Discount Price: $13.75
Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Normal ship time within one day
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 808
EAN num: 9780075536598
ISBN number: 0075536595
Label: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 484
Printing Date: August 01, 1966
Publishing house: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages
Sale Popularity Level: 670208
Studio: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Edited, with an Introduction, by Ricardo Quintana
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
This Modern Library edition (1952), Eighteenth-Century Plays, offers eight plays and an interesting introduction by Ricardo Quintana. The eighteenth century impresses most readers for its absence of exceptional plays, although the best comedies - The Beggar's Opera, She Stoops to Conquer, The Rivals, and others - are still quite entertaining today. Quintana provides an analysis of the factors that shaped eighteenth century drama, especially the impact of the quickly growing English middle class. The plays include:
Cato (1713): The Roman senator, Cato, stubbornly resisted Julius Caesar's rise to power. Joseph Addison's play focuses on the last days of Cato's life in north Africa as Caesar's forces approach. Cato ultimately commits suicide rather than surrender. This play was popular for decades, and became a literary inspiration for the American Revolution. Four stars.
The Tragedy of Jane Shore (1714): Nicholas Rowe, a playwright of moderate capability, produced three so-called she-tragedies. This particular drama, explicitly patterned after Shakespeare, remains in obscurity today. Jane Shore, a married woman, was one of the many mistresses of King Edward IV. After Edward's death, she was forced to do penance by walking the London streets in poor clothing. She was subsequently jailed, but amazingly her charms captivated the King's solicitor, Thomas Lynom, and upon her release they were married. In this play Rowe alters history for dramatic effect, having Jane Shore die of hunger and illness during her forced trek of penance. The tragedy ends on a sermonizing note warning against infidelity. Three stars.
The Conscious Lovers (1722): In the prologue Sir Richard Steele states his objectives: "To chasten wit, and moralize the stage" and to 'Redeem from long contempt the comic name". Steele strives to instruct and to ennoble rather than to amuse. The virtuous Bevil Junior would marry Lucinda whom he does not love rather than disobey his father, Sir John Bevil. His behavior towards the woman he does love (oddly named Indiana) is exceedingly Platonic. His virtue is again illustrated by his refusal to accept a challenge to duel as it would be morally wrong. Humour is clearly subordinate to instruction. Two stars.
The Beggar's Opera (1728): John Gay's rollicking, rowdy lyrics overlain on traditional English ballads and sentimental melodies had extraordinary appeal. Although having only three acts, The Beggar's Opera has some forty-five scenes, almost all with musical interludes. Breaking tradition, the cast was comprised of cutthroats, pickpockets, thieves, streetwalkers, and highwaymen. Five stars.
The Tragedy of Tragedies (1731): Henry Fielding's three-act, madcap comedy ridicules contemporary tragedies; simultaneously, its copious footnotes parody eighteenth century literary criticism. The courageous hero and killer of giants, the diminutive Tom Thumb, is beloved by all, even passionately so by the King's daughter, and the King's wife as well. His tragic death - swallowed by a cow - has few parallels. Four stars.
The London Merchant (1731): George Lillo's play is based on a popular ballad that recalled a notorious crime from the previous century. The honest, young merchant apprentice George Barnwell is unable to resist the charms of a calculating, amoral, woman of pleasure, Mrs. Millwood, and was persuaded to embezzle money from his employer. Murder follows. The London Merchant was a resounding success; its repetitious moral lessons and its laudatory attitude toward commercial trade resonated with eighteenth century audiences. Three stars.
She Stoops to Conquer (1773): The basic theme is familiar. Her guardians, her father and her aunt have arranged a suitable marriage for young Miss Hardcastle. She, of course, has other plans. Oliver Goldsmith transformed this potentially trite situation into delightful comedy. Five stars.
The Rivals (1775): The young Captain Absolute is largely sensible, although his plan to woo the capricious Lydia Languish is obviously destined for trouble. Other characters include his excitable father Sir Anthony Absolute, the silly Mrs. Malaprop, the comic gentleman wooers Faulkland, Acres, and Sir Lucius O'Trigger, and the conniving servants Fag, David, Thomas, and Lucy. While Sheridan does encourage us to laugh at his characters, his satire is gentle. Four stars.
Other anthologies to consider: The Beggar's Opera and Other Eighteenth Century Plays, an Everyman's Library edition edited by David W. Lindsay, has essentially the same selection, missing only The Tragedy of Jane Shore and The Rivals.
In contrast, the Norton Critical Edition, Restoration and Eighteenth Century Comedy, has only The Conscious Lovers in common with the Modern Library edition. It does, however, provide extensive background material on the Restoration and eighteenth century stage.
Find other books like this one:
