Cover of Heartbreak House

Heartbreak House

by George Bernard Shaw

First published
1919
Reading level
Plain English
Price
Free

About the book

"Heartbreak House" by Bernard Shaw is a play written during the First World War and published in 1919. Set in a ship-shaped house, the work brings together an eccentric inventor, his self-absorbed daughters, and their guests for a disastrous dinner party. As romantic entanglements collide with political irresponsibility, Shaw depicts a society adrift—cultured yet rudderless, detached from reality as war literally drops from the sky. This darkly comic fantasia reflects Shaw's disillusionment with Britain, contrasting elegant indifference against aggressive philistinism in a nation heading toward catastrophe.

  • World War, 1914-1918
  • Upper class
  • England

Updated September 2026. Public domain in the USA. Text and summary from Project Gutenberg eBook #3543. Heartbreak House on Wikipedia.

More free books by George Bernard Shaw

About George Bernard Shaw