The Beaux-Stratagem

George FarquharProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 174K words
Chapters: 18

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 Beaux-Stratagem by George Farquhar. Author: Farquhar, George, 1677?-1707. Language: English. Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature. Release Date: May 5, 2007

Editor's review

The Beaux-Stratagem is one of the representative comedies by George Farquhar, a playwright of the English Restoration period, and belongs to the tradition of the comedy of manners in English literature. The plot revolves around two gentlemen who devise schemes to pursue fortune and marriage; the characters include country squires, heiresses, and an innkeeper's wife, and the action is driven by mistaken identities, witty dialogue, and staged conflict, making it lively and satirical. As a public-domain eBook from Project Gutenberg, this edition preserves the original play text and is suitable for readers studying seventeenth- and eighteenth-century English drama and for those interested in Restoration social customs and comic technique. It is best approached as a stage play: note the division into acts and scenes, the entrances and exits of characters, and the rhythm of the dialogue, and imagine how it would work in performance. Because it is the original English text without annotations, archaic spellings and period background may pose difficulties; reading alongside introductory materials is recommended.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying the history of English drama and Restoration literature
Enthusiasts who want to understand the tradition of the English comedy of manners
Those who need the original English play text for research or rehearsal reference

Not a good fit for

Readers who only want a light Chinese story and are unfamiliar with play form
Beginners with limited English reading experience who need detailed annotations

Reading tips

Read the list of characters and scene descriptions first, and clarify the main relationships before entering the dialogue.
Read act by act and scene by scene, and after each act summarize how the conflicts and misunderstandings change.
Do not get bogged down in archaic spellings; first follow the logic of the dialogue and the jokes.

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 play, organized by acts and scenes, consisting mainly of character dialogue with stage directions. Readers need to follow the dramatic structure to understand how the plot advances.

Can I understand it without a background in drama?

You can try, but it is advisable first to learn the basic background of Restoration comedy and the main character relationships. The play advances through dialogue and lacks narrative groundwork, so beginners may need introductory guides or a translation for comparison.

Is this book suitable for staging?

As the original public-domain English play text, it can be used to study the text and as reference for staging selected scenes. Actual productions usually require cuts and changes according to stage conditions, and the edition and copyright requirements should be verified.

Comments

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About the author

George Farquhar Author · Irish · 1677–1707

George Farquhar (1677?–1707) was an Irish playwright, born in Derry and died in London, and one of the representative writers of Restoration comedy. Five of his works are held in the collection, including his best-known plays The Constant Couple, The Recruiting Officer and his final work The Beaux' Stratagem, as well as the comedy The Inconstant. His plays mostly deal with love, marriage and social manners; their plots are brisk, their dialogue witty and their characters vivid and lifelike, and they were well received on the London stage of his day. Working within the tradition of Restoration comedy, Farquhar both inherited its ironic and witty treatment of social manners and helped move comedy toward a more sentimental style, giving him a transitional place in the history of English drama from the late seventeenth to the early eighteenth century. Public information on the details of his life is limited, and scholarship has focused mainly on the plays mentioned above.