Abstract
Shaw’s plays have been evaluated from different perspectives. Critics have traced the influences of different thinkers and philosophers like Mozart, Nietzsche, Marx and Ibsen in his works. But the influences of Darwin’s and Lamarck’s theory of evolution have not been thoroughly and systematically discussed in his plays. There are critics like Maurice Colbourne who just casually touches upon it without making it the subject of serious discussion.1 This paper looks at the Shavian plays in general and Arms and the Man in particular within the frameworks of Darwin’s and Lamarck’s theories of evolution. It also aims at proving Shaw’s preference for Lamarck over Darwin. The treatment of two theories of evolution would not be scientific but rather the focus would be on their literary values. The researchers don’t claim originality in deriving aesthetic and literary notions from the theories of evolution, but it is claimed with qualified assertion that the plays of GB Shaw in particular Arms and the Man bear the marks of Darwinism and Lamarckism which substantiate the originality of the study.
Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, Amjad Ali. (2013) Shaw as an Evolutionist in Arms and the Man , The Dialogue, Volume 8, Issue 2.
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