@article{ART003197305},
author={Eom Tae-yong},
title={Back to Methuselah: Bernard Shaw’s Imagination about Posthumanism},
journal={Journal of Modern English Drama},
issn={1226-3397},
year={2025},
volume={38},
number={1},
pages={37-82}
TY - JOUR
AU - Eom Tae-yong
TI - Back to Methuselah: Bernard Shaw’s Imagination about Posthumanism
JO - Journal of Modern English Drama
PY - 2025
VL - 38
IS - 1
PB - 한국현대영미드라마학회
SP - 37
EP - 82
SN - 1226-3397
AB - This article highlights that the distant future worlds envisioned by the current posthumanism was already represented by Shaw in his play Back to Methuselah. By examining the play through the lens of posthumanism, the author aims to explore various subjects such as the overcoming of human physical limitations, the emergence of neoanthropinae, the desire for immortality, and the problem of human identity caused by the development of science and technology. Eve wished for a posthumanism that would allow her to produce offspring for herself and enable them to enjoy longevity in order to perpetuate the Garden of Eden. Immediately after World War I, the Brothers Barnabas preached a new gospel that humanity would need a lifespan of 300 years to secure the wisdom and conscience necessary for the advanced civilization. By the 22nd century, the advances in technology and social policy enable innovative daily life and the longlivers of 300-year lifespans slowly begin to emerge. In 3000 A.D., the world is divided between the nations of the shortlivers, the descendants of modern humans, and the country of the longlivers, a new human race. The longlivers are transhumans who can live 300 years and emit electric shock waves. The scene in which the Elderly Gentleman is killed by the electric shock wave symbolizes the end of Homo Sapiens. In the future of 31920 A.D., the oviparous longlivers are posthumans who experience four years in adolescence and, upon reaching adulthood, begin to immerse themselves in philosophical contemplation while gradually acquiring supernatural abilities, and then ultimately expect unlimited freedom and immortality as they get older. But against the older Ancients who wish to become vortices with divine supernatural powers and believe that life is thought, the Youth argue for the proper expression of bodily sensations, desires, and pleasures along with their artistic sublimation. It can be inferred that human life is a tangible process and substantive phenomenon that exists in the constant interaction of body and mind. Regardless of Shaw’s intent, the worlds of transhuman longlivers and posthuman oviparous longlivers seem to present not a utopia but a dystopia, presaging that the posthumanist future may not be an optimistic blueprint. Although Back to Methuselah is Shaw’s futuristic fable and a drama of nonrealism, the writer’s tendency to unwittingly infuse reality into it seems to create a dramatic irony throughout.
KW - Bernard Shaw;Methuselah;posthuman;posthumanism;transhuman;longevity;immortality;neoanthropinae;creative evolution;dystopia;dramatic irony
DO -
UR -
ER -
Eom Tae-yong. (2025). Back to Methuselah: Bernard Shaw’s Imagination about Posthumanism. Journal of Modern English Drama, 38(1), 37-82.
Eom Tae-yong. 2025, "Back to Methuselah: Bernard Shaw’s Imagination about Posthumanism", Journal of Modern English Drama, vol.38, no.1 pp.37-82.
Eom Tae-yong "Back to Methuselah: Bernard Shaw’s Imagination about Posthumanism" Journal of Modern English Drama 38.1 pp.37-82 (2025) : 37.
Eom Tae-yong. Back to Methuselah: Bernard Shaw’s Imagination about Posthumanism. 2025; 38(1), 37-82.
Eom Tae-yong. "Back to Methuselah: Bernard Shaw’s Imagination about Posthumanism" Journal of Modern English Drama 38, no.1 (2025) : 37-82.
Eom Tae-yong. Back to Methuselah: Bernard Shaw’s Imagination about Posthumanism. Journal of Modern English Drama, 38(1), 37-82.
Eom Tae-yong. Back to Methuselah: Bernard Shaw’s Imagination about Posthumanism. Journal of Modern English Drama. 2025; 38(1) 37-82.
Eom Tae-yong. Back to Methuselah: Bernard Shaw’s Imagination about Posthumanism. 2025; 38(1), 37-82.
Eom Tae-yong. "Back to Methuselah: Bernard Shaw’s Imagination about Posthumanism" Journal of Modern English Drama 38, no.1 (2025) : 37-82.
