Who's Afraid of Bernard Shaw?: Some Personalities in Shaw's Plays (Florida Bernard Shaw)

“Splendid. This book continually surprises and entertains with its revelations about Shaw’s engagement with an impressive array of historical and contemporary figures, ranging from Jesus to Virginia Woolf. This is a virtuoso performance by a maestro of Shaw studies.”—A. M. Gibbs, author of __Bernard Shaw: A Life__ “Ur-Shavian Stanley Weintraub’s great virtues as a writer are stunning erudition and a consistently high level of readability. Again and again, his scholarship is illuminating—alive with original findings that make his essays profitable and exciting to read.”—Charles A. Carpenter, author of __Bernard Shaw as Artist-Fabian__ People known to Bernard Shaw had every reason to fear becoming recognizable characters in his plays. He turned Beatrice Webb into a witchlike virago in __The Millionairess__, Winston Churchill into an aspiring, blowhard politician in __John Bull's Other Island__, and Lawrence of Arabia into the eccentric army private Napoleon Alexander Trotsky Meek in __Too True to Be Good.__ However, as eminent Shaw scholar Stanley Weintraub reveals in this exquisite collection, Shaw’s relationships to real or imagined personalities could be both curiously unexpected and deliciously complex. Featuring figures as varied as Julius Caesar, Zulu king Cetewayo, Noël Coward, Edward Elgar, and Benjamin Disraeli, this volume brilliantly demonstrates how Shaw put something of himself into all of his “people.” The result is a book that is consistently revealing, intriguing, and entertaining. Table of Contents ix 10 Foreword xi 12 Borrowing People: A Preface xiii 14 1 Shaw’s Jesus and Judas: Passion without “Passion” 1 18 2 A Shavian Caesar 17 34 3 Schiller’s Die Räuber and Shaw’s Don Juan in Hell 29 46 4 Shaw’s “Secretary for America” and General John Burgoyne 39 56 5 Cetewayo: Shaw’s Hero from Africa 51 68 6 Disraeli in Shaw 65 82 7 Shaw’s Musician: Edward Elgar 79 96 8 Shaw’s Goddess: Lady Colin Campbell 99 116 9 Shaw’s Sculptress: Kathleen Scott 118 135 10 Eugene O’Neill: The Shavian Dimension 139 156 11 Noël Coward and the Avuncular Shaw 161 178 12 King Magnus and King Minus: A Play and a Playlet 175 192 13 Who’s Afraid of Bernard Shaw? Virginia Woolf and GBS 194 211 Index 219 236 People known to Bernard Shaw had every reason to fear becoming recognizing characters in his plays. He turned beatrice Webb into a witchlike virago in The Millionaries; former prime ministers H. H. As quith into an aloof, incompletent fuddy-duddy in Back to Methuselah; Winston Churchill into an aspiring, belowhard politician in John Bull's Other Island, and Lawrence of Arabia into the eccentric army private Napoleon Alexandet Trotsky Meek in Too Trueto Be Good. However, as emraent Shaw scholar Stanley Weintraub reveals in this exquisite volume, Shaw's relationships to real or imagined personalities could be both curiously unexpected and deliciously complex Shaw's Jesus And Judas: Passion Without Passion -- A Shavian Caesar -- Schiller's Die Räuber And Shaw's Don Juan In Hell -- Shaw's Secretary For America And General John Burgoyne -- Cetewayo: Shaw's Hero From Africa -- Disraeli In Shaw -- Shaw's Musician: Edward Elgar -- Shaw's Goddess: Lady Colin Campbell -- Shaw's Sculptress: Kathleen Scott -- Eugene O'neill: The Shavian Dimension -- Noël Coward And The Avuncular Shaw -- King Magnus And King Minus: A Play And A Playlet -- Who's Afraid Of Bernard Shaw? Virginia Woolf And Gbs. Stanley Weintraub ; Foreword By R. F. Dietrich. Includes Index. Featuring figures as varied as Julius Caesar, Zulu king Cetewayo, Noel Coward, Edward Elgar, and Benjamin Disraeli, this volume brilliantly demonstrates how Shaw put something of himself into all of his'people.'The result is a book that is consistently revealing, intriguing, and entertaining.