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This book analyzes the interaction of crimes, punishments, and Bernard Shaw in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It explores crimes committed by professional criminals, nonprofessional criminals, businessmen, believers in a cause, the police, the Government, and prison officials. It examines punishments decreed by judges, juries, colonial governors, commissars, and administered by the police, prison warders, and prison doctors. It charts Shaw's view of crimes and punishments in dramatic writings, non-dramatic writings, and his actions in real life. This book presents him in the context of his contemporaries and his world, inviting readers to view crimes and punishments in their context, history, and relevance to his ideas in and outside his plays, plus the relevance of his ideas to crimes and punishments in life.
List of contents
1. To Begin With.- 2. The Fundamental Crimes.- 3. Crimes Past, Crimes Present.- 4. Treason.- 5. The Malleability of the Law.- 6. The Law and the Innocent.- 7. Crimes and the Professional Writer.- 8. Women, Crime, and Punishment.- 9. Corporal Punishment and Worse.- 10. Crimes, Punishments, and Bernard Shaw.- Bibliography.- Notes.- Index.
About the author
Bernard F. Dukore is University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Theatre Arts and Humanities at Virginia Tech, USA. He has directed plays and written numerous books and articles on modern drama, theatre, and cinema. His most recent books are
Bernard Shaw: Slaves of Duty and Tricks of the Governing Class (2012) and
Shaw's Theater (2000).
Summary
This book analyzes the interaction of crimes, punishments, and Bernard Shaw in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It explores crimes committed by professional criminals, nonprofessional criminals, businessmen, believers in a cause, the police, the Government, and prison officials. It examines punishments decreed by judges, juries, colonial governors, commissars, and administered by the police, prison warders, and prison doctors. It charts Shaw's view of crimes and punishments in dramatic writings, non-dramatic writings, and his actions in real life. This book presents him in the context of his contemporaries and his world, inviting readers to view crimes and punishments in their context, history, and relevance to his ideas in and outside his plays, plus the relevance of his ideas to crimes and punishments in life.
Additional text
“A compelling, almost addictive read, it becomes progressively more gruesome, as Dukore progresses through the seamy side of life and society with relentless moral determination.” (Anne wright, The Shavian, Vol. 14 (1), 2018)
“The purpose of Crimes and Punishments and Bernard Shaw was to provide ‘gateways’ that will ‘permit the reader to encounter [Shaw’s] drama and ideas in a fresh context.’ It has superbly fulfilled that purpose and will likely stand as the definitive treatment of this important topic.” (Michel Pharand, SHAW The Journal of Bernard Shaw Studies, Vol. 358 (02), 2018)
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"A compelling, almost addictive read, it becomes progressively more gruesome, as Dukore progresses through the seamy side of life and society with relentless moral determination." (Anne wright, The Shavian, Vol. 14 (1), 2018)
"The purpose of Crimes and Punishments and Bernard Shaw was to provide 'gateways' that will 'permit the reader to encounter [Shaw's] drama and ideas in a fresh context.' It has superbly fulfilled that purpose and will likely stand as the definitive treatment of this important topic." (Michel Pharand, SHAW The Journal of Bernard Shaw Studies, Vol. 358 (02), 2018)
