{"title":"Plays, playscripts, drama","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"the-tempest-paperback-9780007902354","title":"The Tempest Paperback","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.We are such stuffAs dreams are made on; and our little lifeIs rounded with a sleep.'Magical and dreamlike in its tone, Shakespeare's The Tempest begins with a storm of epic proportions and a shipwreck. Banished from Italy, Prospero lives on a remote island with his daughter. Using his magic, he vows to seek revenge on the injustice dealt to him by his brother, but in doing so, Shakespeare questions the difficulty of distinguishing men' from monsters', and the realities of justice.","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732083683671,"sku":"9780007902354","price":5.62,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780007902354.jpg?v=1719995053"},{"product_id":"three-plays-absurd-person-singular-absent-friends-bedroom-farce-9780099541639","title":"Three Plays  Absurd Person Singular Absent","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBorn in London in 1939, Alan Ayckbourn is one of the world's most popular and prolific playwrights. He has written 74 full length plays and more than 20 other revues and plays for children. He is also an acclaimed director. Alan Ayckbourn was awarded a CBE in 1987. Ten years later to the day, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II 'for services to the theatre.'","brand":"Vintage Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732283666775,"sku":"9780099541639","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780099541639.jpg?v=1719996260"},{"product_id":"three-restoration-comedies-the-man-of-mode-the-country-wife-love-for-love-9780140430271","title":"Three Restoration Comedies The Man of Mode The","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter the restoration of King Charles II to the British throne in 1660, dramatists experienced new freedom in an age that broke from the strict morality of puritan rule and in which elegance and wit became the chief virtues. Irreverent, licentious and cynical, the three plays collected here hold up a mirror to this dazzling era and satirize the gulf between appearances and reality. In Etherege''s The Man of Mode (1676), the womanizing Dorimant meets his match when he falls in love with the unpretentious Harriet, while Wycherley''s The Country Wife (c. 1675) depicts the rakish Horner who fakes impotence to fool trusting husbands into giving him easy access to their wives. And in Congreve''s Love for Love (1695), the extravagant Valentine can only win his beloved Angelica if he loses his inheritance.","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732362899799,"sku":"9780140430271","price":11.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780140430271.jpg?v=1719996562"},{"product_id":"the-beggars-opera-penguin-classics-9780140432206","title":"The Beggars Opera Penguin Classics","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘Whore and rogue they call husband and wife:\u003cbr\u003eAll professions be-rogue one another'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eThe tale of Peachum, thief-taker and informer, conspiring to send the dashing and promiscuous highwayman Macheath to the gallows, became the theatrical sensation of the eighteenth century. In \u003cb\u003eThe Beggar’s Opera\u003c\/b\u003e, John Gay turned conventions of Italian opera riotously upside-down, instead using traditional popular ballads and street tunes, while also indulging in political satire at the expense of the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole. Gay’s highly original depiction of the thieves, informers, prostitutes and highwaymen thronging the slums and prisons of the corrupt London underworld proved brilliantly successful in exposing the dark side of a corrupt and jaded society.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBryan Loughrey and T. O. Treadwell’s introduction examines the eighteenth-century background of musical theatre and opera, the changing cityscape of London and the corruption of the le","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732364112215,"sku":"9780140432206","price":8.54,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780140432206.jpg?v=1719996567"},{"product_id":"the-school-for-scandal-and-other-plays-9780140432404","title":"The School for Scandal and Other Plays","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe three plays collected in this volume demonstrate Sheridan''s unerring ability to create unrivalled comedy out of ingenious plots, witty repartee, farcical situations and flamboyant characters. And while he never overtly moralizes, Sheridan uses brilliant comedy to deflate hypocrisy and satirize the manners of his age. In The Rivals, Captain Absolute becomes his own rival for the hand of Lydia Languish - wooing her under another name, while her aunt, the verbally inept Mrs Malaprop, wishes her to marry the real Captain. School for Scandal continues the theme of imposture when Sir Oliver tests his nephews by appearing to them in disguise, and learns that reputation and the approval of society are of little value. And The Critic, featuring the pompous Puff and the arrogant Sneer, is a mocking depiction of the theatre, playwrights and, of course, critics.","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732364177751,"sku":"9780140432404","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780140432404.jpg?v=1719996568"},{"product_id":"the-importance-of-being-earnest-and-other-plays-penguin-classics-9780140436068","title":"The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe crowning plays of one of Ireland's most heralded artists\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOscar Wilde was at once a family man and a homosexual outsider, a socialite, socialist, and Irish nationalist. His contradictions inspired him to ponder the roles and masks donned in conventional society, and his acute and wry insights are wonderfully displayed in this collection of his essential plays. Known not only for his brilliant, epigrammatic language, but also for his sense of theatrical design, color, and staging, Wilde created an enduring body of finely crafted works, whose delights and ironies still speak to modern audiences. In addition to \u003ci\u003eLady Windermere's Fan, Salomé, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, A Florentine Tragedy, \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e The Importance of Being Earnest\u003c\/i\u003e, this edition contains an introduction, notes and commentaries, and an excised scene from \u003ci\u003eThe Importance of Being Earnest\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732367683927,"sku":"9780140436068","price":9.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780140436068.jpg?v=1719996581"},{"product_id":"the-complete-plays-penguin-classics-9780140436334","title":"The Complete Plays Penguin Classics","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe complete plays of Christopher Marlowe, in which the lure of dark forces drives the shifting balances between weak and strong, sacred and profane\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMarlowe's seven plays dramatise the fatal lure of potent forces, whether religious, occult or erotic.  In the victories of Tamburlaine, Faustus's encounters with the demonic, the irreverence of Barabas in \u003ci\u003eThe Jew of Malta\u003c\/i\u003e, and the humiliation of Edward II in his fall from power and influence, Marlowe explores the shifting balance between power and helplessness, the sacred and its desecration.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as w\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Complete PlaysPreface\u003cbr\u003e Chronology\u003cbr\u003e Introduction\u003cbr\u003e \"The Baines Note\"\u003cbr\u003e Further Reading\u003cbr\u003e A Note on the Texts\u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003eDido, Queen of Carthage\u003cbr\u003e Tamburlaine the Great, Part One\u003cbr\u003e Tamburlaine the Great, Part Two\u003cbr\u003e The Jew of Malta\u003cbr\u003e Doctor Faustus\u003cbr\u003e Edward the Second\u003cbr\u003e The Massacre at Paris\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAppendix: The Massacre at Paris, Scene 19\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Glossary\u003cbr\u003e List of Mythological, Historical and Geographical Names\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732368077143,"sku":"9780140436334","price":11.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780140436334.jpg?v=1719996581"},{"product_id":"saint-joan-a-chronicle-play-in-six-scenes-and-an-epilogue-9780140437911","title":"Saint Joan A Chronicle Play in Six Scenes and an","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eExclusive to Penguin Classics: the definitive text of Shaw’s powerful historical drama about Joan of Arc, which led him to win the Nobel Prize for Literature—part of the official Bernard Shaw Library\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003cbr\u003eA Penguin Classic\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e With \u003ci\u003eSaint Joan\u003c\/i\u003e, which distills many of the ideas Shaw had been exploring in earlier works on politics, religion, feminism, and creative evolution, he reached the height of his fame as a dramatist. Fascinated by the story of Joan of Arc, but unhappy with the way she had traditionally been depicted, Shaw wanted to remove “the whitewash which disfigures her beyond recognition.” He presents a realistic Joan: proud, intolerant, naïve, foolhardy, and brave—a rebel and a woman for Shaw’s time and our own.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e This is the definitive text under the editorial supervision of Dan H. Laurence. The volume includes Shaw’s Preface of 1924; the cast list of the first production of \u003ci\u003eSain\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBy the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“[Shaw] did his best in redressing the fateful unbalance between truth and reality, in lifting mankind to a higher rung of social maturity. He often pointed a scornful finger at human frailty, but his jests were never at the expense of humanity.”\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Thomas Mann\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“Shaw will not allow complacency; he hates second-hand opinions; he attacks fashion; he continually challenges and unsettles, questioning and provoking us even when he is making us laugh. And he is still at it. No cliché or truism of contemporary life is safe from him.” \u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Michael Holroyd\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“In his works Shaw left us his mind. . . . Today we have no Shavian wizard to awaken us with clarity and paradox, and the loss to our national intelligence is immense.” \u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“He was a Tolstoy with jokes, a modern Dr. Johnson, a universal genius who on his own modest reckoning put even Shakespeare in the shade.” \u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“His plays were superb exercises in high-level argument on every issue under the sun, from feminism and God, to war and eternity, but they were also hits—and still are.”\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—The Daily Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732369387863,"sku":"9780140437911","price":8.54,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780140437911.jpg?v=1719996587"},{"product_id":"heartbreak-house-penguin-classics-9780140437874","title":"Heartbreak House Penguin Classics","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eExclusive to Penguin Classics: the definitive text of Shaw’s telling indictment of the generation responsible for World War I—part of the official Bernard Shaw Library\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA Penguin Classic\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e When Ellie Dunn joins a house party at the home of the eccentric Captain Shotover, she causes a stir with her decision to marry for money rather than love, and the Captain’s forthright daughter Hesione protests vigorously against the pragmatic young woman’s choice. Opinion on the matter quickly divides and a lively argument about money and morality, idealism and realism ensues as Hesione’s rakish husband, snobbish sister, and Ellie’s fiancé—a wealthy industrialist—enter the debate. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eHeartbreak House \u003c\/i\u003ewas written between 1916 and 1917, as war raged across Europe. With its bold combination of high farce and bitter tragedy, it remains an uncannily prophetic depiction of a society on the threshold o\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBy the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“[Shaw] did his best in redressing the fateful unbalance between truth and reality, in lifting mankind to a higher rung of social maturity. He often pointed a scornful finger at human frailty, but his jests were never at the expense of humanity.” \u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Thomas Mann\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e“Shaw will not allow complacency; he hates second-hand opinions; he attacks fashion; he continually challenges and unsettles, questioning and provoking us even when he is making us laugh. And he is still at it. No cliché or truism of contemporary life is safe from him.”\u003cb\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Michael Holroyd\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e“In his works Shaw left us his mind. . . . Today we have no Shavian wizard to awaken us with clarity and paradox, and the loss to our national intelligence is immense.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “He was a Tolstoy with jokes, a modern Dr. Johnson, a universal genius who on his own modest reckoning put even Shakespeare in the shade.”\u003cb\u003e \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e“His plays were superb exercises in high-level argument on every issue under the sun, from feminism and God, to war and eternity, but they were also hits—and still are.” \u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—The Daily Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732369453399,"sku":"9780140437874","price":9.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780140437874.jpg?v=1719996588"},{"product_id":"man-and-superman-bernard-shaw-library-9780140437881","title":"Man and Superman Bernard Shaw Library","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eExclusive to Penguin Classics: the definitive text of the first great twentieth-century English play and a classic exposé of the eternal struggle between the sexes—part of the official Bernard Shaw Library\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003cbr\u003eA Penguin Classic\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e After the death of her father, Ann Whitefield becomes the joint ward of two men: the respectable Roebuck Ramsden and John Tanner, author of “The Revolutionist’s Handbook.” Believing marriage would prevent him from achieving his higher intellectual and political ambitions, Tanner is horrified to discover that Ann intends to marry him, and he flees to Spain with the determined young woman in hot pursuit. The chase even leads them to the underworld, where the characters’ alter egos discuss questions of human nature and philosophy in a lively debate in a scene often performed separately as “Don Juan in Hell.” In \u003ci\u003eMan and Superman\u003c\/i\u003e, Shaw combined seriousness with comedy to create a \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBy the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“[Shaw] did his best in redressing the fateful unbalance between truth and reality, in lifting mankind to a higher rung of social maturity. He often pointed a scornful finger at human frailty, but his jests were never at the expense of humanity.”\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Thomas Mann\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“Shaw will not allow complacency; he hates second-hand opinions; he attacks fashion; he continually challenges and unsettles, questioning and provoking us even when he is making us laugh. And he is still at it. No cliché or truism of contemporary life is safe from him.” \u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Michael Holroyd\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“In his works Shaw left us his mind. . . . Today we have no Shavian wizard to awaken us with clarity and paradox, and the loss to our national intelligence is immense.”\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e —\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“He was a Tolstoy with jokes, a modern Dr. Johnson, a universal genius who on his own modest reckoning put even Shakespeare in the shade.” \u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“His plays were superb exercises in high-level argument on every issue under the sun, from feminism and God, to war and eternity, but they were also hits—and still are.”\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—The Daily Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732369486167,"sku":"9780140437881","price":9.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780140437881.jpg?v=1719996588"},{"product_id":"the-theban-plays-king-oedipus-oedipus-at-colonus-antigone-9780140440034","title":"The Theban Plays King Oedipus Oedipus at Colonus","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eKing Oedipus\/Oedipus at Colonus\/Antigone\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThree towering works of Greek tragedy depicting the inexorable downfall of a doomed royal dynasty\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe legends surrounding the house of Thebes inspired Sophocles to create this powerful trilogy about humanity''s struggle against fate. \u003ci\u003eKing Oedipus\u003c\/i\u003e is the devastating portrayal of a ruler who brings pestilence to Thebes for crimes he does not realize he has committed and then inflicts a brutal punishment upon himself. \u003ci\u003eOedipus at Colonus\u003c\/i\u003e provides a fitting conclusion to the life of the aged and blinded king, while \u003ci\u003eAntigone\u003c\/i\u003e depicts the fall of the next generation, through the conflict between a young woman ruled by her conscience and a king too confident of his own authority.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTranslated with an Introduction by E. F. WATLING\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[Oedipus the King] is Sophocles’ most famous play and the most celebrated play of Greek drama . . . Aristotle cites it as the best model for a tragic plot . . . Freud recognized the play’s power to dramatize the process by which we uncover hidden truths about ourselves . . . Sophocles is more interested in how Oedipus pieces together the isolated fragments of his past to discover who and what he is and in tracing the hero’s response to this new vision of himself.”—from the Introduction by Charles Segal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Theban legend; \"King Oedipus\"; the legend continued; \"Oedipus at Colonus\"; the legend continued; \"Antigone\"; notes to \"King Oedipus\"; notes to \"Oedipus at Colonus\"; notes to \"Antigone\".","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732370305367,"sku":"9780140440034","price":9.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780140440034.jpg?v=1719996592"},{"product_id":"the-oresteian-trilogy-agamemnon-the-choephori-the-eumenides-9780140440676","title":"The Oresteian Trilogy Agamemnon The Choephori The","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAeschylus (525-c.456 bc) set his great trilogy in the immediate aftermath of the Fall of Troy, when King Agamemnon returns to Argos, a victor in war. Agamemnon depicts the hero''s discovery that his family has been destroyed by his wife''s infidelity and ends with his death at her callous hand. Clytemnestra''s crime is repaid in The Choephori when her outraged son Orestes kills both her and her lover. The Eumenides then follows Orestes as he is hounded to Athens by the Furies'' law of vengeance and depicts Athene replacing the bloody cycle of revenge with a system of civil justice. Written in the years after the Battle of Marathon, The Oresteian Trilogy affirmed the deliverance of democratic Athens not only from Persian conquest, but also from its own barbaric past.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Oreteian TrilogyIntroduction\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eAgamemnon\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Choephori \u003ci\u003eor\u003c\/i\u003e The Libation-Bearers\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Eumenides\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNotes to 'Agamemnon'\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNotes to 'The Choephori'\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNotes to 'The Eumenides'\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eAppendix\u003cbr\u003eSelect Bibliography\u003cbr\u003eThe Pronunciation of Greek Names\u003cbr\u003eGenealogical Table of the House of Atreus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732370698583,"sku":"9780140440676","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780140440676.jpg?v=1719996593"},{"product_id":"ghosts-and-other-plays-a-public-enemy-when-we-dead-wake-penguin-classics-l16-9780140441352","title":"Ghosts and other plays A Public Enemy When We","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe plays in this volume focus on the family and how it struggles to stay together by telling lies - and exposing them. In Ghosts, Osvald Alving returns home only to discover the truth about the father he always looked up to, and learns the horrific effect his father's debauchery has had on him. It was Ibsen's most provocative drama, stripping away the surface of a middle-class family to expose layers of hypocrisy and immorality. A Public Enemy sets two brothers against each other when one wishes to make public the facts about the polluted water in the public baths of their home town. And When We Dead Wake tells of an artist meeting an old lover by chance and rejecting his wife, in a symbolic exploration of Ibsen's own literary life and the sacrifices he made in his work.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. 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Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732371091799,"sku":"9780140441222","price":11.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780140441222.jpg?v=1719996593"},{"product_id":"four-tragedies-and-octavia-penguin-classics-9780140441741","title":"Four Tragedies and Octavia Penguin Classics","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBased on the legends used in Greek drama, Seneca's plays are notable for the exuberant ruthlessness with which disastrous events are foretold and then pursued to their tragic and often bloodthirsty ends. \u003ci\u003eThyestes\u003c\/i\u003e depicts the menace of an ancestral curse hanging over two feuding brothers, while \u003ci\u003ePhaedra\u003c\/i\u003e portrays a woman tormented by fatal passion for her stepson. In \u003ci\u003eThe Trojan Women\u003c\/i\u003e, the widowed Hecuba and Andromache await their fates at the hands of the conquering Greeks, and \u003ci\u003eOedipus\u003c\/i\u003e follows the downfall of the royal House of Thebes. \u003ci\u003eOctavia\u003c\/i\u003e is a grim commentary on Nero's tyrannical rule and the execution of his wife, with Seneca himself appearing as an ineffective counsellor attempting to curb the atrocities of the emperor.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works thro\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSeneca: Four Tragedies And OctaviaIntroduction\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgement\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThyestes\u003cbr\u003ePhaedra \u003c\/b\u003e(or Hippolytus)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Trojan Women\u003cbr\u003eOedipus\u003cbr\u003eOctavia\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAppendix I. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eElizabethan translations and imitations\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAppendix II. \u003c\/b\u003ePassages from Seneca's prose\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732371353943,"sku":"9780140441741","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780140441741.jpg?v=1719996594"},{"product_id":"the-oresteia-agamemnon-the-libation-bearers-the-eumenides-classics-s-penguin-classics-9780140443332","title":"The Oresteia Agamemnon The Libation Bearers The","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the \u003ci\u003eOresteia\u003c\/i\u003e Aeschylus addressed the bloody chain of murder and revenge within the royal family of Argos. As they move from darkness to light, from rage to self-governance, from primitive ritual to civilized institution, their spirit of struggle and regeneration becomes an everlasting song of celebration. In \u003ci\u003eAgamemnon\u003c\/i\u003e, a king's decision to sacrifice his daughter and turn the tide of war inflicts lasting damage on his family, culminating in a terrible act of retribution;\u003ci\u003e The Libation Bearers\u003c\/i\u003e deals with the aftermath of Clytemnestra's regicide, as her son Orestes sets out to avenge his father's death; and in \u003ci\u003eThe Eumenides\u003c\/i\u003e, Orestes is tormented by supernatural powers that can never be appeased. Forming an elegant and subtle discourse on the emergence of Athenian democracy out of a period of chaos and destruction, \u003ci\u003eThe Oresteia\u003c\/i\u003e is a compelling tragedy of the tensions between our obligations to our families and the laws that bind us together as a society\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Conveys more vividly and powerfully than any of the ten competitors I have consulted the eternal power of this masterpiece ... a triumph.\" —Bernard Levin \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"How satisfying to read at last a modern translation which is rooted in Greek feeling and Greek thought ... both the stature and the profound instinctive genius of Aeschylus are recognised.\" —Mary Renault, author of \u003ci\u003eThe King Must Die\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Oresteia - Aeschylus       Foreword\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003eA Reading of \"The Oresteia\": The Serpent and the Eagle\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eAESCHYLUS: THE ORESTEIA\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAgamemnon\u003cbr\u003eThe Libation Bearers\u003cbr\u003eThe Eumenides\u003cbr\u003eThe Geneaology of Orestes\u003cbr\u003eSelect Bibliography\u003cbr\u003eNotes:\u003cbr\u003eAgamemnon\u003cbr\u003eThe Libation Bearers\u003cbr\u003eThe Eumenides\u003cbr\u003eGlossary\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732373123415,"sku":"9780140443332","price":11.07,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780140443332.jpg?v=1719996603"},{"product_id":"electra-and-other-plays-9780140446685","title":"Electra and Other Plays","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eOf all the ancient Greek tragedians, Euripides was the most sensitive to the lives of women and other outcasts in Athenian society, and \u003ci\u003eElectra and Other Plays\u003c\/i\u003e collects five plays demonstrating his talent for bringing to life their plight. This Penguin Classics edition is translated by John Davie with an introduction and notes by Richard Rutherford.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWritten during a period overshadowed by the fierce struggle for supremacy between Sparta and Euripides'' native Athens, these five plays are haunted by the shadow of war - and in particular its impact on women. In \u003ci\u003eElectra\u003c\/i\u003e the children of Agamemnon take bloody revenge on their mother for murdering their father after his return from Troy, and \u003ci\u003eSuppliant Women\u003c\/i\u003e depicts the grieving mothers of those killed in battle. The other plays deal with the aftermath of the Trojan War for the defeated survivors, as \u003ci\u003eAndromache\u003c\/i\u003e shows Hector''s widow as a trophy of war in the house of her Greek captor, and \u003ci\u003eHecabe\u003c\/i\u003e portrays a defeated queen avenging the murder of her last-remaining son, while \u003ci\u003eTrojan Women\u003c\/i\u003e tells of the plight of the city''s women in the hands of their victors.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJohn Davie''s compelling translations are accompanied by an introduction by Richard Rutherford describing the tragic genre and Euripides innovations, along with a chronology, prefaces to each play, notes, a bibliography and a glossary of names.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEuripides (c.485-07 BC) was an Athenian born into a family of considerable rank. Disdaining the public duties expected of him, Euripides spent a life of quiet introspection, spending much of his life in a cave on Salamis. Late in life he voluntarily exiled himself to the court of Archelaus, King of Macedon, where he wrote \u003ci\u003eThe Bacchae\u003c\/i\u003e, regarded by many as his greatest work. Euripides is thought to have written 92 plays, only 18 of which survive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf you enjoyed \u003ci\u003eElectra and Other Plays\u003c\/i\u003e, you might like Euripides'' \u003ci\u003eMedea and Other Plays\u003c\/i\u003e, also available in Penguin Classics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''The most intensely tragic of all the poets''\u003cbr\u003eAristotle\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eElectra and Other PlaysGeneral Introduction\u003cbr\u003eNote on the Text\u003cbr\u003eChronological Table\u003cbr\u003eTranslator's Note\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface to \u003ci\u003eAndromache\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAndromache\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface to \u003ci\u003eHecabe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHecabe\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface to \u003ci\u003eSuppliant Women\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSuppliant Women\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface to \u003ci\u003eElectra\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eElectra\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface to \u003ci\u003eTrojan Women\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrojan Women\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNotes\u003cbr\u003eBibliography\u003cbr\u003eGlossary of Mythological and Geographical Names\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732376596823,"sku":"9780140446685","price":11.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780140446685.jpg?v=1719996615"},{"product_id":"plays-9780140447330","title":"Plays","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFive masterful dramatic works from one of the world's best-loved playwrights, including \u003ci\u003eThe Seagull\u003c\/i\u003e—now a major motion picture starring Saoirse Ronan, Elizabeth Moss, and Annette Bening\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt a time when the Russian theatre was dominated by formulaic melodramas and farces, Chekhov created a new sort of drama that laid bare the everyday lives, loves and yearnings of ordinary people. \u003ci\u003eIvanov \u003c\/i\u003edepicts a man stifled by inactivity and lost idealism, and \u003ci\u003eThe Seagull\u003c\/i\u003e contrasts a young man's selfish romanticism with the stoicism of a woman cruelly abandoned by her lover. With 'the scenes from country life' of \u003ci\u003eUncle Vanya\u003c\/i\u003e, his first fully mature play, Chekhov developed his own unique dramatic world, neither tragedy nor comedy. In \u003ci\u003eThree Sisters\u003c\/i\u003e the Prozorov sisters endlessly dream of going to Moscow to escape the monotony of provincial life, while his comedy\u003ci\u003e The Cherry Orchard\u003c\/i\u003e portrays characters futilely clinging to the past as \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePlaysIntroduction\u003cbr\u003eFurther Reading\u003cbr\u003eChronology\u003cbr\u003eTranslator's Note\u003cbr\u003eGlossary\u003cp\u003eIvanov\u003cbr\u003eThe Seagull\u003cbr\u003eUncle Vanya\u003cbr\u003eThree Sisters\u003cbr\u003eThe Cherry Orchard\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNotes\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732376858967,"sku":"9780140447330","price":9.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780140447330.jpg?v=1719996615"},{"product_id":"lysistrata-and-other-plays-9780140448146","title":"Lysistrata and Other Plays","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Acharnians\/The Clouds\/Lysistrata\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''We women have the salvation of Greece in our hands''\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWriting at a time of political and social crisis in Athens, the ancient Greek comic playwright Aristophanes was an eloquent, yet bawdy, challenger to the demagogue and the sophist. In \u003ci\u003eLysistrata\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Acharnians\u003c\/i\u003e, two pleas for an end to the long war between Athens and Sparta, a band of women on a sex strike and a lone peasant respectively defeat the political establishment. The darker comedy of \u003ci\u003eThe Clouds\u003c\/i\u003e satirizes Athenian philosophers, Socrates in particular, and reflects the uncertainties of a generation in which all traditional religious and ethical beliefs were being challenged. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTranslated with an Introduction and Notes by Alan H. Sommerstein\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLysistrata and Other PlaysChronology\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003eFurther Reading\u003cbr\u003eTranslator's Note\u003cbr\u003eNote on the Text\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface to \u003ci\u003eThe Acharnians\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE ACHARNIANS\u003cbr\u003ePreface to \u003ci\u003eThe Clouds\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE CLOUDS\u003cbr\u003ePreface to \u003ci\u003eLysistrata\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLYSISTRATA\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNotes\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732378464599,"sku":"9780140448146","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780140448146.jpg?v=1719996621"},{"product_id":"faust-the-second-part-of-the-tragedy-9780140449020","title":"Faust The Second Part of the Tragedy","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this sequel to \u003ci\u003eFaust\u003c\/i\u003e, Mephistopheles takes Faust on a journey through ancient Greek mythology, conjuring for him the insurpassably beautiful Helen of Troy, as well as the classical gods. Faust falls in love with and marries Helen, embodying for Goethe his ''imaginative longing to join poetically the Romantic Medievalism of the germanic West to the classical genius of the Greeks''. Further to the themes of redemption and salvation in this great drama, are Goethe''s eerie premonitions of modern phenomena such as inflation and the creation of life by scientific synthesis.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. 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Byatt, from the Preface","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732379251031,"sku":"9780140449020","price":11.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780140449020.jpg?v=1719996624"},{"product_id":"medea-and-other-plays-9780140449297","title":"Medea and Other Plays","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn accessible prose translation that is accompanied by a general introduction and individual prefaces to each play.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMedea and Other PlaysGeneral Introduction\u003cbr\u003eNote on the Text\u003cbr\u003eChronological Table\u003cbr\u003eTranslator's Note\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface to \u003ci\u003eAlcestis\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlcestis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface to \u003ci\u003eMedea\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMedea\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface to \u003ci\u003eThe Children of Heraclea\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Children of Heracles\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface to \u003ci\u003eHippolytus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHippolytus\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNotes\u003cbr\u003eBibliography\u003cbr\u003eGlossary of Mythological and Geographical Names\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732379873623,"sku":"9780140449297","price":9.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780140449297.jpg?v=1719996626"},{"product_id":"the-birds-and-other-plays-the-knightspeacewealththe-assembly-women-penguin-classics-9780140449518","title":"The Birds and Other Plays The","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFive comedies from Ancient Greece that freely blend satire and slapstick\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOffering a window into the world of ordinary Athenians, Aristophanes' \u003ci\u003eThe Birds and Other Plays\u003c\/i\u003e is a timeless set of comedies, combining witty satire and raucous slapstick to wonderful effect. 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