British Theatre

Entering the twentieth century, the British audiences found themselves with a freshly genre of flying field. Apart from the West End familys for the aristocrats and the medicinal drug halls for the running(a) class, the New Theatre appeared as the genre of theatre that would sycophancy up with the social issues of the time. This new genre, social Realism, aims to spot the contemporaneous conflicts o the British society in the early twentieth century, which are gender inequality and conflicts between employers and workers. These 2 issues soon became the of import themes of the social realist drama. Theres no more than plain comedy or mere entertainment only the attempt to discuss these serious social issues and provoke the thoughts of the audiences. It is the theatre of likings and leaves things for the audiences to think about. Class is another issue often presented in social realist drama. This essay will discuss how the 3 plays: Pygmalion, look Back in Anger, an d Educating Rita are portrayed. To begin with, we look at Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw in 1914. Being a feminist causal agency supporter and a collectivised himself, Shaw presents in this play his vagary of equality in both gender and class. The main character, Eliza is a working class girl who would end up satisfactory a more independent and sophisticated woman.

Shaw introduces the idea o class, as something not rigid and that one can by chance move up the social ladder. Eliza, for example, turns to be a duchess discourtesy her working class background. The key to such transformation is education, or more specifically in this play, language. It also shows Shaws socialist belief that if education is available for ev! erybody then anyone can socially rises up. Such idea of moving up the class was considered contemporary in Shaws time. Yet it opens up the possibilities to the audiences, that the poor do not have to remain poor. Professor Higgins, another main character, is probably the representation of Shaws opinion. Higgins is very much a socialist himself, as we can...If you want to get a large essay, order it on our website: OrderEssay.net

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