Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. On family:
"Parentage is a very important profession, but no test of fitness for it is ever imposed in the interest of the children."
G. Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin in 1856. His mother was a singer and his father was a failed merchant. George Snr. was also an alcoholic and had a squint which was attended to by a famous Dublin surgeon. The father of which literary talent actually operated on Shaw's father?
2. On education:
"A fool's brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education."
When he was 20, Shaw left Dublin to live with his mother in London. His education in Ireland had been basic and he never did go to university. His later education was self administered. He read widely in public libraries and spent a large amount of time in the reading room of the British Museum. His oratory skills were honed on soap boxes on Speaker's Corner. In which London park is Speaker's Corner?
3. On thinking:
"One man that has a mind and knows it can always beat ten men who haven't and don't."
Shaw soon came to the attention of several leading reformers in London. Together with Beatrice and Sidney Webb, Shaw was one of the early members of the Fabian Society. The society was committed to gradual social reform, not social revolution. Others were attracted to the Fabians and soon many famous names were aligned. Which of the following was a member of the Fabian Society?
4. On convictions:
"A mind the calibre of mine cannot derive its nutriment from cows".
One of Shaw's great passions was the reformation of the English spelling. To this end he also campaigned for a new, extended alphabet. He worked for radical changes in the voting system and to abolish private property. Shaw pursued a healthy lifestyle. He did not smoke or drink and was a vegetarian. How did he describe animals?
5. On marriage and women:
"It is most unwise for people in love to marry."
In 1896 Shaw married Charlotte Payne-Townsend - a woman of independent means. While they remained married until her death, there are indications that he had several close relationships with other women. One actress in particular had prompted a series of intense love letters. She played the role of Eliza in Pygmalion. When she indicated that she wished to publish his letters, Shaw responded "I will not ... at my time of life, play the horse to your Lady Godiva." Who was this actress?
6. On war and patriotism:
"You'll never have a quiet world till you knock the patriotism out of the human race."
The outbreak of World War One in 1914 forged changes in Shaw's life. He was deeply opposed to war and wrote a series of newspaper articles to this end. He suffered greatly for his stand and endured much public condemnation. In his opinion what did the war represent?
7. On the Nobel Prize:
"I can forgive Alfred Nobel for having invented dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize."
Following the end of World War One, Shaw gradually rebuilt his reputation. He rediscovered his dramatic edge and wrote a series of plays culminating in the publication of "St. Joan" in 1923. In 1925 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. It would seem he did not hold the Swedish Academy in very high regard, however. As he did not need the money, he directed the cash prize towards promoting the works of which writer?
8. On travelling and foreigners:
"Americans adore me and will go on adoring me until I say something nice about them."
Shaw's Nobel Prize ensured that his plays were regularly produced and revived in both England and America. He travelled widely as a celebrity but was still involved in politics. His acerbic wit extended to the American people even though he only visited briefly twice. Which leading American citizen of the time invited and entertained Shaw?
9. On death:
"Do not try to live forever. You will not succeed."
In 1950 Shaw fell from a ladder at his home in Hertfordshire near London. He died a few days later at the age of 94. A sizeable portion of his estate went to promote his pet project "The Shaw Alphabet". When that failed, the money was directed to which institution?
10. His influence:
"Some look at things that are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were and ask why not?"
Shavian influence is evident even today. People quote and often misquote Shaw's witticisms with scant regard for or indeed knowledge of the author. His words and thoughts are evident in popular culture as well as in more serious fields of endeavour.
One prominent US political figure of the 20th century was fond of paraphrasing Shaw. Indeed his favourite passage was quoted at the politician's funeral by his brother. Who was this man of vision?
Source: Author
Nannanut
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bloomsby before going online.
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