Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts (New Mermaids) - Softcover

Bernard Shaw

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0713679972 ISBN 13: 9780713679977

Publisher: Methuen Drama, 2008

Synopsis

'Not bloody likely' Ever since Pygmalion opened in London in April 1914 it has proved a very controversial play, from the (then) shocking language, to arguments about its correct ending. Critical interpretations have been similarly disputatious, encompassing views of the transformation of the impoverished Eliza Doolittle by phonetics expert Henry Higgins as either a story of economic and social liberation, or an example of the perpetuation of male control and self-interest. With subsequent film and musical adaptations and many stage revivals, Pygmalion remains one of Shaw's most engaging, provocative, and accessible plays. This new edition of Pygmalion includes Shaw's definitive text, with both Preface and Sequel, and provides the most comprehensive scholarly treatment of the play to date, containing: * a substantial introduction with biographical information on Shaw * detailed discussion of the genesis and sources of the play * varying interpretations, and a lengthy international stage history. * textual notes on each page explaining language, allusions, and staging * Appendices with Shaw's discarded scenes for the play, the British Censor's 1914 report, and texts of all stage and film endings of Pygmalion.

About this title

Review:

'Compact but comprehensive...Students and general readers will find it both accessible and enlightening, Shaw scholars will regard it as an excellent resource, and directors of future productions of Pygmalion will wish they could hire Leonard Conolly as their dramaturg.'
--Shaw: The Annual Bernard Shaw Studies (September 2009)

About the Author:

L. W. Conolly is a leading authority on Shaw. He is Literary Advisor to the Shaw Estate, Vice-President of the International Shaw Society, a Corresponding Scholar of the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, and the author and editor of numerous essays and books on Shaw. Professor of English Literature at Trent University in Ontario, Dr Conolly is also a Senior Member of Robinson College, Cambridge, and is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

About this edition

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0713679972
• ISBN 13: 9780713679977
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208
• Editor: Leonard Conolly