STUDY OF SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE PLAYS OF MILLER AND SHAW

Literary realism is a style in literature to present things and people as they are in real life. It is an opposition to romanticism or idealism. It is a way of looking, presenting, accepting and dealing with situations as they are without any influence of emotions or false hopes. This concept believes in reflecting real life situations. It refers to the trend toward depictions of contemporary life and society. The realist writers presented the society in its true form. Arthur Miller lavishly communicates the themes of social consciousness in his plays. Arthur Miller, in his plays, mirrors the impacts of the First World War and the Depression in society.  G. B. Shaw, a towering figure of his time depicted his society candidly for which he suffered criticism in early days. But later on, he established his image as an anti-romantic in his society. As we know that literature is mirror of society, Shaw reflects the same beautifully in his works. The present study attempts to provide an in-depth analysis of the selected plays of Arthur Miller and G.B. Shaw to provide a comparative overview of the social consciousness.