Historical Context/Age of Plays by Shaw/ Drama in Victorian Age

• Queen Victoria (1819-1901) ruled England from 1837 to 1901, a period in

history known as Victorian Age of English literature in England.
• The subject matter of drama in the Victorian Age (1837-1901) explored topics
related to strict religious belief, social goodwill, moral responsibility,
discipline, and sexual repression.
• In the first part of the Victorian Age, the emotional aspect of the plays
attracted uneducated audience in England.
• Sir Arthur Wing Pinero (1855–1934) and Henry Arthur Jones (1851–1929) are two
playwrights, whose dramas not only expressed the Victorian code but were also
accepted by the general audience .
• The plays written by these two dramatists were popular compared to the plays
written by Ibsen and Shaw who composed their dramas against the spirit of the
literary conventions of the Victorian Age.
• The plays of Oscar Wilde's (1854–1900) in the last part of the Victorian Age
(1837-1901) is another example of opposition to the Victorian concept of drama.
• The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) written by Wilde is more free and more
complex in nature than the plays of Shaw and Ibsen in terms of its opposition to
the Victorian view of drama.
• In last decade of the 19th century, the plays of Norwegian dramatist, Henrik
Ibsen were translated and performed in England. His drama, A Doll’s House opposed
the spirit of the dramas of the Victorian Age in terms of conservative traditions
and social organization.
• G B Shaw broke free from the Victorian traditions of drama by expressing the
realistic situation of his society. He wrote Widowers’ Houses and Mrs. Warren
Profession to reflect the scandal of slum landlordism and organized prostitution in
England.
• These plays highlighted the plight of humans in caught in the middle of these
social evils in the Victorian society.
• The later plays of Shaw in the 20th century are based on philosophical and
political contexts.