Зарубежная драматургия
Различные книги в жанре Зарубежная драматургияThe Clouds
The satire in this, one of the best known of all Aristophanes' comedies, is directed against the new schools of philosophy, or perhaps we should rather say dialectic, which had lately been introduced, mostly from abroad, at Athens. The doctrines held up to ridicule are those of the 'Sophists'—such men as Thrasymachus from Chalcedon in Bithynia, Gorgias from Leontini in Sicily, Protagoras from Abdera in Thrace, and other foreign scholars and rhetoricians who had flocked to Athens as the intellectual centre of the Hellenic world.—From the introduction to ‘The Clouds’ by Aristophanes.
Andromache
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 «Andromache», the third of twelve plays by the author. The drama is a five act tragedy based on Euripides' play «Andromache» and draws upon the third book of Virgil's «Aeneid». In the aftermath of the Trojan war, Andromache has been taken prisoner in Epirus by Pyrrhus, her husband Hector has been slain by Achilles, who is due to be married to Hermione, the only daughter of the Spartan king Menelaus and Helen of Troy.
Great Catherine
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 injustices, seeing poverty and general unfairness afoot, and would go on to address this in many of his works. In 1876, Shaw joined his mother in London where he would finally attain literary success. Shaw used the stage to deliver messages to his audiences in the hope of bettering society. His vision was not just to reconcile issues within society, but to encourage mankind to strive for a sort of perfection close to divinity. He did not ask questions about the present, but envisioned an alternate reality altogether. «Great Catherine» is set in the court of Catherine the Great where a young British officer is sent to help ease Anglo-Russian relations. Unfortunately the officer misunderstands the situation so terribly that he finds his life in danger and must rely on the grace of Catherine to save him.
The Plays of Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov is considered by many as one of the greatest short story writers of all-time. In addition to the large number of short stories that he wrote he also produced several dramatic masterpieces. His best known works include «The Cherry Orchard», «Ivanov», «Uncle Vanya», and «Three Sisters». Those plays along with «The Sea-Gull», «The Swan Song», «On the High Road», «The Proposal», «The Wedding», «The Bear», «A Tragedian in Spite of Himself», and «The Anniversary» are included in this representative volume of «The Plays of Anton Chekhov».
R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)
We have Czech writer Karel Čapek to thank for the invention of the word robot and generally for the introduction of the idea of artificial intelligence to the world of literature. His play, «R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)» was first performed in 1921 and was an instant success. While the «robots» of the play could be more accurately described as cyborgs, Čapek's influence on the science fiction genre with this play would be profound. «R.U.R.» describes a future where robots have become universal and all of humanity is now dependent on the labor that they provide. Everything is perfect until the robot's are stirred into revolt. «R.U.R.» is Čapek's prophetic and dark dystopian vision of the future which would solidify his place in literary history.
Alexander the Great
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 «Alexander the Great», the second of twelve plays by the author. As you would expect the drama concerns its titular character and his love for the Indian princess Cleofile. Based largely on the histories of Roman historian Quintus Curtius Rufus, Alexander finds his pursuit of love of the Indian princess complicated by intrigues between her brother Taxilus and his ally Porus.
Dr. Faustus
"Dr. Faustus" is Christopher Marlowe's version of the famous legend of a doctor who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power. Originally published in 1600 this drama is based on an earlier anonymous German work (c. 1587) which has influenced many subsequent works including Goethe's more comprehensive «Faust» (c. 1808) and the contemporary «Doktor Faustus» (c. 1947) by Thomas Mann. The legend of Faust, reportedly based on a true person, is the origin of one of the most prevalent themes in literary history, the selling of one's soul to the devil.
The Wild Duck
Henrik Ibsen's 1884 drama, «The Wild Duck», is the story of Gregers Werle, an idealist who returns to his hometown after some absence. While there he begins to meddle in the affairs of the Ekdals, an odd family that have constructed a strange way of living by ignoring the skeletons in their respective closets. The Ekdals escape the reality of their existence by the construction of various delusional fantasies. Gregers, who believes that the pursuit of the ideal demands the exposition of absolute truth, summons the Ekdals to expose for themselves the truth that is hiding behind the facade of their lies. In so doing, a tragic unraveling of the very fabric of the Ekdals lives occurs in classic Ibsen fashion.
Hippolytus
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 philosophical ideas of Anaxagoras and of Socrates, with whom he was personally intimate. Like Socrates, he was accused of impiety, and this, along with domestic infelicity, has been supposed to afford a motive for his withdrawal from Athens, first to Magnesia and later to the court of Archelaues in Macedonia where he died in 406 B.C.
Euripides's «Hippolytus» is the story of its title character, the son of Theseus and Hippolyta, who has scorn love and devoted himself to hunting and the Goddess of the hunt, Artemis. For this, Aphrodite, the Goddess of love has sought to destroy Hippolytus.
Exiles
Though his catalogue is relatively small, given his impact on modern literature, James Joyce is considered one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, but lived his life in a sort of self-imposed exile, only returning on seldom occasions for short visits. He is noted for his incredibly unique style, his work «Finnegan's Wake» defying the boundaries of all conventional literary genres. His innovation of the stream-of-consciousness narrative influenced literary giants like Virginia Woolf and William Faulkner. It is said that no other writer in his time demolished as many boundaries in literature as Joyce. «Exiles» is his only play, which he wrote in the midst of composing «A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man» and «Ulysses.» Joyce noted Henrik Ibsen and his last play «When We Dead Awaken» as major influences. He described the play itself as «three cat and mouse acts,» a story that chronicles a group of people trying to come to grips with reconciling idealistic principles with their own passions.