Quality Street: A Comedy

Barrie, J. M. (James Matthew), 1860-1937Project Gutenberg · United StatesMar 2023

3.5

Word count: 121K words
Chapters: 13

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. Quality Street: A Comedy by J. M. Barrie. Author: Barrie, J. M. (James Matthew), 1860-1937. Language: English. Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature. Release Date: Feb 12, 2010

Editor's review

Quality Street: A Comedy is a comic play by J. M. Barrie, best known for Peter Pan, and it likewise displays his keen observation of human nature and gentle humour. Presented as a comedy, the work features witty dialogue and a plot driven by misunderstandings and emotional ups and downs in social life, with the characteristic rhythm of the British stage. As a public-domain English text in Project Gutenberg, its value lies in giving readers low-cost access to early twentieth-century English drama as it was, making it suitable for theatre lovers, readers of English literature, and those studying Barrie's style. The script form means it relies more on dialogue and stage directions, so readers must imagine the performance for themselves, making it better suited to those with some experience of reading plays. Overall, it is a light yet warm-hearted comic text, suitable as an introduction to English drama or as leisurely close reading material.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Theatre lovers who enjoy English drama and are willing to read plays in the original
Readers of English literature interested in J. M. Barrie's style
Learners who need a light comic text for intensive English reading
Researchers and students studying early twentieth-century British stage drama

Not a good fit for

Readers unused to the script form who need a full novelistic narrative
Beginners whose English is not yet sufficient to grasp the humour in dialogue
Readers expecting strong dramatic conflict or grand themes

Reading tips

Before starting, skim the character list and stage directions to build a sense of the scene, then move into the dialogue.
Read act by act, and after each act review how the characters' relationships and the misunderstandings develop.
English learners can note down witty lines to appreciate Barrie's way of expressing humour.
If possible, imagine the stage performance while reading to enhance the sense of live theatre.

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 novel or a play?

It is a comic play, told mainly through dialogue and stage directions. Readers need to reconstruct the stage performance in their imagination from the dialogue and scene notes, rather than following a narrator's perspective as in a novel.

What else did J. M. Barrie write?

J. M. Barrie was a Scottish playwright and novelist, best known for Peter Pan. This comedy likewise reflects his keen observation of human relationships and his gentle humour.

Can I read it if my English is only average?

The dialogue is fairly colloquial, but the humour and implications require some grounding in English. Readers with intermediate or higher reading ability are advised to try it, and may use notes or a translation for support.

Comments

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About the author

Barrie, J. M. (James Matthew), 1860-1937 Author

J. M. Barrie (James Matthew Barrie, 1860–1937) was a British writer best known for creating the literary figure of Peter Pan. Thirty of his works are held in this collection, including Peter and Wendy, Peter Pan, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, The Little White Bird, and Sentimental Tommy. The Peter Pan stories are the most widely known, telling of a boy who refuses to grow up and his adventures in Neverland; they combine the wonder of fairy tale with gentle reflections on childhood, growing up, and loss, and have been adapted for stage and screen many times. Barrie's writing is delicate and tinged with sentiment, moving between everyday life and fantasy, and his works are often grouped under inspirational coming-of-age reading. Public information on the details of his life is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.