The play is a historical comedy that imagines a meeting between Napoleon Bonaparte and a mysterious woman who outwits him. The play is set in an Italian inn in 1796, where Napoleon is waiting for news of the military campaign he is leading. While he waits, a woman arrives and engages him in a battle of wits, challenging his beliefs and...More
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond. He wrote more than sixty plays. With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory, Shaw became the leading dramatist of his generation, and in 1925 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Dublin, Shaw moved to London in 1876, where he struggled to establish himself as a writer and novelist, and embarked on a rigorous process of self-education. By the mid-1880s he had become a respected theatre and music critic. Following a political...More
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond. He wrote more than sixty plays. With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory, Shaw became the leading dramatist of his generation, and in 1925 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Dublin, Shaw moved to London in 1876, where he struggled to establish himself as a writer and novelist, and embarked on a rigorous process of self-education. By the mid-1880s he had become a respected theatre and music critic. Following a political awakening, he joined the gradualist Fabian Society and became its most prominent pamphleteer. Shaw had been writing plays for years before his first public success, Arms and the Man in 1894. Influenced by Henrik Ibsen, he sought to introduce a new realism into English-language drama, using his plays as vehicles to disseminate his political, social and religious ideas.
Book Summary
The play is a historical comedy that imagines a meeting between Napoleon Bonaparte and a mysterious woman who outwits him. The play is set in an Italian inn in 1796, where Napoleon is waiting for news of the military campaign he is leading. While he waits, a woman arrives and engages him in a battle of wits, challenging his beliefs and assumptions. The woman is never named, but is referred to as "the lady in the veil." As the play progresses, it becomes clear that the lady in the veil is not who she seems, and that she has a hidden agenda. The play is a satire on the nature of power and the folly of ambition. It portrays Napoleon as a flawed and fallible character, whose success is largely due to luck and circumstance rather than any innate greatness. It also challenges traditional gender roles, by presenting the lady in the veil as a strong and intelligent woman who is not afraid to stand up to Napoleon.
George Bernard shaw
