Here was a Caesar: Shaw's Comedy Today

Abstract

When, in 1908, in answer to reviewers who dismissed Caesar and Cleopatra as opéra bouffe, Bernard Shaw prophesied to his Julius, Forbes-Robertson, “In 1920 Caesar will be a masterpiece,” he might safely have written “1950” instead. The little editorial note prefixed to the American edition of Three Plays for Puritans (1906), informing us (incorrectly) that Caesar had at that date never been produced and “perhaps could not be” (p. xl), has long since proved absurdly overmodest. Three performances within the last decade have demonstrated that in the theatre no less than in the library Shaw's unique blend of wit and insight is more keenly relished than ever. Moreover, whether or not we agree with Shaw that in Antony and Cleopatra Shakespeare reversed the Circean formula and turned hogs into heroes (Works, p. xxx), we cannot deny that half a century of Hollywood “love-interest” has been sufficient to make Shaw's comedy doubly welcome as, in Sir Max Beerbohm's phrase, “a man's play.”

Relative Radiation Stability of Some Para-Polyphenyls

“…Their results can be summarized as follows<ll (1) For electron irradiation at 30° and 350"C, the G value of gas evolution decreases with increasing total absorbed energy. (2) In the para-polyphenyl series, radiation stability increases with the number of benzene rings. (3) Ortho-and metha-terphenyl are as nearly stable under radiation as biphenyl.…”

“…: (1) The polymers formed by irradiation are more stable than the parent substance, so that the G values of the respective polyphenyls must be the same as those of their extrapolated initial G values. (2) Probably the best information on experimental radiation stability is obtained from a comparison of the yield-dose curves of polymer formation (on a weight basis) obtained under similar conditions. Thus the G value of polymer formation multiplied by the molecular weight of the polyphenyl is the best measure of its radiation stability.…”