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Excerpt
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The satirical comedy of George Bernard Shaw, The Apple Cart: A Political Extravaganza, brings out some political philosophies to the readers through its chief characters, who deliver long monologues. The play narrates in a comic vein the outwitting of the popularly elected Prime Minister Proteus and his cabinet by the English King Magnus. His sparring against the ones who connive to strip him of his monarchy and his remaining political power gives a political and diplomatic momentum to the plot of the play. The opposition was in the process of reducing the king to a cipher by thwarting his right to influence public opinion through channels like the press and platform. The king’s mistress Orinthia has been presented as an enigmatic and influential character and generates a lot of interest.
The Apple Cart also demonstrates futuristic visions and deals with a universal subject that retains its appeal even among today’s generation. It shows extraordinary accuracy in its predictions. It is a comedy of ideas and is one of the very unique works of Shaw. The dialogues are replete with Shavian wit and have punch. Readers love Magnus’s brilliant quips and observations. It presents a day in the lives of King Magnus of England and his closest associates. The king proves to be a superior player of politics than his ministers. It is a finely structured play with the themes of democracy and politics constantly playing in the consciousness of the readers.
Shaw wisely debates the inertia of complacent political entities that are fed by the spoils of their visionary imperialism and leaves the readers to draw their own inferences. He brings out his conundrum through the words, “A king is not allowed the luxury of a good character. Our country has produced millions of blameless greengrocers but not one blameless monarch.”
The satirical comedy of George Bernard Shaw, The Apple Cart: A Political Extravaganza, brings out some political philosophies to the readers through its chief characters, who deliver long monologues. The play narrates in a comic vein the outwitting of the popularly elected Prime Minister Proteus and his cabinet by the English King Magnus. His sparring against the ones who connive to strip him of his monarchy and his remaining political power gives a political and diplomatic momentum to the plot of the play. The opposition was in the process of reducing the king to a cipher by thwarting his right to influence public opinion through channels like the press and platform. The king’s mistress Orinthia has been presented as an enigmatic and influential character and generates a lot of interest.
The Apple Cart also demonstrates futuristic visions and deals with a universal subject that retains its appeal even among today’s generation. It shows extraordinary accuracy in its predictions. It is a comedy of ideas and is one of the very unique works of Shaw. The dialogues are replete with Shavian wit and have punch. Readers love Magnus’s brilliant quips and observations. It presents a day in the lives of King Magnus of England and his closest associates. The king proves to be a superior player of politics than his ministers. It is a finely structured play with the themes of democracy and politics constantly playing in the consciousness of the readers.
Shaw wisely debates the inertia of complacent political entities that are fed by the spoils of their visionary imperialism and leaves the readers to draw their own inferences. He brings out his conundrum through the words, “A king is not allowed the luxury of a good character. Our country has produced millions of blameless greengrocers but not one blameless monarch.”
George Bernard Shaw, a Nobel Prize winner for literature in 1925, is a notable playwright known for revolutionizing comedic drama and for inspiring generations. He was an Irish legend and has marked a place in history as a social spokesman. Shaw has a lot of reputation as a literary critic and is known to be a prominent British socialist. Pygmalion was undeniably Shaw’s financially most successful work.
Shaw’s quotes are some very oft repeated phrases all around. He is one out of only two people in history who have won both an Academy Award and a Nobel Prize for Literature. He shares this honour with Bob Dylan, one of the greatest songwriters of all time. While Shaw was honoured with the Nobel Prize in 1925, the committee is said to have been impressed with his work that they described as “marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty”. This quality had gained him worldwide fame and an unprecedented fan following.
Shaw has maintained a committed relationship with socialism all through his life and career. His plays, such as Mrs. Warren’s Profession and Pygmalion, deftly address mass social issues such as rights of women, poverty and capitalism. The pearls of wisdom that he dedicated to the world through his wise words are here to stay and inspire generations to come.
His urge to progress with the advancing and rapidly changing times, “Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything”; or the silent warning to the most gullible minds with the words, “Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance”; and also a strong line in an attempt to refrain the wise people from stooping as low as those who are mud-slinging and trying to tarnish each other’s reputation, “I learned long ago never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.”
We see a new age full of promises and hope with George Bernard Shaw’s famous line, “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
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Also from Trove
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2. Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw
3. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
4. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
5. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
6. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
7. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
8. A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man by James Joyce
9. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
10. The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
11. Moby Dick or The Whale by Melville Herman
12. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
13. Animal Farm by George Orwell
14. Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne
15. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
16. She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith
17. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
18. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
19. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
20. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
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The Apple Cart
A Political Extravaganza
by
George Bernard Shaw
Newgen Knowledge Works Offices
Chennai Pondicherry Pune Kottayam Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
Leipzig (Germany) Amsterdam (Netherlands) Stroud (UK) Texas (USA)
First published in 1929
This book has been inspired from the original version of The Apple Cart: A Political Extravaganza first published in 1929, available in the public domain. Due care and diligence have been taken while bringing out this edition; neither the author nor the publishers of the book hold any responsibility for any mistake that may have inadvertently crept in. The publishers shall not be liable for any direct, consequential, or incidental damages arising out of the use of the book.
© Trove Books Edition, 2023
Paperback ISBN: 978-81-19222-85-8
eBook ISBN: 978-81-19303-07-6
WebPDF: 978-81-19303-06-9
Published by
Trove Books
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Author Bio
George Bernard Shaw, a Nobel Prize winner for literature in 1925, is a notable playwright known for revolutionizing comedic drama and for inspiring generations. He was an Irish legend and has marked a place in history as a social spokesman. Shaw has a lot of reputation as a literary critic and is known to be a prominent British socialist. Pygmalion was undeniably Shaw’s financially most successful work.
Shaw’s quotes are some very oft repeated phrases all around. He is one out of only two people in history who have won both an Academy Award and a Nobel Prize for Literature. He shares this honour with Bob Dylan, one of the greatest songwriters of all time. While Shaw was honoured with the Nobel Prize in 1925, the committee is said to have been impressed with his work that they described as “marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty”. This quality had gained him worldwide fame and an unprecedented fan following.
Shaw has maintained a committed relationship with socialism all through his life and career. His plays, such as Mrs. Warren’s Profession and Pygmalion, deftly address mass social issues such as rights of women, poverty and capitalism. The pearls of wisdom that he dedicated to the world through his wise words are here to stay and inspire generations to come.
His urge to progress with the advancing and rapidly changing times, “Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything”; or the silent warning to the most gullible minds with the words, “Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance”; and also a strong line in an attempt to refrain the wise people from stooping as low as those who are mud-slinging and trying to tarnish each other’s reputation, “I learned long ago never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.”
We see a new age full of promises and hope with George Bernard Shaw’s famous line, “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
