Drama in English from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century : an anthology of plays with old spelling

At a time when good editions of drama in English are prohibitively expensive and online texts are unedited and lack the apparatus necessary for students to understand and contextualize the plays, this anthology affordably illustrates every significant genre of drama in the English language from the late fourteenth century to the early twentieth century, with plays from England, Ireland, and the United States of America. The mystery and morality plays of the Middle Ages, Renaissance comedy, tragedy and meta-theater, Restoration and eighteenth-century comedy, tragedy, and ballad opera, nineteenth-century melodrama, and early twentieth century realism and naturalism are all presented with the introductions, glossaries and notes suitable for a college level reader by an editor with a quarter of a century of experience teaching courses on the history of drama in English. The plays both reflect their times and critique them, while remaining stageable today. The Wakefield Master, The York Realist, Marlowe, Jonson, Dryden, Wycherley, Gay, Boucicault, Synge, and Shaw are some of the playwrights in this representative collection of plays that reveal both the popular appeal of the English- language theater and the dazzling dramatic artistry it embodied over a period of six centuries. Further the collection is in "old spelling" and is thus a useful sourcebook for those interested in the history of the English language. Title Page Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Part 1. Drama of the Middle Ages Noah’s Flood (Chester Cycle) Abraham and Isaac (Brome Manuscript) The Second Shepherds Play (Wakefield/Towneley Cycle) The Crucifixion (York Cycle) Everyman Part 2. Drama of the Late Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Centuries Thomas Dekker, The Shoemaker’s Holiday Christopher Marlowe, The Jew of Malta Ben Jonson, Volpone John Webster, The Duchess of Malfy Francis Beaumont, The Knight of the Burning Pestle Part 3. Drama of the Restoration and Early Eighteenth Century John Dryden, All for Love William Wycherley, The Plain Dealer George Farquhar, The Beaux’ Stratagem George Lillo, The London Merchant John Gay, The Beggar’s Opera Part 4. Drama of the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries Dion Boucicault, The Shaughraun John Synge, The Playboy of the Western World Bernard Shaw, St. Joan Edited By Christopher J. Wheatley. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Mode Of Access: World Wide Web.