The Elder Brother

Massinger, Philip, 1583-1640Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 250K words
Chapters: 26

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.The Elder Brother by Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, and Philip MassingerAuthor: Massinger, Philip, 1583-1640,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Apr 1, 2004

Editor's review

The Elder Brother is a comedy from the 17th-century English Renaissance, written with the involvement of playwright Philip Massinger and associated with the works of Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher; it is part of the Project Gutenberg free ebook series. The play revolves around brotherly relations, inheritance, and romantic choice, with the mistaken identities and witty dialogue common to city comedy of the period, making it a usable text for understanding English drama in the Jacobean era. For general readers, the dramatic form takes some getting used to: the cast list, stage directions, and dialogue are interwoven, and the reading rhythm differs from that of a novel. It is advisable to read the cast list first to clarify the relationships, then proceed act by act and scene by scene; when the dialogue becomes dense, slow down and watch for puns and irony. The book suits theater enthusiasts and English literature students as supplementary reading of the original text, and can also be used for staging or reading aloud. Note that this is a public-domain ebook in the original English, with no Chinese translation or annotations; archaic spelling and allusions may pose barriers, so beginners should use it alongside introductory materials.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Enthusiasts of English Renaissance drama and English literature students
Readers who need the original text for script reading or staging
Readers interested in 17th-century English city comedy and themes of brotherly inheritance
Self-learners with some English proficiency willing to engage with archaic spelling

Not a good fit for

Beginners with limited English reading experience who need Chinese translation and notes
Readers who prefer continuous novel-style narrative and are unused to script format
Researchers seeking an authoritative scholarly edition or detailed academic annotations

Reading tips

Read the cast list first and sketch a relationship map of the brothers, lovers, and servants before entering the text.
Read act by act and scene by scene; after each act, summarize the development of the conflict in one or two sentences.
Mark archaic spellings or allusions as you go and look them up after finishing a scene, to avoid constant interruption.
If reading aloud, try assigning roles for the dialogue first to feel the comic rhythm and ironic tone.

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

Is this a play or a novel?

This is a play script, with a cast list, act and scene divisions, stage directions, and character dialogue; it is not novel-style narrative. When reading, you need to follow the script format to understand scene changes and characters' entrances and exits, and the rhythm differs from reading a novel.

Who is the author, exactly?

Sources indicate the book is associated with Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, and Philip Massinger, and the Project Gutenberg entry credits Massinger as the author. The play is generally regarded as a collaborative work; for the specific division of labor, consult theater history sources, as the book itself does not provide detailed textual scholarship.

Can I understand it without annotations?

Readers with some English proficiency can follow the main plot with the help of the cast list and context, but 17th-century spelling, puns, and period allusions may pose obstacles. It is advisable to read alongside a reliable introduction or theater history source, and not to insist on understanding every sentence.

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About the author

Massinger, Philip, 1583-1640 Author

Philip Massinger (1583–1640) was an important playwright of the English Renaissance and the Jacobean era. Public information about his early education and personal life is limited, so his biography is usually inferred from his plays and from contemporary documents. Four of his works are held in this collection: The Plays of Philip Massinger, Vol. I, The Fatal Dowry, The Elder Brother, and The Custom of the Country, the last associated with the Beaumont and Fletcher canon. These plays are chiefly tragicomedies and comedies of manners, with plots centering on marriage, property, family honor, and moral conflict. Their language is polished, their structure orderly, and their dialogue often satirical. Massinger's plays hold a place in the seventeenth-century English dramatic tradition and offer useful insight into the stage tastes and ethical concerns of the period.