Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant was published in 1898. The

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