Victorian Playwrights

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The Victorian Era in the United Kingdom is archetypally deemed the time period when Queen Victoria ruled, from 1837 to 1901 (Miller 1). While the Queen’s reign altered many social aspects of British life, perhaps the most noticeable was drama. Previously, theatre had been precluded and disapproved of due to various reasons, particularly religion. However, Queen Victoria chose to attend histrionic performances often and eventually made it reputable. The Queen considered Shakespeare too confusing of a playwright (Airdrie 1) and it soon became the job of numerous others to create amusing plays that she and countless other Europeans would enjoy. Although the playwrights of the Victorian era such as George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, and J.M. Barrie came from extremely diverse backgrounds and circumstances, each one gave writing their all in the hopes that they would both express themselves and regale their audience.

Perhaps the best known of the Victorian playwrights, George Bernard Shaw was born on July 26, 1856 to a drunkard, George Carr Shaw, and his wife, Lucinda Elisabeth Shaw (George Bernard Shaw 1), a lower-middle class family (Mazer 1). Shaw attended Wesleyan Connexional School before transferring to Dublin’s Central Model School. From there, he proceeded to Dublin English Scientific and Commercial Day School. However, his schooling concluded around the age of fifteen when he began to work as a clerk (George Bernard Shaw 1). It was at this time that Shaw’s mother left her husband and moved with a singing coach of hers to London (Mazer 1). By 1876, Shaw had joined his mother in London (George Bernard Shaw 1) where he pursued journalism and writing while reading excessively and even becoming involved in politics and public spe...

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