Josimar 1

Josimar Lovera
English 12
Ms. Rochman
December 29, 2016

Press Cuttings in a life of censorship for George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaws Press Cuttings became another one of his plays

subjected to censorship by the Lord Chamberlain, a committee that is part of the

Royal Households of the United Kingdom. In Press Cuttings, Shaw raises ideas of

radical social change, doubts of government power, and characterization of real

people. This leads to the censorship and refusal of licensing of the play to be acted

everywhere in the United Kingdom. An important factor of the censorship is the

relationship and reputation Bernard Shaw had as a playwright, he usually raised

ideas that challenged the social and government standards of the United Kingdom

at the time. In the biography Bernard Shaw: The Ascent of Superman by Sally

Peters, she noted that Out of 8 thousand plays submitted to the Lord Chamberlain

for approval between 1895 and 1909, only 30 were completely banned. Of that

total, 10% were by Shaw (Peters, 223). Press Cuttings especifically, was a play

that would be considered too inappropriate by the Lord Chamberlains household

in London, England. In June 24, 1909, the play was refused licensing and

prohibited to be performed.

George Bernard Shaw was born July 26, 1856, in Dublin, Ireland. He wrote

over 60 plays during his lifetime, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1925. He
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considered himself an Anglo-Irish playwright, and also established himself as a

leading music and theater critic. During his later years, he was a prominent

member of the Fabian Society, a British Socialist organization that advances

democratic socialist ideals (George Bernard Shaw Bio, Biography.com editors).

Shaw was a supporter of woman suffrage, he was anti-censorship, and in his plays

wrote about numerous social issues that he thought the UK Government was not

paying enough attention to. Perhaps this is why he faced opposition from the same

government he criticized, considering that although not many books were banned

during his lifetime, he managed to get most of his books censored in some way by

Lord Chamberlain Earl Spencer, father of 6 children. Spencers refusal to license

Press Cuttings were based upon his belief that the play met some of the violation

requirements. The rules by which plays were judged unfit were based on a decision

from the 1909 Joint Select Committee on the theatre (The Lord Chamberlain

regrets..., 63). The Lord Chamberlain Households readers also agreed that it

brings radical ideas about society, and portrays an inappropriate view on it.

Another reason for the plays censorship was related to the characterization of real

humans in the play. Shaws Balsquith was a conflation of Englands prime minister

at the time, Balfour Asquith. Prime Minister of War Milner-Kitchener was also

satirised in the play as a character Mitchener. According to George Bernard Shaw,

his Life and Works by Archibald Henderson, they were caricatured, and even a
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number of their public utterances put in the mouths of characters obviously

impersonating them(Henderson, 404).

Although the grounds of censorship were rightfully proven, there were other

accusations for the play. Press Cuttings was accused of showing inappropriate

scenarios about social order and gender structure. The plot of the play is based

around the result of a situation arriving from reversing the roles of man and

woman. Henderson called it agitation of the militant suffragettes, women

developing all the manly qualities of pugnacity and overbearing insolence, men

developing all the womanly qualities of timidity and indecision (404).

Bernard Shaw is a supporter of women's suffrage, which is relevant throughout the

arguments in his play. Due to this, the play was refused licensing on the grounds of

containing political controversy, as it relates to the issue of women's suffrage, and

how the government fails to give it attention. Dawn B. Sobas Banned Plays:

Censorship Histories of 125 Stage Dramas notes that the book consists of one long

act set in the office of General Mitchener in the War Office. The beginning of the

play starts with a multitude of protesters surrounding government buildings, and

Soba notes that the two characters impersonating both ministers talk about

imposing martial law and even suggest shooting some of the protesters down

(Soba, 220). Throughout the play, general Mitchener is given a very one-

dimensional characterization, as satire for how the real person the character
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represents is. Most of the replies from Mitchener when confronted with an issue is

Shoot them down Protesters? Shoot them down Germans? The answer is

simple, Shoot them down. Most of the characters in Press Cuttings relating to

real individuals were made in satire, the whole play was therefore considered

offensive. The similarities between both Soba and Henderson indicate that Shaw

was successful at creating a topical sketch compiled from the editorial

correspondence columns of the daily papers (Soba, 218). Henderson concluded

his opinion of Press Cuttings by saying that Shaw Extracted a comedy that is

breezily, devastatingly comical. But, even in a topical sketch, Shaw from time to

time puts away the childish things and shows us the serious sides of several

subjects (Henderson, 404).

As a result of the censorship, the play was unable to be performed anywhere public

in the UK. Shaw although honoured to be granted the reputation of censored,

campaigned against the censor of many of his books and plays, and even privately

scheduled for their performances. Shaw was himself a big supporter of anti-

censorship, stating in the preface of his play Mrs. Warrens Profession,

All censorship exists to prevent anyone from challenging current conceptions and
existing institutions. All progress is initiated by challenging current conceptions,
and executed by supplanting existing institutions. Consequently, the first condition
of progress is the removal of censorship

Besides campaigning and complaining about censorship, Shaw also scheduled

private performances for some of his plays. In the case for Press Cuttings, since
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Shaw was a supporter of women's suffrage, its performance was held privately in

June 24, 1909 by the London Society of Womans Suffrage (A Bernard Shaw

Chronology, by A. Gibbs, 185). According to the book Occasional, Critical, and

Political Writing by James Joyce, Bernard Shaw also attempted avoiding censor

vigilance by going to the City of Dublin, the only place in the UK where

censorship was hard to enforce (Joyce 151). Shaw then offered his work to the

Irish National Theater Company, and to his surprise they accepted the plays

without any refusals or questions. Unfortunately for Shaw, Representatives from

the UK sent a letter to him warning him of the consequences of trying to avoid

censorship, to which Shaw responded with insolent and contemptuous replies

(Joyce, 152).

The cause of Shaws censorship are all ultimately linked to the amount of

effort he put in trying to get across his ideas that stem from Fabian Society

leanings. Most of his work was full of social criticism, whether it was directly

characterization of real people like in Press Cuttings or simply telling a story with

subtle references to political agenda. Press Cuttings satirises real life people like

the Prime Minister. There were many social movements that supported the writings

and plays of George Bernard Shaw, which helped him in many ways to be able to

schedule performance privately. Ultimately, Shaw raises ideas of radical social

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change through the raising of doubts about government power, and

characterization of real people.

I believe that the book was rightfully banned on the grounds that it did create satire

characters out of real people. I feel that George Bernard Shaw was perhaps a little

too insensitive of how disrespectful he could have been to the Prime Minister and

the Minister of War. One of the best ways to promote democratic socialism, is by

demonstrating just how civilized it can be when applied to society. Satire could be

made without making real life human beings be so one dimensional, perhaps that

way the government could have stopped itself from censoring the book altogether.

After all the book in itself was good at promoting social agenda like Womens

suffrage, an issue that is important to past and todays society.

Works Cited

"George Bernard Shaw." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 16

Dec. 2016. Web. 02 Jan. 2017.

Gibbs, A. M. A Bernard Shaw Chronology. Houndmills, Basingstoke,

Hampshire: Palgrave, 2001. Print.

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Henderson, Archibald, and Bernard Shaw. George Bernard Shaw His Life

and Works. Cincinnati?: n.p., 1908. Print.

Johson, Kathryn. ""The Lord Chamberlain Regrets." English and Drama

Blog. British Library, 01 Oct. 2016. Web. 02 Jan. 2017.

Joyce, James, Kevin Barry, and Conor Deane. Occasional, Critical, and

Political Writing. Oxford.: Oxford UP, 2000. Print.

Kent, Brad. George Bernard Shaw in Context. Cambridge: Cambridge UP,

2015. Print.

Lundi, Darryl. "10105." Person Page. The Peerage, n.d. Web. 02 Jan. 2017.

Sova, Dawn B. Banned Plays: Censorship Histories of 125 Stage Dramas.

New York: Facts on File, 2004. Print.