Heartbreak House

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Title:     Heartbreak House
Author: George Bernard Shaw

Table of Content

Preface
1. Act I
2. ACT II
3. ACT III

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Name: Trie _____ [Date: 12/28/05]
Title: A brief comment
Subject: Heartbreak House

Review/comment: Not only entertaining, the works gives us a good understanding of Shaw's deep thougt about people and socialism. Throgh the Captain character, Shaw reveals his principles of socialism, which according to him, is the only remedy to the economic and social chaos at that time. For those who seek the high quality works, this drama is a must!

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Name: Bill Blando _____ [Date: 9/26/06]
Title:
Subject: Silly is as silly does

Review/comment: Shaw is so clever and there are some very funny lines and biting banter, but this has got to be one of the silliest and pointless plays in his (and he's had a few others) or any great playwright's repertoire. I've seen "Heartbreak House" described as a play with an anti-war theme, but I could find no such animal lurking among any of the nine characters. The only thing approaching a war was that waged between the sexes, which was hardly on a level playing field -- the men were mere puttin in the hands of the conniving, manipulative, shrewd women. Bosco had trouble with his lines and failed to project the stern, commanding 80-something-tear-old patriarch that Shaw seemed to envision. A 23-year-old Orson Welles, with full white beard, played this role in a 1937 revival. That would have been a role for the ages. Kurtz appeared somewhat lost, while the other cast members displayed greater control of their roles. On a scale of 1-10, I'd give a 7.

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Name: abc _____ [Date: 7/20/07]
Title: whatever
Subject: shaw

Review/comment: Not at all interesting

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Name: Lance Batten _____ [Date: 9/30/07]
Title:
Subject:

Review/comment: This is not so much an anti-war play (of WWI no one needed to point out the obvious futility) but a metaphor of England in the run up to the war. It also serves as an apt metaphor for our time: CAPTAIN SHOTOVER. Echoes: nothing but echoes. The last shot was fired years ago. HECTOR. And this ship that we are all in? This soul's prison we call England? CAPTAIN SHOTOVER. The captain is in his bunk, drinking bottled ditch-water; and the crew is gambling in the forecastle. She will strike and sink and split. Do you think the laws of God will be suspended in favor of England because you were born in it? HECTOR. Well, I don't mean to be drowned like a rat in a trap. I still have the will to live. What am I to do? CAPTAIN SHOTOVER. Do? Nothing simpler. Learn your business as an Englishman. HECTOR. And what may my business as an Englishman be, pray? CAPTAIN SHOTOVER. Navigation. Learn it and live; or leave it and be damned.