Classic Novels Library

Heartbreak House

Heartbreak House

by Shaw, Bernard, 1856-1950

BookID: 3543

Language:English

Reading Level:Reading ease score: 75.2 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read.

Copyright Status:Public domain in the USA.

World War, 1914-1918 -- DramaUpper class -- England -- DramaEngland -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Drama

Description

"Heartbreak House" by Bernard Shaw is a play written during the First World War and published in 1919. Set in a ship-shaped house, the work brings together an eccentric inventor, his self-absorbed daughters, and their guests for a disastrous dinner party. As romantic entanglements collide with political irresponsibility, Shaw depicts a society adrift—cultured yet rudderless, detached from reality as war literally drops from the sky. This darkly comic fantasia reflects Shaw's disillusionment with Britain, contrasting elegant indifference against aggressive philistinism in a nation heading toward catastrophe. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Class:PR: Language and Literatures: English literature

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