"In the Beginning: B.C. 4004" is an allegorical play where Adam and Eve discover the concept of death when they find a dead fawn, leading to a discussion on the dread of immortality and the possibility of reproduction as a way to escape from an eternal life of burdens and tedium. The play deals with themes of loneliness, love, fear, fidelity,...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
"In the Beginning: B.C. 4004" is an allegorical play where Adam and Eve discover the concept of death when they find a dead fawn, leading to a discussion on the dread of immortality and the possibility of reproduction as a way to escape from an eternal life of burdens and tedium. The play deals with themes of loneliness, love, fear, fidelity, marriage, and courage found in laughter. At the end, the Serpent whispers the secret of reproduction to Eve, and the play jumps forward in time to show a slightly aged Adam and Eve with their son Cain, who is proud of his invention of murder and disdainful of the simple farming life.
George Bernard shaw
