Author: Voltaire
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
ISBN: 1479409715
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 192
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Book Description
Set in Roman times, Voltaire's play THE TRIUMVIRATE details a meeting on an island between Anthony and Octavian, in which the two main players in the post-Caesar Roman world decide how to divide up the spoils of war--and eliminate all potential rivals. Anthony agrees to divorce his wife Fulvia and marry Octavian's sister; and Octavian wants to marry Julia, Lucius's daughter, who loves Sextus Pompey, son of Pompey the Great. When a storm lands Julia and Pompey Junior on the island, Fulvia agrees to help the star-crossed lovers--if they will aid her in gaining her revenge on Anthony and Octavian. Louis Lurine and Albéric Second's play COMEDY AT FERNEY features an elderly Voltaire, who must put off a starstruck young female fan who wants to meet him. But Voltaire's guest, the Prince de Ligne, decides to use the situation to sample the favors of the infatuated woman. A clever and swift-moving comedy.
Author: Voltaire
Publisher: Borgo Press
ISBN: 9781479400379
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 204
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Book Description
Set in Roman times, Voltaire's play THE TRIUMVIRATE details a meeting on an island between Anthony and Octavian, in which the two main players in the post-Caesar Roman world decide how to divide up the spoils of war--and eliminate all potential rivals. Anthony agrees to divorce his wife Fulvia and marry Octavian's sister; and Octavian wants to marry Julia, Lucius's daughter, who loves Sextus Pompey, son of Pompey the Great. When a storm lands Julia and Pompey Junior on the island, Fulvia agrees to help the star-crossed lovers--if they will aid her in gaining her revenge on Anthony and Octavian. Louis Lurine and Alberic Second's play COMEDY AT FERNEY features an elderly Voltaire, who must put off a starstruck young female fan who wants to meet him. But Voltaire's guest, the Prince de Ligne, decides to use the situation to sample the favors of the infatuated woman. A clever and swift-moving comedy."
Author:
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
ISBN: 1479409723
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 194
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Book Description
OLYMPIAS is one of Voltaire's most powerful tragedies. It's based on the suspicion that King Alexander the Great was poisoned, and left an infant daughter, Olympias, by his Persian wife Statira, daughter of the last Persian king. Olympias was raised by Cassander, son of King Antipater of Macedon, who's also tried to murder Statira (although she survived, unbeknownst to him). Now Cassader has succeeded his father as King, but is riddled with guilt over his crimes. Olympias has been raised in ignorance by Cassander, whom she loves. When the real facts of her origin--and her proposed husband's evil deeds--are revealed to her by her mother, she's caught between her genuine affection for the King, and the knowledge of who he really is. Included with this classic play is THE TEMPLE OF GLORY, an opera libretto set in classical times. Two little-known works by one of the greatest French writers.
Author: Joseph Méry
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
ISBN: 1479401986
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 145
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Book Description
Two opera libretti focusing on the theme of the fiery sacrifice of the protagonists. HERCULANEUM, by Joseph Méry, a friend of Alexandre Dumas, is set in 79 A.D. in the doomed city of Herculaneum. Olympia, an oriental queen, sister of the Proconsul Nicanor, falls in love with Helios, a Christian. The queen seduces Helios and takes him from his betrothed, Lilia. Nicanor then tries to seduce and rape Lilia, but is thwarted when Mount Vesuvius erupts. The Christians die happy, believing that they are saved. SARDANAPALUS, by Henri Becque, is a powerful retelling of the fall of Assyria, and the immolation of its last king in the ruins of his capital city. Two French tragedies of love and life in the classical period.
Author: Voltaire
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
ISBN: 1434442713
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 56
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Book Description
In THE TWO WINE CASKS, a spurned priest of Bacchus switches the wine cups at a wedding to avenge himself on the woman he loves, who's marrying another. The enchanted vintage makes her hate her husband-to-be. Three great dramas of jealousy and its corrosive effects on the relations between men and women.
Author: Noël le Breton
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
ISBN: 1479401978
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 196
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Book Description
Three French comedies revolving around marriage, misidentification, medicine--and money! DOCTOR SCRATCH, by Noël le Breton, is a clever and hilarious farce, in which love becomes hopelessly entangled in the attempts by the characters to improve their declining financial situations. THE SERVANT PROBLEM, by Alain-René Lesage, the well-known novelist, two criminals manage to insert themselves as valets to several young men looking to marry the daughters of wealthy families--and decide to abscond with the dowry themselves! In THE FORFEITURE, by Charles Dufresny, a handsome young man is constricted in his marriage prospects by the fact that his two maiden-lady aunts control the family fortune, which can only be forfeited to him if they marry. Another valet takes charge by seducing both women in different guises. Three very funny--and very modern--takes on the art and science of romancing!
Author: Pierrie de Marivaux
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
ISBN: 1479409855
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 154
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Book Description
Here are three French plays from the Enlightenment Period dealing with the subject of slavery. ISLE OF SLAVES, by Pierre de Marivaux, is the longest and most challenging of the three. It postulates an island in the ancient Greek world where the slaves have revolted and seized power, killing all of their former masters and declaring their independence. Now, any "masters" shipwrecked on their island are forced to live as slaves of their own slaves to impress upon them the wrongs they've committed. THE MERCHANT OF SMYRNA, by Nicolas Chamfort, and THE BEAUTIFUL SLAVE, by Antoine-Jean Dumaniant, both deal with the pain that Christian and Muslim lovers experience when one (or both) of them are captured and sold into slavery--and then are fortuitously freed by their new owners or through their own efforts. These dramas represent early moral judgments in the late eighteenth century on the evils of slavery, and as such, are important milestones in the history of European drama.
Author: Voltaire
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
ISBN: 1434442691
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 78
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Book Description
In AGATHOCLES the two sons of the King of Syracuse (Agathocles) strive for the hand of the same girl, and the elder is killed by the younger. The ruler can only avenge his loss by sacrificing his remaining son--but doing so would mean the end of his dynasty.
Author: Voltaire
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
ISBN: 1434442705
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 53
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Book Description
THE DUKE OF ALENÇON tells a tale of medieval France. Two princely brothers, Alençon and Nemours, both love Adelaide; their murderous rage for each other threatens to tear the country apart. Tragedy is only averted through the action of a servant who loves them both.
Author: Pierre Bernard
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
ISBN: 1479408689
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 60
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Book Description
In CASTOR AND POLLUX, by Pierre Bernard, one of the twins from ancient myth attempts to rescue his brother from the underworld. The freshness and charm of this French dramatization is remarkable.
