Shaw emerged as a playwright in the politically charged environment of 1892, for both female suffrage and Irish independence. His plays quickly advocated for societal changes with regard to womens roles, while expanding this advocacy into considerations of Ireland. Shaws engagement with marriage and union as a personal contract with nationhood have never before been considered as a methodology with which to view his work. This book demonstrates that Shaw was deeply engaged with and committed to the Irish question and to social and gender issues.

Audrey McNamara lectures at University College Dublin, and is an adjunct lecturer at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. She was guest co-editor for Shaw 36.1: Shaw and Money (2016) and co-editor for Shaw and the Making of Modern Ireland (2020).