George Bernard Shaw

About George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) was an Irish playwright, critic, and socialist figure whose work profoundly shaped 20th-century English theatre. Ranked #834 in historical importance by MIT's Pantheon project, his influence stems from groundbreaking contributions to social commentary and dramatic form, earning him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925. Plays such as *Pygmalion* and *Major Barbara* famously tackled class inequality, morality, and hypocrisy within society.

In the context of modern online attention, Shaw receives a notable +2x overattention relative to his historical standing, registering 772K annualized Wikipedia views in 2025. This suggests a healthy, albeit slightly inflated, level of current digital interest compared to his monumental historical influence. For contrast, Virginia Woolf, ranked slightly lower at #929 importance, garners 1.5M views, indicating that contemporary digital audiences engaging with major literary figures favor some contemporaries over Shaw by a considerable margin.

However, the data also shows a clear cooling trend: his viewership declined by 25.5% year-over-year, and his Q1 versus Q3 momentum indicates a further -16% drop, suggesting that while currently overattended relative to his rank, Shaw's digital presence is actively fading in 2025.