Drama Books

THE FIRST ACT The scene is a drawing-room, prettily but somewhat showily decorated. The walls are papered with a design representing large clusters of white and purple lilac. The furniture is covered with a chintz of similar pattern, and the curtains, carpet, and lamp-shades correspond. In the wall facing the spectator are two windows, and midway between the windows there is the entrance to a... more...

ERECHTHEUS.Mother of life and death and all men's days,Earth, whom I chief of all men born would bless,And call thee with more loving lips than theirsMother, for of this very body of thineAnd living blood I have my breath and live,Behold me, even thy son, me crowned of men,Me made thy child by that strong cunning GodWho fashions fire and iron, who begatMe for a sword and beacon-fire on thee,10Me... more...

ACT I SCENE I   MADAME PERNELLE and FLIPOTTE, her servant; ELMIRE, MARIANE, CLEANTE,  DAMIS, DORINE   MADAME PERNELLE  Come, come, Flipotte, and let me get away.   ELMIRE  You hurry so, I hardly can attend you.   MADAME PERNELLE  Then don't, my daughter-in law. Stay where you are.  I can dispense with your polite attentions.   ELMIRE  We're only paying what is due you,... more...

ACT I. SCENE I.——VALÈRE, ÉLISE. Val. What, dear Élise! you grow sad after having given me such dear tokens of your love; and I see you sigh in the midst of my joy! Can you regret having made me happy? and do you repent of the engagement which my love has forced from you? Eli. No, Valère, I do not regret what I do for you; I feel carried on by too delightful a power, and I do not even wish that... more...

ACTVS PRIMVS. Enter the GHOAST OF ANDREA, and with him REUENGE. GHOAST. When this eternall substance of my souleDid liue imprisond in my wanton flesh,Ech in their function seruing others need,I was a courtier in the Spanish court:My name was Don Andrea; my discent,Though not ignoble, yet inferiour farTo gratious fortunes of my tender youth,For there, in prime and pride of all my yeeres,By duteous... more...

PREFACE. After the lapse of about half a century since the issue of the last edition of Dodsley's Select Collection of Old Plays,[1] and the admittance of that work into the honourable rank of scarce and dear books, it seemed a desirable thing to attempt, with such additional improvements as might be practicable or expedient, a revival of a publication which has been a favourite with the lovers of... more...

Dramatis Personae Caesar . . . . . . . Ruler of the State. Francos . . . . . . Governor General of a Province. Quezox  . . . . . . Resident Delegate from the Province.                             Page. Scene:   Throne Room at the Capitol Caesar:   Most noble Francos, I greet thee heartily. A function truly noble falls within thy grasp; And thou wilt with it deal as only... more...

A DOLL'S HOUSE ACT I (SCENE.—A room furnished comfortably and tastefully, but not extravagantly. At the back, a door to the right leads to the entrance-hall, another to the left leads to Helmer's study. Between the doors stands a piano. In the middle of the left-hand wall is a door, and beyond it a window. Near the window are a round table, armchairs and a small sofa. In the right-hand... more...

WASTE At Shapters, George Farrant's house in Hertfordshire. Ten o'clock on a Sunday evening in summer. Facing you at her piano by the window, from which she is protected by a little screen, sits Mrs. Farrant; a woman of the interesting age, clear-eyed and all her face serene, except for a little pucker of the brows which shows a puzzled mind upon some important matters. To become almost an... more...

ACT I It is the night of Christmas Eve, the SCENE is a Studio, flushwith the street, having a skylight darkened by a fall of snow.There is no one in the room, the walls of which are whitewashed,above a floor of bare dark boards. A fire is cheerfullyburning. On a model's platform stands an easel and canvas.There are busts and pictures; a screen, a little stool, two arm.chairs, and a long... more...