Shaw and Feminisms

When offstage actions contradict a playwrights onstage message, literary study gets messy. In his personal relationships, George Bernard Shaw was often ambivalent toward liberated womensurprisingly so, considering his reputation as one of the first champions of womens rights. His private attitudes sit uncomfortably beside his public philosophies that were so foundational to first-wave feminism. Here, Shaws long-recognized influence on feminism is reexamined through the lens of twenty-first-century feminist thought as well as previously unpublished primary sources. New links appear between Shaws writings and his gendered notions of physicality, pain, performance, nationalism, authorship, and politics. The books archival material includes previously unpublished Shaw correspondence and excerpts from the works of his feminist playwright contemporaries. Shaw and Feminisms explores Shaws strong female characters, his real-life involvement with women, and his continuing impact on theater and politics today.