MAN AND SUPERMAN

by George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856–2 November 1950)

Category Literature & Fiction
Format Paperback
Imprint Rupa
Price 295

ISBN: 978-93-5702-279-8
Pages: 208 pages
Date: 5th July 2023

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Subtitled as ‘A Comedy and a Philosophy’, George Bernard Shaw published Man and Superman
in 1903, and it was fully staged in 1915 at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. The title comes from
Friedrich Nietzche’s ideas about the Ubermensch or ‘Superman’. The plot centers on John Tanner,
and Ann Whitefield and her persistent efforts to make him marry her. Written in a response to a
request for a ‘Don Juan’ play, it is based on his belief in the conflict between man as the spiritual
creator and woman as the guardian of the biological continuity of the human race. Shaw, in this
work, incorporates the concept of ‘life force’ and succeeds in painting a satirical view of the eternal
battle of the sexes.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856–2 November 1950) was an Irish playwright, critic, polemist
and social activist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest dramatists in the English language
and a key figure in the literary movement known as modernism. Shaw’s works, which include
Pygmalion and Saint Joan, often tackled social and political issues with wit and satire. He was also
a vocal advocate for women’s rights, vegetarianism and socialism. In 1925, he was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Literature.