_ is first in character drawing and
human interest. The dramatic action is wholly within the mental states
of the three chief actors, but the situations are made intense through
a succession of unique, absorbing, entertaining, and well-developed
conversations.

Shaw is more destructive than constructive in his philosophy as
expressed in his plays; and he criticizes so many of the institutions
held sacred by society that people have refused to accept him
seriously, even when he has written expository prefaces to his dramas.
In _Arms and the Man_, he satirizes the romantic admiration for the
soldier's calling; in _The Doctor's Dilemma_ (1906), he attacks the
professional man; in _Widowers' Houses_ (1898), he assails the rich
property holder with his high rents on poor people's houses: and in
_Man and Superman_ (1903), he dissects love and home until the
sentiment is entirely taken out of them.

Shaw's chief object is to place before his audience facts, reasons,
and logical conclusions. He will not tolerate romantic emotions or
sentimentalism, which he ridicules with a reckless audacity, a literal
incisiveness, and a satiric wit that none of his contemporaries can
excel. His chief claim to his present important position among
playwrights is based on his originality and fearlessness of thought,
the unfailing sprightliness of his conversation, the infectious spirit
of raillery in his comedies, and his mastery of the requirements of
the modern stage.

J.M. Barrie.--With the successful stage production of _The Little
Minister_ (1897), Barrie passed from novelist to playwright. The
qualities of humor, fancy, and quaint characterization, which were
such a charm in his novels, reappear in his plays.

[Illustration: JAMES MATTHEW BARRIE.]

_The Admirable Crichton_, produced in 1903, is one of Barrie's most
successful comedies. He displays skill and humor in handling the
absurd situation of a peer's family wrecked on a desert island, where
the butler, as the most resourceful member of the party, takes
command. In _Peter Pan_ (1904), the dramatization of the novel, _The
Little White Bird_, care-free, prankish Peter Pan visits three
children in their sleep and teaches them to fly away with him. He
carries them to the little people of the fairy world, to the pirate
ship, to other scenes dear to children's hearts, and finally to his
home in the tree tops. The play is a mixture of fancy, symbolism, and
realism. These are woven in