英国文学 萧伯纳 简介.ppt

George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950 Brief Introduction of Life Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin, Ireland, of English parentage in 1856. His family belonged to the Irish protestant (新教）gentry（贵族）. With an unhappy childhood, he left school at the age of 14 and started to work in a land agent’s office. This experience enriched his understanding of the society and the suffering of the people. Shaw’s Birthplace in Dublin Shaw developed a wide knowledge of music art, and literature as a result of his mother’s influence. In 1876, Shaw gave up his job and went to London, where he devoted much of his time to self-education by reading in the libraries. Between 1879 and 1883, he wrote 5 novels, but none of them brought him profit or fame. In 1884, Shaw joined the Fabian Society费边社（英国社会改良主义团体）and he became one of its most influential members. In a period of ten years from 1885, Shaw served as a critic of music and drama for a number of magazines and newspapers. His career as a dramatist began in 1892, when his first play Widower’s Houses was put on by the Independent Theater Society. When the First World War broke out, he denounced those imperialist war-launchers in his book, Common Sense About the War. In 1925, he won the Nobel Prize. He visited the former Soviet Union in 1931. In 1933, he visited China and met Madam Song Qingling and Mr. Lu Xun. In 1950, Shaw was died of illness. Major Works Widowers Houses (1892) 《鳏夫的房产》 Mrs. Warren‘s Profession (1894)《华伦夫人的职业》 Caesar and Cleopatra (1898)《凯萨与克丽奥佩拉 》 Man and Superman (1903)《人与超人》 Major Barbara (1905) 《巴巴拉少校》 Pygmalion (1912) 《卖花女》 Heartbreak House (1917) 《伤心之家》 Saint Joan (1923) 《圣女贞德》 The Apple Cart (1929) 《苹果车》 Widowers’ Houses (1892) is the 1st play written by Bernard Shaw . It is a grotesquely(荒诞的）realistic exposure of slum（贫民窟） landlordism, and it is based on the British society. At that time, the British workers’ living condition was a terrible political issue. The purpose of Widowers’ Houses is to enha