British dramatists

Oscar Wilde

Wilde’s life:
Oscar Wilde was Irish writer, poet and dramatist. He lived in second half of 19th century. Wilde’s parents were very successful. He studied in Dublin and Oxford, got married with rich young lady and had 2 kids. But a few years later, he was charged for homosexuality and adjudged to 2 years of prison. After his return home, his wife estranged from him. Wilde died in France.

Wilde’s publications:
Oscar Wilde wrote some poems (Poems, The Ballad of Reading Gaol), but he is famous for his fairy tales (The Canterville Ghost, The Happy Prince and Other Stories), plays (The Importance of Being Earnest, An Ideal Husband) and his single novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.

The Picture of Dorian Gray:
It’s Wilde’s only one novel. It tells about young man Dorian Gray, subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is impressed by Dorian’s beauty and youth and becomes infatuated with him. Dorian meets Basil’s friend Lord Henry. They become good friends, Dorian likes Lord’s view of world, he say that beauty and youth rule the world. Dorian is afraid even he becomes old, so he wishes to put every sign of aging into his painting instead his face and body. Dorian’s wish is fulfilled and all sins of his soul are displayed into this painting and Dorian is still beautiful and young.

George Bernard Shaw

Shaw’s life:
G. B. Shaw was Irish dramatist. He lived in second half of 19th and in first half of 20th century. Shaw was born into poor family, his father was an alcoholic and his mother was a musician. When he was 20, he left Ireland and he never came back for almost 30 years, even when his father died. He worked as journalist and reviewer. In 1925 he obtained the Nobel Prize in literature. After his wife’s dead in 1943, he lost care of his own life. He died in 1950.

Shaw’s publications:
Shaw is famous for his plays, which reflect Shaw’s clear critic and ironic intellect. He became the most important English dramatist after William Shakespeare. His first dramatic publication was a collection of 7 plays called Plays Pleasant und Unpleasant followed by second collection of plays Three Plays for Puritans or John Bull’s Other Island and many others. But his probably the most famous play is called Pygmalion.

Pygmalion:
This satire was first played in year 1913 in Vienna, Berlin and Prague. It tells about professor of phonetics Henry Higgins, who makes with Colonel Pickering a bet that he can train poor cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador’s party. Higgins is with experiment successful and Eliza perfectly fits into higher society. Higgins wins the bet, but he doesn’t realize that Eliza fall in love with him.