Plays

Susan GlaspellProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 282K words
Chapters: 29

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: May 4, 2019

Editor's review

Susan Glaspell's collected plays are a window into the transformation of modern American drama. She often works in compact one-act forms to address gender, justice, and rural life; the dialogue is restrained yet full of tension, and the stage directions are spare, so even readers unfamiliar with dramatic format can enter the scenes. This Project Gutenberg electronic text is easy to search and read side by side with other materials, making it suitable as supplementary material for playwriting or American literature courses. As you read, treat each play as a small piece of social observation: characters clash within a limited space, and the truth often lies in what is left unsaid. Its value lies not in lively plot but in letting readers experience how silence beneath dialogue drives dramatic action.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in American literature and theater history who want to learn about early twentieth-century women's drama
English majors or theater enthusiasts who want to practice close reading and reading aloud with original scripts
Members of campus theater groups and acting teachers who need short play material
Self-learners accustomed to public-domain ebooks who prefer to set their own reading pace

Not a good fit for

Beginners with weak English reading skills who need annotations or translations
Readers expecting full plot summaries and detailed background introductions
Casual readers seeking only light entertainment fiction

Reading tips

First read one play's plot and character list, then return to the dialogue and pay attention to actions and tones in the stage directions.
Choose one scene and read it aloud by role; experiencing the rhythm of the lines and the relationships between characters makes it easier to enter the dramatic situation than silent reading.
As you read, note each play's core conflict and the choices made by female characters; after finishing, compare themes across the plays.
Read alongside background material on early twentieth-century American society and theater movements to help understand the plays' historical context.

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 plays or fiction?

This is a collection of plays by Susan Glaspell—dramatic texts that include character lists, dialogue, and stage directions. The reading approach differs from fiction; you follow scenes and dialogue to understand the plot.

How difficult is the English, and what background is needed?

These are original scripts for English-speaking readers. The language is mainly dialogue and not especially difficult overall, but it involves early colloquial expressions and dramatic terminology. It suits readers with intermediate or higher English reading ability who are willing to look up words and read slowly.

Is this a public-domain ebook, and what should I note while reading?

This book was released by Project Gutenberg and is a freely available public-domain ebook. Layout may vary across devices; choose a reader with clear fonts and easy annotation, and be careful to save your reading progress.

Can I read it without experience reading drama?

Yes. Start with the character list and scene descriptions, read each scene as a complete segment, and review the character relationships after each act; you need not aim for a full-book overview from the start.

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.