BIBLIO is the largest independent book marketplace in the world, with over 100 million books.

Skip to content

Plays Pleasant
Stock photo: cover may vary

Plays Pleasant Paperback - 2003

by George Bernard Shaw; Dan H. Laurence (Editor); Introduction by W. J. McCormack

Add to wish list

Plays Pleasant (1898) comprises four comedies intended to amuse audiences but also to provoke them. Arms and the Man, set in the Balkan mountains, satirizes the romantic view of war and military heroism. Candida presents the complicated relationship between a vicar, his wife, and her young admirer. You Never Can Tell is a light, witty look at an aging suffragette and her family. The Man of Destiny features Napoleon Bonaparte at odds with English mores.

Summary

Plays Pleasant (1898) comprises four comedies intended to amuse audiences but also to provoke them. Arms and the Man, set in the Balkan mountains, satirizes the romantic view of war and military heroism. Candida presents the complicated relationship between a vicar, his wife, and her young admirer. You Never Can Tell is a light, witty look at an aging suffragette and her family. The Man of Destiny features Napoleon Bonaparte at odds with English mores.

Reader reviews for Plays Pleasant

Write a review for this book

There are no reviews for this book yet. Be the first to write a review!

Your review will be anonymous unless you login or create an account first.

Overall rating
Remember: You’re rating the book as a work, not the seller or the condition of the specific copy you purchased!

Important Terms and Guidelines

  • Please focus on the book’s content and context. Also, add any personal comments as to how you enjoyed the book. Substantiate your likes and dislikes. You may make comparisons to other books.
  • Reviews must be at least 140 characters in length.
  • Please do not reveal critical plot elements.
  • This is not a help line. Contact customer support if you need help.
Your review must not include:
  • Obscenities, discriminatory language, or other insulting language not suitable for public domain
  • Advertisements, “spam” content, or references to other products, offers or websites.
  • Email addresses, URLs, phone numbers, physical addresses or other contact information.
  • Overly critical comments about other reviews or reviewers
  • Time-sensitive material (i.e. promotional tours, seminars, lectures, etc.)
  • Availability, price, or alternative ordering/shipping information

From the publisher

Exclusive to Penguin Classics: the definitive text of Shaw's volume of "pleasant" plays, Arms and the Man, Candida, The Man of Destiny, and You Never Can Tell--part of the official Bernard Shaw Library

A Penguin Classic

One of Bernard Shaw's most glittering comedies, Arms and the Man is a burlesque of Victorian attitudes to heroism, war and empire. In the contrast between Bluntschli, the mercenary soldier, and the brave leader, Sergius, the true nature of valour is revealed. Shaw mocks deluded idealism in Candida, when a young poet becomes infatuated with the wife of a Socialist preacher. The Man of Destiny is a witty war of words between Napoleon and a "strange lady," while in the exuberant farce You Never Can Tell a divided family is reunited by chance. Although Shaw intended Plays Pleasant to be gentler comedies than those in their companion volume, Plays Unpleasant, their prophetic satire is sharp and provocative.

This is the definitive text prepared under the editorial supervision of Dan H. Laurence. The volume includes Shaw's Preface of 1898.

Details

  • Title Plays Pleasant
  • Author George Bernard Shaw; Dan H. Laurence (Editor); Introduction by W. J. McCormack
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition International Ed
  • Pages 336
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Classics, E Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.A.
  • Publication date 2003-08-26
  • ISBN 9780140437942 / 0140437940
  • Weight 0.54 lbs (0.24 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.8 x 5.06 x 0.8 in (19.81 x 12.85 x 2.03 cm)
  • Age range 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Category Plays / Drama
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 2003536813
  • Dewey Decimal Code 822.912

About the author

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) is one of the world's greatest literary figures. Born in Dublin, Ireland, he left school at fourteen and in 1876 went to London, where he began his literary career with a series of unsuccessful novels. In 1884 he became a founder of the Fabian Society, the famous British socialist organization. After becoming a reviewer and drama critic, he published a study of the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen in 1891 and became determined to create plays as he felt Ibsen did: to shake audiences out of their moral complacency and to attack social problems. However, Shaw was an irrepressible wit, and his plays are as entertaining as they are socially provocative. Basically shy, Shaw created a public persona for himself: G.B.S., a bearded eccentric, crusading social critic, antivivisectionist, language reformer, strict vegetarian, and renowned public speaker. The author of fifty-three plays, hundreds of essays, reviews, and letters, and several books, Shaw is best known for Widowers' Houses, Mrs. Warren's Profession, Arms and the Man, Caesar and Cleopatra, Man and Superman, Major Barbara, Pygmalion, Heartbreak House, and Saint Joan. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925.

Dan H. Laurence (series editor; 1920-2008) was series editor for the works of George Bernard Shaw in Penguin. Formerly a New York University faculty member, Mr. Laurence left his tenured position in 1970 to dedicated his life to the collection and curation of Shaw's life, work, and letters. He served as the official literary advisor to Shaw's estate and published four volumes of his correspondence.

W. J. McCormack (introducer) is a professor of literary history at Goldsmith's College, London.

Back to top↑

More Copies for Sale

Show all copies
Plays Pleasant (Penguin Classics)

Plays Pleasant (Penguin Classics)

by Shaw, George Bernard

  • Used
  • Very good
  • Paperback
Condition
Very good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780140437942 / 0140437940
Quantity available
5
Seller
World of Books Ltd
Item price
A$5.27
A$16.72 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Paperback. Very Good.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$5.27
A$16.72 Delivery to USA
Plays Pleasant
More photos

Plays Pleasant

by Shaw, George Bernard & Dan H. Laurence & W. J. McCormack

  • Used
  • Good
  • Paperback
Condition
Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780140437942 / 0140437940
Quantity available
1
Seller
Three Score Years and Ten
Biblio Top Seller
Item price
A$5.18
A$18.64 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Penguin Classics. Good. 2003. Paperback. 0140437940 . 5.1 X 0.78 X 7.8 inches; 336 pages .
Add to wish list
Item price
A$5.18
A$18.64 Delivery to USA
Plays Pleasant
Stock photo: cover may vary

Plays Pleasant

by George Bernard Shaw

  • Used
  • Very good
  • Paperback
Condition
Very good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780140437942 / 0140437940
Quantity available
1
Seller
ThriftBooks
Biblio Top Seller
Item price
A$9.47
Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Penguin Publishing Group, 2003. Paperback. Very Good. Former library book; May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$9.47
Free Delivery to USA
Plays Pleasant

Plays Pleasant

by Shaw, George Bernard

  • Used
  • Acceptable
  • Paperback
Condition
Acceptable
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780140437942 / 0140437940
Quantity available
1
Seller
ThriftBooks
Biblio Top Seller
Item price
A$9.47
Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Penguin Group, 2003. Paperback. Acceptable. Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$9.47
Free Delivery to USA
Plays Pleasant

Plays Pleasant

by George Bernard Shaw

  • Used
  • Good
  • Paperback
Condition
Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780140437942 / 0140437940
Quantity available
3
Seller
ThriftBooks
Biblio Top Seller
Item price
A$9.47
Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Penguin Publishing Group, 2003. Paperback. Good. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$9.47
Free Delivery to USA
Plays Pleasant

Plays Pleasant

by George Bernard Shaw

  • Used
  • Very good
  • Paperback
Condition
Very good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780140437942 / 0140437940
Quantity available
1
Seller
ThriftBooks
Biblio Top Seller
Item price
A$9.47
Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Penguin Publishing Group, 2003. Paperback. Very Good. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$9.47
Free Delivery to USA
Plays Pleasant : Arms and the Man - Candida - The Man of Destiny - You Never Can Tell

Plays Pleasant : Arms and the Man - Candida - The Man of Destiny - You Never Can Tell

by George Bernard Shaw

  • Used
  • Acceptable
  • Paperback
Condition
Acceptable
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780140437942 / 0140437940
Quantity available
1
Seller
ThriftBooks
Biblio Top Seller
Item price
A$9.47
Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Penguin Publishing Group, 2003. Paperback. Acceptable. Disclaimer:A readable copy. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact. Pages can include considerable notes-in pen or highlighter-but the notes cannot obscure the text. An ex-library book and may have standard library stamps and/or stickers. At ThriftBooks, our motto is: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$9.47
Free Delivery to USA
Plays Pleasant (Penguin Classics)
Stock photo: cover may vary

Plays Pleasant (Penguin Classics)

by Shaw, George Bernard

  • Used
Condition
Used
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780140437942 / 0140437940
Quantity available
1
Seller
Wonder Book
Item price
A$12.72
A$5.79 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Penguin Classics. Used - Good. Good condition. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$12.72
A$5.79 Delivery to USA
Plays Pleasant
Stock photo: cover may vary

Plays Pleasant

by Shaw, George Bernard

  • Used
Condition
Used
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780140437942 / 0140437940
Quantity available
2
Seller
Better World Books
Biblio Top Seller
Item price
A$18.35
Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Penguin Publishing Group. Used - Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$18.35
Free Delivery to USA
Plays Pleasant
Stock photo: cover may vary

Plays Pleasant

by Shaw, George Bernard,

  • Used
Condition
New
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780140437942 / 0140437940
Quantity available
4
Seller
GreatBookPrices
Item price
A$22.15
A$5.79 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
like new.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$22.15
A$5.79 Delivery to USA
Show all copies
Back to top↑

Please wait a moment while we load the requested page.