Plays: Fifth Series

Galsworthy, John, 1867-1933Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 341K words
Chapters: 35

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 : Fifth Series by John GalsworthyAuthor: Galsworthy, John, 1867-1933,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Sep 26, 2004

Editor's review

This is a public-domain electronic edition of the fifth series of Galsworthy's plays, released by Project Gutenberg. As a later volume in the series, it continues the author's tradition of examining social problems through stage drama, with more seasoned development of character relationships and moral dilemmas, suitable for readers to appreciate his sense of dialogue and scene arrangement through close reading. The electronic edition is easy to carry and search, useful as supplementary material for drama courses, and suitable for researchers to place alongside the third and other volumes to examine changes in the author's choice of subjects and structural arrangement. Note that this is an English-language original without modern notes; the typesetting and punctuation of a public-domain reset edition may not conform to contemporary conventions, and first-time readers may need to spend more effort on understanding the context. Overall, it is better suited to readers with some experience of British drama than to beginners seeking light entertainment.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who have read other Galsworthy plays and wish to survey his work systematically
Students of English literature and drama using it as extended course reading
Literature enthusiasts who can read English originals and are interested in plays on social issues

Not a good fit for

Readers who struggle with English and need a translation
Beginners expecting modern typesetting, notes, and an introduction
Readers who only want a quick plot summary and do not wish to read the dialogue closely

Reading tips

Read the plays one by one; after each, restate the core conflict, then revisit key dialogue.
Compare this volume with the third series and note differences in how the author handles similar social issues.
For a course or reading group, select one play for scene reading to experience the stage rhythm.

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

Will the fifth series overlap with the third?

The two books are separate collections of plays by the same author, divided by series; they are usually independent and do not overlap. Check the table of contents of each e-book for the specific plays; reviewing the play titles in each volume before reading is recommended.

Is this e-book suitable as drama teaching material?

It can be used as supplementary material, especially for close reading and dialogue analysis. However, since it lacks modern notes and an introduction, teachers usually need to supply background information and vocabulary notes themselves.

Do I need to know British history to read it?

The social issues in the plays relate to the early twentieth-century British context; basic historical background makes it easier to understand the characters' positions and conflicts. If you only wish to appreciate the dramatic structure, you can read the text first and fill in the background afterward.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Galsworthy, John, 1867-1933 Author

John Galsworthy (1867–1933) was a British novelist and playwright known for his detailed portrayal of English social life from the late Victorian period to the early twentieth century. The library holds fifty-six of his works, including novels, serial fiction, and plays. Representative titles include The Forsyte Saga in its complete form and in Volumes I and II, To Let, Strife: A Drama in Three Acts, and Justice. His fiction often centers on family relationships, attitudes toward property, and shifts in social class, written in a restrained and observant style that attends to the interplay between individual psychology and social environment. His plays frequently explore tensions between law, morality, and personal circumstance. Overall, his work combines realistic depth with readability and has had a lasting influence on English literature. Public information is limited, so biographical details are omitted here; this introduction is based mainly on the works held in the library.