The Irrational Knot

New York: Brentano's, 1905 New York: Brentano's, 1905 422 pp . Text is clen, tight and unmarked. Contemporary owner's name on front endpapers. Black glazed cloth boards are "good," clean with some rubbing to extremities.The Irrational Knot was written in 1880 when Shaw was 24 and published in 1905. Within a framework of leisure class preoccupations and frivolities Shaw disdains hereditary status and proclaims the nobility of workers. Marriage, as the knot in question, is exemplified by the union of Marian Lind, a lady of the upper class, to Edward Conolly, always a workman but now a magnate, thanks to his invention of an electric motor that makes steam engines obsolete. The marriage soon deteriorates, primarily because Marian fails to rise above the preconceptions and limitations of her social class and is, therefore, unable to share her husband's interests. Eventually she runs away with a man who is her social peer, but he proves himself a scoundrel and abandons her in desperate circumstances. Her husband rescues her and offers to take her back, but she pridefully refuses, convinced she is unworthy and certain that she faces life as a pariah to her family and friends. The preface, written when Shaw was 49, expresses gratitude to his parents for their support during the lean years while he learned to write and includes details of his early life in London. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. First Edition. Buckram. Very Good/No Jacket. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.. First Edition.. Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket.