Discuss the ways in which your chosen texts (Shaw's "Pygmalion" and Rhys' "Wide Sargasso Sea") exploit the traditions and conventions of their genre both formally and in terms of content.

I have chosen to base my answer to this question on "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys and "Pygmalion" by G.B Shaw. Both authors were aware of the traditions and conventions that governed literature as a whole as we shall see, and although they were written in different literary era's, similarities can be drawn between these texts. Shaw's Pygmalion is titled 'A Romance in Five Acts.' This play is hardly your typical romance, …

…have seen both authors used there respective texts to raise issues not only valid to their own times but still valid today, Shaw said that he wanted to 'force the public to reconsider it's morals' I think this quotation could also be applied to Rhys work here. Both authors as we have seen, cleverly utilise well known devices and disarm with new techniques to both enhance their writing and it's meaning, and educate their audiences.