George Bernard Shaw, Candida

Soudabeh Ananisarab (Birmingham City University)
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Candida

was written in 1894 and was George Bernard Shaw’s first box-office success when staged on 26th April 1904 in the now famous Vedrenne-Barker seasons at the Royal Court Theatre. London.

Candida

followed three plays –

Widowers’ Houses

,

Philanderer

and

Mrs Warren’s Profession

eventually published together under the title

Plays Unpleasant

(1898). In these Shaw exposed some of the sordid aspects of Victorian society – slum landlordism, philandering and prostitution. Unsurprisingly, Shaw had small success in finding London managers willing to produce these early plays so remained a largely unperformed playwright outside the private dramatic societies of London and the occasional provincial venue. Shaw’s second collection,

Plays Pleasant

(also 1898

)

, which includes

Candida

1757 words

Citation: Ananisarab, Soudabeh. "Candida". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 July 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=24830, accessed 04 December 2024.]

24830 Candida 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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