“A Hollow Sham”: The Representation of War in Bernard Shaw’s Victorian Plays

A fierce opponent to war prompted by passion, Bernard Shaw saw the contemporary stage as the source of the Victorians’ misconception of the battlefield. In his plays, comedy and derision debunk the warped view of fighting that flows from ideals, the thirst for revenge and an incompetent ruling class...

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Main Author: Stéphane Guy
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée 2007-12-01
Series:Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/cve/10553
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author Stéphane Guy
author_facet Stéphane Guy
author_sort Stéphane Guy
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description A fierce opponent to war prompted by passion, Bernard Shaw saw the contemporary stage as the source of the Victorians’ misconception of the battlefield. In his plays, comedy and derision debunk the warped view of fighting that flows from ideals, the thirst for revenge and an incompetent ruling class. The onslaught goes hand in hand with the staging of an alternative form of heroism for the audience that defeats their aesthetic expectations through dramatic paradox. Shaw’s war plays unfold a dramaturgy of verisimilitude aiming to break down artifice and playing with the very principle of representation of conflict on the stage.
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spelling doaj-art-6cc7104000ac47cd8049bcbdd3a01b372025-01-30T10:21:16ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeCahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens0220-56102271-61492007-12-016610.4000/cve.10553“A Hollow Sham”: The Representation of War in Bernard Shaw’s Victorian PlaysStéphane GuyA fierce opponent to war prompted by passion, Bernard Shaw saw the contemporary stage as the source of the Victorians’ misconception of the battlefield. In his plays, comedy and derision debunk the warped view of fighting that flows from ideals, the thirst for revenge and an incompetent ruling class. The onslaught goes hand in hand with the staging of an alternative form of heroism for the audience that defeats their aesthetic expectations through dramatic paradox. Shaw’s war plays unfold a dramaturgy of verisimilitude aiming to break down artifice and playing with the very principle of representation of conflict on the stage.https://journals.openedition.org/cve/10553
spellingShingle Stéphane Guy
“A Hollow Sham”: The Representation of War in Bernard Shaw’s Victorian Plays
Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens
title “A Hollow Sham”: The Representation of War in Bernard Shaw’s Victorian Plays
title_full “A Hollow Sham”: The Representation of War in Bernard Shaw’s Victorian Plays
title_fullStr “A Hollow Sham”: The Representation of War in Bernard Shaw’s Victorian Plays
title_full_unstemmed “A Hollow Sham”: The Representation of War in Bernard Shaw’s Victorian Plays
title_short “A Hollow Sham”: The Representation of War in Bernard Shaw’s Victorian Plays
title_sort a hollow sham the representation of war in bernard shaw s victorian plays
url https://journals.openedition.org/cve/10553
work_keys_str_mv AT stephaneguy ahollowshamtherepresentationofwarinbernardshawsvictorianplays