George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin in 1856. Before becoming a playwright he wrote music and literary criticism. Shaw used his writing to attack social problems such as education, marriage, religion, government, health care, and class privilege. Shaw was particularly conscious of the exploitation of the working class. Back to Methuselah is a series of five plays: In the Beginning: B.C. 4004 (In the Garden of Eden), The Gospel of the Brothers Barnabas: Present Da,y The Thing Happens: A.D. 2170, Tragedy of an Elderly Gentleman: A.D. 3000, and As Far as Thought Can Reach: A.D. 31,920. The plays discuss mortality. In the first play Adam and Eve loose their immortality. In the second two brothers decide to live for more than 200 years. In the third everybody begins to live much longer. The forth play shows an ordinary mortal man meeting the immortals in Ireland. And in the final play life gives up the material plane.