Edmund John Millington Synge (1871-1909), an Irish poet, playwright and prose writer, was also one of the cofounders of the storied Abbey Theatre. Synge was known as a strange and enigmatic man, quiet and reserved, not even understood by his own family members. After graduating from school, Synge decided to pursue music, but his shy nature prevented him from performing, causing him to turn to literature as a creative outlet. When it opened at th ...
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) is revered as one of the great British dramatists, credited not only with memorable works, but the revival of the then-suffering English theatre. Shaw was born in Dublin, Ireland, left mostly to his own devices after his mother ran off to London to pursue a musical career. He educated himself for the most part, and eventually worked for a real estate agent. This experience founded in him a concern for social injus ...
"Mrs. Warren's Profession" is George Bernard Shaw's classic play that centers on the relationship between Mrs. Warren, a prostitute, and her prudish Cambridge-educated daughter Vivie, who is horrified to discover that her mother's wealth was acquired through the operation of whore-houses. Shaw offers up this play «to draw attention to the truth that prostitution is caused, not by female depravity and male licentiousness, but ...
William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) was an instrumental figure in the «Irish Literary Revival» of the 20th Century that redefined Irish writing. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923, and received honorary degrees from Queen's University (Belfast), Trinity College (Dublin), and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. It can be difficult to characterize Yeats. He was a complicated man whose work reflected the internal struggle ...
Benjamin Jonson's career began in 1597 when he held a fixed engagement in «The Admiral's Men», and although he was unsuccessful as an actor, his literary talent was apparent and he began writing original plays for the troupe. Jonson had a literary knack for absurdity and hypocrisy, a trait that made him immensely popular in the 17th century Renaissance period. However, his reputation diminished somewhat in the Romantic era, when he beg ...
This work includes seven of the plays that accredited Moliere as the greatest and best-loved French playwright of all times: «The Pretentious Young Ladies,» «The School for Husbands,» «The School for Wives,» a comedy of infidelity and his first great success, «The Critique of the School for Wives,» «The Impromptu of Versailles,» «Tartuffe,» a highly controversial play in its time, and «Don Juan.» Although «Tartuffe» was immediately censured and ...
Henrik Ibsen wrote the following of his 1857 drama, 'The Vikings at Helgeland': «It was in the Icelandic family sagas that I found, in full measure, what I needed of human covering for the moods, ideas and thoughts of which I was full at that time, or of which I had at any rate a more or less clear idea. Up till then I had been ignorant, indeed hardly heard of, these ancient Nordic literary contributions to the history of the people of ...
Thomas Middleton (1580-1627), a bricklayer's son, rose to become one of the most eminent playwrights of the Jacobean period. Along with Ben Johnson he helped shape the dynamic course of drama in Renaissance England. His range is broad, as his work successfully covers comedy, tragedy, and history. Praised during his life as well as today, Middleton remains relevant and influential. This edition collects five of his most treasured dramas, dem ...
Thomas Middleton (1580-1627), a bricklayer's son, rose to become one of the most eminent playwrights of the Jacobean period. Along with Ben Johnson he helped shape the dynamic course of drama in Renaissance England. His range is broad, as his work successfully covers comedy, tragedy, and history. Praised during his life as well as today, Middleton remains relevant and influential. «The Revenger's Tragedy» (1607) stays in line with the ...
