Annie Besant joined the Fabian Society in 1885 under the influence of which famous writer?

Annie Besant joined the Fabian Society, a British socialist organisation, in 1885, under the influence of the Irish playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw, who was a leading member of the society.

About the Fabian Society:

• It was founded in London in 1884.
• It believed in achieving socialism gradually and peacefully, through democratic reforms, rather than through revolution.
• It was named after the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus, who was famous for his patient strategy of wearing down the enemy instead of fighting pitched battles.

Its leading members included George Bernard Shaw, Sidney and Beatrice Webb, Graham Wallas and, later, H. G. Wells.

It helped found the London School of Economics (1895) and the British Labour Party (1900).

Annie Besant and Shaw:

• Shaw and Besant became close friends, and worked together in the socialist movement.
• Besant was a powerful speaker and writer, and wrote for the Fabian publications.
• She contributed an essay to the famous "Fabian Essays in Socialism" (1889), edited by Shaw.

Annie Besant's later path:

• In 1889, after reading Madame Blavatsky's "The Secret Doctrine", she turned to Theosophy.
• She left the socialist movement, and joined the Theosophical Society.
• She came to India in 1893, and devoted the rest of her life to Theosophy, education and the Indian national movement.

About George Bernard Shaw:

• He was born in Dublin on 26 July 1856.
• He wrote plays such as "Pygmalion", "Arms and the Man", "Man and Superman" and "Saint Joan".
• He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925.
• He died on 2 November 1950.

Indian Fabians:

Jawaharlal Nehru was influenced by Fabian socialism during his student days in England.

Why not the other options?

Dickens and Tolstoy were not Fabians; H. G. Wells joined the society later and did not bring Besant into it.