Candida (Dodo Press) (Paperback)

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Product Description

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was a worldrenowned Irish author. Born in Dublin, he moved to London when he turned twenty. Having rejected formal schooling, he educated himself by independent study in the reading room of the British Museum; he also began his career there by writing novels for which he could not find a publisher. His first success was as a music and literary critic, but he was drawn to drama and authored more than sixty plays during his career. Typically his work is leavened by a delightful vein of comedy, but nearly all of it bears earnest messages Shaw hoped his audiences would embrace. He remains the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize (1925) for his contribution to literature and an Oscar (1938) for Pygmalion. Among his most famous works are: Candida (1894), Arms and the Man (1894) and Man and Superman (1902-03).

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Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Dodo Press (October 19, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1406553875
• ISBN-13: 978-1406553871
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,095,441 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Gem of World Theatre, June 5, 2004

By	Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Candida (Shaw Library) (Paperback)

Like many writers at the turn of the 20th Century, Shaw was very much interested in "the woman question," for women were becoming increasingly independent and more of a challenge to men in both public and private spheres. Although he also addressed these issues in such other plays as PYGMALION and MAN AND SUPERMAN, CANDIDA is perhaps his clearest statement on the subject. Written in 1894, it is a statement that has proven timeless. It is easily among the favorite performance pieces of world theatre.

The plot is quite simple. The Rev. Morrell is a minister with a taste for reform--and he has had the good fortune to marry the perfect wife, a remarkable woman named Candida who has a talent for smoothing every path she encounters. One of the paths to which she has turned that talent is that of Marchbanks, a poetic young man who is the grip of all the emotional turmoil delayed adolescence implies. But Marchbanks has fallen in love with Candida, and when he informs her husband of this all hell breaks loose.

Throughout much of the play Morrell and Marchbanks engage in a series of brilliantly written duels over Candida, each of them espousing what Candida means to them and what they can give her, arguing through numerous philosophical issues in the process. But neither gentleman has actually troubled to consult Candida herself; when they eventually lay the issue before her and insist that she decide between them, she responds in a way that not only demonstrates how little they know of her, but how little they know about both women and the world in general.

The climax of the play has been dropping jaws in theatres for well over a hundred years and it seems likely that it will do so for at least a hundred more--and although Shaw presents his play as a comedy, it will be the rare husband who leaves it without a quick glance at his wife and the disturbed thought that like Candida, she may not be entirely what he has always believed her to be. Brilliantly written and reading as well on the page as it plays on the stage, CANDIDA is easily among the great plays of this or any other era; a personal favorite and very strongly recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing introduction, September 21, 2008

By	Sibylle (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Candida (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Peter Gahan's introduction to G.B. Shaw's play Candida in the new Penguin Classics edition shows an old favorite play in a very new light. Not only does Gahan read between the lines of the plot, he also draws the reader's attention to on-stage props, names, and even off-stage happenings, which might otherwise easily go unnoticed. He makes some truly amazing connections with a multitude of other works of art, such as Yeats' poetry, pre-Raphelite paintings, and Wagnerian opera. This new edition of Candida is worth buying for its introduction alone.