Nearly all his plays address prevailing social problems, but each also includes a vein of comedy that makes their stark themes more palatable. Over the course of his life he wrote more than 60 plays. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama. George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright, socialist, and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. A staple of college drama courses, it is still widely performed. The irresistible theme of the emerging butterfly, together with Shaw's brilliant dialogue and splendid skills as a playwright, have made Pygmalion one of the most popular comedies in the English language. In the process of convincing society that his creation is a mysterious royal figure, the Professor also falls in love with his elegant handiwork. In Shaw's clever adaptation, Professor Henry Higgins, a linguistic expert, takes on a bet that he can transform an awkward cockney flower seller into a refined young lady simply by polishing her manners and changing the way she speaks. An updated and considerably revised version of the ancient Greek legend of Pygmalion and Galatea, the 20th-century story pokes fun at the antiquated British class system. One of George Bernard Shaw's best-known plays, Pygmalion was a rousing success on the London and New York stages, an entertaining motion picture and a great hit with its musical version, My Fair Lady.
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