Euripides, the youngest of the trio of great Greek tragedians was born at Salamis in 480 B.C., on the day when the Greeks won their momentous naval victory there over the fleet of the Persians. The precise social status of his parents is not clear but he received a good education, was early distinguished as an athlete, and showed talent in painting and oratory. He was a fellow student of Pericles, and his dramas show the influence of the philoso ...
Christopher Marlowe lived a life that echoed the violence in his plays. He was born in 1564 and was murdered in 1593 in what is speculated to be a political assassination. An educated man, he received both his B. A. and M. A. at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where it is believed that he wrote Part I of «Tamberlaine», and possibly «Dido Queen of Carthage». Machiavellian themes are present in much of Marlowe's work, the main characters c ...
Contained in this volume are three of Oscar Wilde's shorter dramatic works. ‘Vera, or the Nihilists’, the longest of the three, is a complete four-act play with a prologue. ‘A Florentine Tragedy—A Fragment’, is as the title would suggest a fragment of an act and ‘La Sainte Courtisane’ is also but a single act. Wilde fans will delight in these shorter examples of his talent as a dramatic humorist. ...
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 ...
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 ...
The second-to-last play of the famous Norwegian dramatist, Henrik Ibsen, was written in 1896. «John Gabriel Borkman» is the story of its title character, a former bank manager who has been imprisoned for embezzlement. The story takes place long after his release from prison. Having suffered financially from the imprisonment of John, the Borkman family is at odds over the future of their son, young Erhart Borkman. ...
Often recognized as the father of tragedy, this collection of plays by the ancient Greek soldier and playwright Aeschylus is a testament to his skill and enduring legacy in the history of theatre. In «Suppliant Maidens,» the fifty daughters of Danaus flee from marriages to the fifty sons of their uncle, showing an obedience to their father that has tragic consequences. «The Persians» is thought to be the oldest surviving play still in existence ...
"An Enemy of the People" is Henrik Ibsen's classic drama of the animosity that can befall someone whose actions, while in the best interest of the public good, threaten the economic well being of a community. «An Enemy of the People» is the story of Dr. Stockmann who, when charged with inspecting the local public baths, discovers that the water is contaminated. When Dr. Stockmann suggests expensive repairs, the local town, which derive ...
"The School for Scandal" is Richard Brinsley Sheridan's classic comedy that pokes fun at London upper class society in the late 1700s. Often referred to as a «comedy of manners», «The School for Scandal» is one Sheridan's most performed plays and a classic of English comedic drama. ...
