In the early twentieth century George Bernard Shaw was a dramatist.
George Bernard Shaw ( [ ˈdʒɔːrdʒ _ ` bɜːrˌnərd_ʃɔː ] 26 July 1856 -- 2 November 1950 ) , known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw , was an Irish playwright ( who held both British and Irish citizenship ) , critic and polemicist whose influence on Western theatre , culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond . He wrote more than sixty plays , including major works such as Man and Superman ( 1903 ) , Pygmalion ( 1913 ) and Saint Joan ( 1923 ) . With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory , Shaw became the leading dramatist of his generation . By the early twentieth century his reputation as a dramatist was secured with a series of critical and popular successes that included Major Barbara , The Doctor 's Dilemma and Caesar and Cleopatra .