Plays

Susan GlaspellProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 324K words
Chapters: 33

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.Plays by Susan GlaspellAuthor: Glaspell, Susan, 1882?-1948,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jan 1, 2004

Editor's review

This book is a collection of plays by Susan Glaspell, comprising her dramatic works and published as a public-domain ebook in the category of American literature. Glaspell was a key figure in the early twentieth-century American little-theatre movement; her plays are known for tight scenes, social issues, and writing about women's circumstances, short in length yet full of tension. This collection suits theatre specialists and literary scholars as a primary text, and is also suitable for readers interested in the origins of modern American drama and the tradition of women's writing. The dramatic genre consists mainly of dialogue and stage directions; when reading, one must reconstruct the stage space in the mind, and rhythm and character tone are key to understanding. Compared with fiction, plays rely more on the reader to actively supply the performative dimension; it is advisable to read one representative work first before expanding to the whole collection.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Scholars and students studying modern American drama and women's writing
Theatre specialists and little-theatre practitioners
Literary scholars needing primary English play texts
Advanced readers interested in early twentieth-century American social issues

Not a good fit for

General readers who prefer coherent plots and complete narratives in fiction
Beginners unfamiliar with play format and lacking the habit of imagining the stage
Readers seeking a Chinese translation
Readers expecting lengthy argumentation or theoretical analysis

Reading tips

Read one short play through first, noting stage directions and character tone, then expand to other pieces.
Try reading aloud by role or mentally envisioning stage blocking while reading; the tension of the plays becomes more apparent.
Read in conjunction with the background of the little-theatre movement of the author's time to understand the social issues addressed.
After reading, note the core conflicts and character relationships of each play for cross-comparison of themes.

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

What kind of works are in this book?

It is a collection of plays by Susan Glaspell, belonging to drama rather than fiction, containing dialogue and stage directions. Reading requires the reader to imagine the stage space and performance rhythm, which differs from the experience of reading narrative works.

Can I read it without experience in reading drama?

You can try, but you need to adapt to the play format. It is advisable to start with shorter pieces with fewer characters, pay attention to stage directions while reading, and try to reconstruct the scene in your mind; if it feels difficult, learn the basic components of a play first.

What is Glaspell's standing in theatre history?

She was an important playwright of the early twentieth-century American little-theatre movement, known for experimental stage techniques and attention to social and women's circumstances. This collection can serve as a primary text for understanding the formative period of modern American drama, but specific assessments should refer to relevant literary histories and research.

Comments

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About the author

Susan Glaspell Author · American · 1876–1948

Susan Glaspell (1876–1948) was an American playwright, novelist, and journalist, a co-founder of the Provincetown Players and a pioneer of modern American women's theater. She is known for the one-act play Trifles and the short story A Jury of Her Peers, adapted from it, and in 1931 won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play Alison's House. Her work spans plays and novels, including the stories collected in Lifted Masks and the novels The Visioning, Fidelity, and The Glory of the Conquered, as well as several plays. Her writing focuses largely on women's circumstances and social issues, with a delicate touch and a gift for revealing character and situation through everyday detail. Public information on her life is limited; her birth year, long recorded as 1882, has been corrected by modern scholarship to 1876.