Back to Methuselah: A Metabiological Pentateuch

Back to Methuselah: A Metabiological Pentateuch (1922), a five-part play cycle by George Bernard Shaw, written in 1918-20. It is partly an expression of his belief in Creative Evolution and partly a satire on human folly. The framing conception is that only the extreme longevity of Methuselah and other biblical patriarchs could provide humanity with the necessary wisdom for self-government. Part I is set in the Garden of Eden; in Parts II and III the population of the world divides into ‘short-livers’ and the more highly evolved ‘long-livers’ and England is run by Africans and Chinese; Part IV moves to Galway Bay in AD 3000; and Part V is set in AD 31, 920. The cycle concludes with Lilith, who proclaims a final transition to a state of pure intelligence.