Misalliance

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

4.0

Word count: 182K words
Chapters: 19

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.Misalliance by Bernard ShawAuthor: Shaw, Bernard, 1856-1950,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jun 1, 1997

Editor's review

Misalliance is a play by Bernard Shaw that continues his style of using dialogue to drive the clash of ideas. The work revolves around marriage, family, and class relations, teasing and scrutinizing social customs and views on the sexes through witty exchanges between characters. Shaw's strength as a dramatist lies in embedding serious discussion within light scenes, so that readers following the characters' debates also sense the stage rhythm and humor. This edition is the English electronic text provided by Project Gutenberg; it is chiefly dialogue and relatively concise, making it a convenient introduction for readers interested in British drama or social issues. As you read, note how the characters' positions gradually emerge through conversation and how the author uses irony to create comic effect. For readers who wish to approach Shaw's drama without starting with a long play, this work is a relatively lightweight choice.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in British drama and Shaw's works
Those who enjoy exploring marriage and social issues through dialogue
Learners who wish to practice English reading with play scripts

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer strongly narrative, tightly plotted novels
Readers with little patience for lengthy dialogue and debate-style texts

Reading tips

First clarify the character relationships, then read scene by scene to follow shifts in position during the dialogue
Note how irony and humor are expressed, and mark lines that strike you
For English study, select dialogue passages for role reading

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

Is this a novel or a play? How does the reading approach differ?

This is a play by Bernard Shaw, composed of character dialogue and stage directions. As you read, imagine the stage scene and pay attention to the exchanges and tones in the dialogue; more than a novel, it relies on dialogue to convey plot and theme.

Is the original English difficult to read?

The text is mainly dialogue, with shorter sentences but considerable discussion of social issues and ironic expression. Readers with intermediate English can finish it with a dictionary; the main difficulty lies in understanding the humor and implications.

What themes does the work mainly discuss?

The work revolves around marriage, family relationships, and social class, presenting doubts about traditional customs through characters' debates. Readers can appreciate Shaw's characteristic way of discussing serious social questions through comedy.

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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.