Robert Shaw: The Artist

Q1. How did your view of Robert Shaw change over the course of the book? Did the biography deepen or complicate your impression of him?

Q2. Shaw worked across multiple creative fields—stage, film, and writing. Which do you think mattered most to him and why?

Q3. Early in his career Shaw sometimes outshone colleagues at professional cost. Was this confidence, self-sabotage, artistic necessity, or something else?

Q4. If you had to pick one defining quality of Shaw’s artistic drive—intellect, intensity, restlessness, ambition, courage—which would it be?

The Women Around Robert Shaw

Q5. Joanna Shaw emerges as compelling in her own right. What aspects of her moral and political convictions stood out to you?

Q6. What did Joanna admire about Nelson Mandela, and what does that reveal about her worldview?

Q7. Joanna describes a double standard for working mothers. Has that standard changed meaningfully since her time?

Q8. How does her legal fight for gender pay reflect broader social shifts we still see today?

Family, Childhood, and Formation

Q9. Places like Orkney, Cornwall, and Ireland recur in the Shaw family story. What role did landscape and heritage play in their identity?

Q10. Dr. Shaw’s alcoholism is described with nuance. How did family, class, and era shape his struggles?

Q11. Mrs. Shaw was both formidable and demanding. In what ways did her influence strengthen or burden her children?

Q12. The phrase “Better drowned than duffers” appears multiple times. Do you see that as admirable risk-taking—or self-destructive pressure?

JAWS and Cultural Legacy

Q13. How did learning about the Shaw family’s experience on Jaws change your view of the film?

Q14. How would you characterize Shaw’s relationships with Spielberg and Dreyfuss? What generational or artistic tensions were at play?

Q15. What elevates Jaws beyond genre? Is it simply a great thriller, or something more?

Q16. The USS Indianapolis monologue is often described as Shakespearean. Why do you think it has endured so powerfully?

Closing Reflection

Q17. In the end, did Robert Shaw achieve the life he wanted—or was he always reaching for something just out of grasp?