Shakes versus Shav is a puppet play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1949, and his final completed dramatic work. The play features a humorous debate between William Shakespeare (“Shakes”) and Shaw himself (“Shav”), engaging in a satirical battle over literary superiority. The play is Shaw’s critique of “bardolatry”—the excessive reverence for Shakespeare—and showcases his characteristic wit. [1]
In his later years, George Bernard Shaw remained as sharp and outspoken as he always had been. After creating more than sixty plays, he had become the leading dramatist of his generation, producing works such as Man and Superman, Pygmalion and Androcles and the Lion. He died at the age of 94 on 2 November 1950.
In 1925, at the age of 68, Shaw was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, recognised for both his dramatic works and the clarity and vitality of his prose. In typical fashion, he declined it, quipping, “I can forgive Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize.” He later relented and agreed to accept the award itself, but not the prize money, suggesting that it be used instead to fund the translation of works by the Swedish playwright August Strindberg into English.
Though best known for early works such as Pygmalion and Major Barbara, Shaw continued writing well into old age, producing essays, letters, and plays marked by his familiar wit and social commentary. He remained intellectually active and often weighed in on the issues of the day. His literary efforts became more occasional and included Buoyant Billions (1948) and Shakes versus Shav (1949). Although these final writings lacked the impact of his earlier masterpieces, they showed an undimmed curiosity and his refusal to retreat quietly into old age.
Privately, Shaw lived a quiet life at Ayot St Lawrence in Hertfordshire, England, in a house named Shaw’s Corner. He had married Charlotte Payne-Townshend in 1898, a wealthy Irishwoman who shared his ideals and independence. Their unconventional but affectionate marriage endured until her death in 1943. After that loss, his health gradually declined, though his mind remained lively.
In September 1950, Shaw fell while pruning a tree in his garden. The injury led to complications, and he died on 2 November in the same year. His ashes were mixed with Charlotte’s and then scattered along footpaths and around the statue of Saint Joan in their garden.
George Bernard Shaw’s death closed a remarkable chapter in literary history. Provocative, prolific, and impossible to pigeonhole, he left behind a legacy that still challenges and delights.
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ARTS: Death of George Bernard Shaw (1950)
Project Gutenberg: books by George Bernard Shaw
Pygmalion & Other Plays by George Bernard Shaw
Oxford Dictionary: George Bernard Shaw
Susannah Fullerton: George Bernard Shaw is born
Susannah Fullerton: George Bernard Shaw marries
Susannah Fullerton: “Not bloody likely!”