Hormis Pygmalion, dans sa version cinématographique My Fair Lady, l'oeuvre de Bernard Shaw est aujourd'hui presque complètement inconnue du public français. Parmi les mélomanes, rares sont ceux qui ont lu le Parfait wagnérien ou qui en connaissent même l'existence ; plus rares encore ceux qui savent que ce célèbre essai était le fruit d'une familiarité professionnelle avec la musique. C'est en effet comme critique musical, et rapidement l'un des plus talentueux d'Europe, que Shaw est entré dans la carrière journalistique et littéraire. Pendant près d'une vingtaine d'années (de 1876 à 1894), il a tenu avec un brio croissant une chronique musicale régulière dans la presse londonienne ; et même lorsqu'il cessa cette activité, il n'en continua pas moins à publier, de temps à autre, des articles marquants. Wagner et les interprètes wagnériens de son temps constituant le massif central de ses écrits sur la musique, ceux qui en traitent ont été ici rassemblés. Mais cette anthologie ne devrait pas intéresser seulement les wagnériens. Comme, dans les articles de Shaw, Wagner voisine souvent avec d'autres compositeurs précédents ou contemporains ; et que ses principaux interprètes outre-Manche, tant à l'opéra qu'au concert, venaient principalement de l'étranger et s'illustraient aussi dans d'autres répertoires, c'est une large part de la création et de la vie musicales européennes dans la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle qui s'y trouvent évoquée par un critique d'une indépendance de jugement et d'une verve incomparables.

Discover a new way to read classics with Quick Read. This Quick Read edition includes both the full text and a summary for each chapter. - Reading time of the complete text: about 2 hours - Reading time of the summarized text: 1 minute "Arms and the Man" is a comedy play by George Bernard Shaw that deals with the futility of war and the hypocrisies of human nature. The play takes place during the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian War and follows the story of Raina Petkoff, a young Bulgarian woman engaged to Sergius Saranoff, one of the heroes of the war. Raina hides a Swiss mercenary soldier, Captain Bluntschli, in her home after he climbs in through her bedroom balcony window. The play ends with Raina proclaiming her love for Bluntschli and him clearing up the major's troop movement problems. The play was one of Shaw's first commercial successes and has been performed numerous times since its premiere in 1894. It has been adapted into an operetta, "The Chocolate Soldier," and has inspired a pejorative military term in Israel. The play's message that war is not a romantic adventure still resonates today.

Discover a new way to read classics with Quick Read. This Quick Read edition includes both the full text and a summary for each chapter. - Reading time of the complete text: about 3 hours - Reading time of the summarized text: 3 minutes Mrs. Warren's Profession is a play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1893, and first performed in London in 1902. The play is about a former prostitute, now a madam (brothel proprietor), who attempts to come to terms with her disapproving daughter. The story centres on the relationship between Mrs Kitty Warren and her daughter, Vivie. Vivie, an intelligent and pragmatic young woman who has just graduated from university, has come home to get acquainted with her mother for the first time in her life. The play focuses on how their relationship changes when Vivie learns what her mother does for a living. It explains why Mrs. Warren became a prostitute, condemns the hypocrisies relating to prostitution, and criticises the limited employment opportunities available for women in Victorian Britain. The play was originally banned by the Lord Chamberlain (Britain's official theatre censor) because of its frank discussion of prostitution, but was finally performed on Sunday, 5 January 1902, at London's New Lyric Club. The play has been revived several times since then, including off-Broadway in 2006 and on Broadway in 2010. The play has also been adapted into a German film in 1960 and a BBC television version in 1972. The play offers social commentary to illustrate Shaw's belief that the act of prostitution was not caused by moral failure but by economic necessity.

Discover a new way to read classics with Quick Read. This Quick Read edition includes both the full text and a summary for each chapter. - Reading time of the complete text: about 3 hours - Reading time of the summarized text: 4 minutes Pygmalion is a play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1912, which has been adapted into various forms, including the 1938 film Pygmalion, the 1956 musical My Fair Lady, and its 1964 film version. The play was inspired by the ancient Greek myth of Pygmalion, who fell in love with one of his sculptures that came to life. The character of Professor Henry Higgins was inspired by several British professors of phonetics. The play follows the story of Eliza, a flower girl who wishes to talk like a lady, and Higgins, who takes on the challenge of transforming her into a refined lady. The play's ending has been a subject of controversy, with Shaw insisting on a non-romantic ending, while audiences and some critics preferred a happy ending. Pygmalion remains Shaw's most popular play and has been adapted into various films, television shows, and plays.

Discover a new way to read classics with Quick Read. This Quick Read edition includes both the full text and a summary for each chapter. - Reading time of the complete text: about 3 hours - Reading time of the summarized text: 3 minutes The Doctor's Dilemma is a play by George Bernard Shaw that premiered in 1906. The play is about the moral dilemmas created by limited medical resources and the conflicts between the demands of private medicine as a business and a vocation. The eponymous dilemma of the play is that of the newly honoured doctor Sir Colenso Ridgeon, who has developed a revolutionary new cure for tuberculosis. However, his private medical practice, with limited staff and resources, can only treat ten patients at a time. The play also mentions new developments in the germ theory of disease, namely opsonins, and included socialist and anti-vivisectionist viewpoints. The theme of the play remains current: in any time, there will be treatments that are so scarce or costly that some people can have them while others cannot. The play has been produced on Broadway and in London's West End, and a film adaptation was made in 1958. The most recent high-profile revival was on the Lyttelton stage at the National Theatre in London in 2012.

Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion is a witty and thought-provoking play that explores themes of social class, transformation, and the power of language. First performed in 1913, the play remains one of Shaw's most celebrated works, blending comedy with sharp social critique. The story follows Professor Henry Higgins, a phonetics expert, who makes a bet with his friend, Colonel Pickering, that he can transform a poor flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, into a refined lady simply by teaching her proper speech and manners. Eliza, eager to improve her station in life, agrees to the experiment. However, as her transformation progresses, she begins to question her own identity and independence. Shaw cleverly satirizes the rigid British class system, highlighting the superficiality of social status. He emphasizes that one's position in society is often determined by external factors such as language and appearance rather than intelligence or character. Eliza's journey raises important questions about self-worth, agency, and the true meaning of personal change. Unlike the traditional Pygmalion myth, where the sculptor falls in love with his creation, Shaw subverts expectations by making the relationship between Higgins and Eliza complex and ambiguous. While Higgins views Eliza as a project, she ultimately asserts her own autonomy, refusing to be merely a product of his experiment. Pygmalion is a masterpiece of wit and irony, blending elements of romance, drama, and social commentary. Shaw's sharp dialogue and insightful observations on class and gender make the play as relevant today as it was over a century ago. The play later inspired the famous musical My Fair Lady, further cementing its place in literary and theatrical history. With its engaging characters and thought-provoking themes, Pygmalion remains a timeless exploration of identity, transformation, and the human desire for respect and recognition.

Discover a new way to read classics with Quick Read. This Quick Read edition includes both the full text and a summary for each chapter. - Reading time of the complete text: about 1 hour - Reading time of the summarized text: 3 minutes