Heartbreak House

Shaw, Bernard, 1856-1950Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.3

Word count: 268K words
Chapters: 27

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Heartbreak House by Bernard ShawAuthor: Shaw, Bernard, 1856-1950,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Nov 1, 2002

Editor's review

Heartbreak House is a representative play Bernard Shaw wrote during World War I and is often regarded as one of the high points of his dramatic achievement. Set in a country house shaped like a ship's hull, the play brings together characters of different ages and classes; through a great deal of witty, sharp dialogue, it discusses the emptiness of British upper-class society, the failure of culture and politics, and the sense of crisis under the shadow of war. Shaw's signature debate-style dialogue and irony are fully on display here: characters often expose their own blindness and self-deception in the midst of small talk and flirtation, making the reading both entertaining and intellectually demanding. As a public-domain ebook, this edition is convenient to search and read through on electronic devices, and is suitable as supplementary reading for courses on British drama, for specialized study of Shaw, or for readers interested in modern drama and social criticism reading on their own. It should be noted that the play is driven mainly by dialogue and has little plot action; when reading, one should focus on the relationships between characters and the social meanings behind the topics rather than expect strong narrative suspense.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of English literature and drama who need to study a representative work by Shaw
General readers interested in modern drama and social satire
Practitioners preparing for staging or line analysis who need a public-domain script
Readers who want to understand the social atmosphere in Britain around World War I through literature

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer strong plot and fast-paced narrative may find the dialogue lengthy
Readers who are beginning English and unfamiliar with dramatic style may find the reading threshold high
Readers who want detailed notes and an introduction will need to find an annotated edition elsewhere

Reading tips

Read through once to clarify the relationships between characters, then go back to key dialogue passages and make annotations
Use materials on Shaw's life and the World War I background to understand the social criticism in the play
Try reading aloud by role to appreciate the rhythm and irony of the debate-style dialogue
After finishing, sort out the differences in how each character views war and responsibility, and make thematic notes

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What themes does this play mainly discuss?

The play centers on the emptiness and failure of British upper-class society. Through the casual talk and arguments of the people in the house, it discusses cultural cultivation, class responsibility, love and marriage, and the numbness and self-deception as war approaches, with a clear satirical and socially critical tone.

Can I understand it without experience reading drama?

Yes, but you need to get used to a style driven mainly by dialogue. It is advisable first to look at the character list and basic relationships, and while reading, focus on how the topics develop and how the characters' attitudes change. Do not try to remember every detail at once; a second reading will make things much clearer.

Is this electronic edition suitable for academic citation?

As a public-domain electronic text, it can be used for general reading and course reference, but academic citation should verify edition information and page numbers, and authoritative annotated or print editions should be preferred to avoid inaccurate quotations caused by typesetting differences.

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About the author

Shaw, Bernard, 1856-1950 Author

Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was an Irish playwright and critic. Public information about the details of his life is limited, yet his works have had a profound influence. The collection here contains 53 of his works, covering drama, criticism, and discursive essays. His representative works include Pygmalion, Mrs. Warren's Profession, Man and Superman, Candida, Caesar and Cleopatra, Major Barbara, and Arms and the Man. His plays often use witty, sharp dialogue to explore such issues as social class, gender relations, moral hypocrisy, and idealism, combining comic tension with argumentative force to form a distinctive style of drama of ideas. Shaw was skilled at presenting conflicts of ideas through exchanges between characters, turning the stage into a place of public discussion and exerting an important influence on the development of modern English-language drama.