The Devil's Disciple: A Melodrama in Three Acts

George Bernard Shaw

Nov 2006 · Cosimo, Inc.

About this ebook

George Bernard Shaw's only play set in America, The Devil's Disciple is a cutting examination of honor and honesty, rebellion and irreverence. Written in 1897 and first published in the 1901 collection Three Plays for Puritans, it is the story of Revolutionary War hero Richard Dudgeon, wrongly arrested by British soldiers in a case of mistaken identity who keeps the secret, fully aware he will be hanged for another man's crimes. Like Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities, this is an historically incisive drama, highlighting the best men can achieve at the worst of times. Irish playwright GEORGE BERNARD SHAW (1856-1950) won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925 and an Academy Award for Adapted Screenplay in 1938, the only person to achieve both honors. Among his many renowned plays are Arms and the Man (1894), Candida (1894), Man and Superman (1903), Major Barbara (1905), and Pygmalion (1913).

About the author

Renowned literary genius George Bernard Shaw was born on July 26, 1856 in Dublin, Ireland. He later moved to London and educated himself at the British Museum while several of his novels were published in small socialist magazines. Shaw later became a music critic for the Star and for the World. He was a drama critic for the Saturday Review and later began to have some of his early plays produced. Shaw wrote the plays Man and Superman, Major Barbara, and Pygmalion, which was later adapted as My Fair Lady in both the musical and film form. He also transformed his works into screenplays for Saint Joan, How He Lied to Her Husband, Arms and the Man, Pygmalion, and Major Barbara. Shaw won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925. George Bernard Shaw died on November 2, 1950 at Ayot St. Lawrence, Hertfordshire, England.