LITMIR.BIZ

Benjamin Jonson (1572-1637) was a Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor, known best for his satirical plays and lyric poems. He had a 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 began to be unfairly compared to Shakespeare. The Theatre in London had had been denied to «The Admiral's Men» in 1597, but the troupe regained control of it sometime between 1608 and 1610 and «The Alchemist» was among the first plays chosen to be performed there. The comedy transported a classical drama into contemporary London, resulting in a fully modernized depiction of human folly, vice and foolishness. The Alchemist is generally considered one of Jonson's most vivid and characteristic works, and was recognized by Samuel Taylor Coleridge as one of the three most perfect plots in literature. It remains one of Jonson's most revived plays.

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Jean Baptiste Poquelin, better known by his stage name of Moliere, stands without a rival at the head of French comedy. His many great plays include «The School for Husbands» and «The School for Wives,» «The Misanthrope» and «The Hypocrite» (Tartuffe), «The Miser» and «The Hypochondriac,» «The Learned Ladies,» «The Doctor in Spite of Himself,» «The Citizen Turned Gentleman,» and many others, in which he exposed mercilessly one after another the vices and foibles of the day. His characteristic qualities are nowhere better exhibited than in «Tartuffe.» Compared with such characterization as Shakespeare's, Moliere's method of portraying life may seem to be lacking in complexity; but it is precisely the simplicity with which creations like Tartuffe embody the weakness or vice they represent that has given them their place as universally recognized types of human nature.

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The 17th century dramatist Jean Racine was considered, along with Molière and Corneille, as one of the three great playwrights of his era. The quality of Racine's poetry has been described as possibly his most important contribution to French literature and his use of the alexandrine poetic line is one of the best examples of such use noted for its harmony, simplicity and elegance. While critics over the centuries have debated the worth of Jean Racine, at present, he is widely considered a literary genius of revolutionary proportions. In this volume of Racine's plays we find «The Litigants», the fourth of twelve plays by the author. Inspired by Aristophanes' «Wasps», Racine removes all political significance in this farce. As the only comedy by Racine «The Litigants» stands apart from his other works. The action of the story revolves around Judge Dandin, who in his old age has begun to go crazy. Hilarity ensues as Leander, Dandin's son, and Petit Jean, a house porter, attempt to wrangle the out of control patriarch of the family.

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One of George Bernard Shaw's most performed and studied plays, «Arms and the Man» is a classic example of Shaw's comedic wit. Set during the Serbo-Bulgarian war, «Arms and the Man» is a biting social commentary on the conflict that occurs in both love and war. Raina Petkoff, who is engaged to a young soldier by the name of Sergius, has a romantic notion of war. That is until an escaping soldier by the name of Bluntschli tries to convince her otherwise.

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The 17th century dramatist Jean Racine was considered, along with Molière and Corneille, as one of the three great playwrights of his era. The quality of Racine's poetry has been described as possibly his most important contribution to French literature and his use of the alexandrine poetic line is one of the best examples of such use noted for its harmony, simplicity and elegance. While critics over the centuries have debated the worth of Jean Racine, at present, he is widely considered a literary genius of revolutionary proportions. In this volume of Racine's plays we find «Iphigenia, Phaedra, Athaliah», three of the most popular of the author's dramas. In «Iphigenia» we find the titular daughter of Agamemnon, King of the Greeks, who must sacrifice his daughter in order to set sail for war. In «Phaedra», we have the classic story from Greek mythology concerning its titular character who though married to Theseus falls in love with Hippolytus. And finally in «Athaliah» we find the biblical story of Athaliah, widow of the king of Judah, who rules the country as Queen regnant.

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Born and educated in Dublin, Ireland, William Butler Yeats discovered early in his literary career a fascination with Irish folklore and the occult. Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923, Yeats produced a vast collection of stories, songs, and poetry of Ireland's historical and legendary past. These writings helped secure for Yeats recognition as a leading proponent of Irish nationalism and Irish cultural independence. His close friend, Ezra Pound, exposed the playwright to the symbolic theatre genre of Japanese Noh drama, prompting him to write a series of four plays in this style. The final play in this series, which were first printed together in «Four Plays for Dancers», was «Calvary». With Ireland in the midst of a hunger-strike, the story of the self-sacrificing Christ was particularly relevant. In the story, Christ dreams of his passion, only to find that he is still rejected and is essentially alone, as so many heroic figures must find themselves.

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"The Alcestis would hardly confirm its author's right to be acclaimed 'the most tragic of the poets.' It is doubtful whether one can call it a tragedy at all. Yet it remains one of the most characteristic and delightful of Euripidean dramas, as well as, by modern standards, the most easily actable. And I notice that many judges who display nothing but a fierce satisfaction in sending other plays of that author to the block or the treadmill, show a certain human weakness in sentencing the gentle daughter of Pelias." So begins the introduction to the Alcestis by Euripides. This edition is from the translation of and with a introduction by Gilbert Murray.

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Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) is one of the most influential German playwrights of the 18th century. His persistence as a poet, philosopher, and translator only broaden his popular reach. Along with Goethe, Schiller shaped the development of Weimar Classicism, a literary and aesthetic movement that integrated Romantic, Classical, and Humanist traditions. This edition collects a total of four plays—"The Robbers" and the «Wallenstein» trilogy. Together these works display Schiller's wide range. His first play, «The Robbers» (1781), propelled Schiller into the spotlight. It follows two aristocratic brothers, Franz and Karl Moor, as they vie for their father's validation. The melodrama that ensues is charged with intense emotion, making it a perfect example of the Sturm and Drang (Storm and Stress) movement of Weimar Classicism. The brothers' dramatic conflict leads to a gradual moral collapse, leaving the audience questioning pride, justice, and rivalry. The «Wallenstein» trilogy, completed in 1799, includes «The Camp of Wallenstein,» «The Piccolomini,» and «The Death of Wallenstein.» The trilogy follows the rise and fall of the famed general Albrecht von Wallenstein as he commands the Habsburg troops during the Thirty Years' War. As the trilogy unfolds, the reader becomes increasingly intimate with the psychology of this complex leader. Schiller remains hugely influential and this collection of noted plays demonstrate his command of the drama and his indispensible contributions to world literature.

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"When We Dead Awaken" was Henrik Ibsen's final drama, which was first published in 1899. It is the story of a married couple, Arnold and Maia Rubek who while traveling find themselves romantically drawn to others, in the case of Maia it is Ulfheim, a brutal hunter, who is the object of her desire, for Arnold it is Irene, a beautiful woman from his past. In these desires the two find themselves questioning the choices that they have made in life and whether or not they have ever really lived at all. One of Ibsen's most despairing plays; in its tragic conclusion it is as if Ibsen is asking if the fulfillment of life's desires is ever really achievable.

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William Butler Yeats was born near Dublin in 1865, and was encouraged from a young age to pursue a life in the arts. He attended art school for a short while, but soon found that his talents and interest lay in poetry rather than painting. It can be difficult to characterize Yeats. He was a complicated man whose work reflected the internal struggle he felt between art and life. Yeats 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. In 1899 Yeats helped found the Irish National Theatre Society, which later became the famous Abbey Theatre of Dublin. There, he collaborated on several plays with Lady Augusta Gregory. One such play, «The Unicorn from the Stars», was first performed at the Abbey Theatre on November 23, 1907.

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