# Henry Apjohn — Short Plays character guide

> Henry Apjohn in Short Plays by George Bernard Shaw.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Henry Carey, Henry, Henry Apjohn, Apjohn, She Henry, Oh Henry, Mr. Apjohn

**First appearance:** 0000-the-admirable-bashville

## Snapshot

A poet-suitor in The Admirable Bashville, one of the rivals circling Lydia as Shaw's preface muses on how actors shape the playwrights who write for them.

## Who they are

Apjohn belongs to the small crowd of admirers competing for Lydia's hand in Shaw's blank-verse burlesque of the prize ring, where a poet's claims to a lady sit awkwardly beside a prizefighter's. His suit is the genteel alternative to brute force, and the comedy turns on whether verse or fists will win her. He matters because his courtship forces the play's central joke: that a poet in love is as much a performer as any boxer, and that the stage, as Shaw's preface insists, has always been shaped by the performers who fill it.

## Relationships

### [O'Flaherty](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_plays_se/characters/o_flaherty)

_friendship_

Henry Apjohn and O'Flaherty are comrades-in-arms, sharing a bond of mutual respect and military duty.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_plays_se/characters/henry_apjohn
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- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_plays_se/characters