Man and Superman and Three Other Plays
, by
George Bernard Shaw
, is part of the
Barnes & Noble Classics
series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of
:
New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars
Biographies of the authors
Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events
Footnotes and endnotes
Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work
Comments by other famous authors
Study questions to challenge the readers viewpoints and expectations
Bibliographies for further reading
Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate
All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest.
pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each readers understanding of these enduring works.
Acclaimed as a “second Shakespeare,” Irish-born
revolutionized the British theater. Although his plays focus on ideas and issues, they are enlivened by fascinating characters, a brilliant command of language, and dazzling wit.
One of Shaw’s finest and most devilish comedies,
Man and Superman
portrays Don Juan as the quarry instead of the huntsman. John Tanner, upon discovering that his beautiful ward plans to marry him, flees to the Sierra Nevada mountain range, where he is captured by a group of rebels. Tanner falls asleep, and dreams the famous “Don Juan in Hell” sequence, which features a sparkling Shavian debate among Don Juan, the Devil, and a talkative statue. With its fairy-tale ending and a cast literally from hell,
is a hilarious cocktail of farce, Nietzschean philosophy, and Mozart’s
Don Giovanni
.
Also included in this volume are
Candida
, Shaw’s first real success on the stage,
Mrs. Warren’s Profession
, which poked fun at the Victorian attitude toward prostitution, and
The Devil’s Disciple
, a play set during the American Revolution.
John A. Bertolini
is Ellis Professor of the Liberal Arts at Middlebury College, where he teaches dramatic literature, Shakespeare, and film. He has written
The Playwrighting Self of Bernard Shaw
and articles on Hitchcock and on British and American dramatists. Bertolini also wrote the introduction and notes to the Barnes & Noble Classics edition of Shaw’s
Pygmalion and Three Other Plays