New Comedies

Gregory, Lady, 1852-1932Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 180K words
Chapters: 19

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. New Comedies by Lady Gregory. Author: Gregory, Lady, 1852-1932. Language: English. Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature. Release Date: Mar 1, 2004

Editor's review

New Comedies is a collection of plays by the Irish playwright Lady Gregory, presented by Project Gutenberg as an English-language ebook. Lady Gregory was a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival, and her plays draw largely on Irish rural life and local speech, with a spare style rich in colloquial rhythm. The comedies collected here can be read from two angles: as dramatic texts, where one can observe the structure and dialogue technique of one-act or short plays, and as Irish literature, where one can sense how the playwright presents local life. For readers studying the history of Irish drama, teaching English-language drama, or interested in folk-themed writing, this book is a valuable primary text. The electronic edition makes it easy to search lines and characters, and is well suited to script readings and classroom excerpt analysis. Readers should attend to its stage directions and colloquial features rather than reading it merely as a story.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying the Irish Literary Revival and the history of drama
Teachers and students needing play texts for English-language drama courses
Readers interested in folk themes and writing in dialect and colloquial speech
Drama enthusiasts who enjoy short plays and are willing to do script readings

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting the narrative drive and continuous plot of a novel
Readers unfamiliar with dramatic form and unwilling to adapt to dialogue-based texts
Beginners hoping for detailed historical notes or a scholarly introduction

Reading tips

Read one short play first, noting how stage directions work with the characters' dialogue.
Organize a group reading with assigned roles to experience the colloquial rhythm and comic effect.
While reading, note details of Irish local life and compare them with the playwright's other works.
Consult background material on the Irish Literary Revival to understand the choice of subject matter.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Does this book contain full-length plays or short plays?

According to Project Gutenberg, this is a collection of Lady Gregory's comedies; for the specific contents, see the ebook's table of contents. Her plays are mostly short, so browse the contents before reading to learn the length and character setup of each piece.

Can I read this book without a background in drama?

Yes, but you will need to adapt to a text form dominated by dialogue and stage directions. It is best to start with a shorter piece, imagining the stage scene and the characters' tones, then move on to the other pieces, consulting basic drama references as needed.

Is this electronic edition suitable for academic citation?

Project Gutenberg provides public-domain electronic texts suitable for general reading and teaching. For academic citation, verify the specific edition information and check page numbers and wording against a print or authoritative edition rather than relying solely on the electronic layout.

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About the author

Gregory, Lady, 1852-1932 Author

Lady Gregory (1852–1932) was an Irish writer, playwright and translator, with seven works held in this collection. She is known for collecting and retelling ancient Irish myths and hero tales: Gods and Fighting Men gathers stories from the cycles of Finn and Cuchulain, while The Kiltartan History Book and The Kiltartan Poetry Book show her use of the Kiltartan dialect to translate Irish history and poetry. Her plays, such as Seven Short Plays, Three Wonder Plays and New Comedies, were mostly written for small stages, in spare language close to folk speech. Poets and Dreamers collects her studies and translations. Because public information is limited, biographical details are not expanded here; overall, her work has had a lasting influence on preserving Irish oral tradition and promoting native drama.