The Saint's Tragedy

Kingsley, Charles, 1819-1875Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 285K 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.The Saint's Tragedy by Charles KingsleyAuthor: Kingsley, Charles, 1819-1875,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Feb 1, 2004

Editor's review

The Saint's Tragedy is a verse drama by Charles Kingsley, drawing on the life of the medieval saint Elizabeth and centering on the tension between faith, sacrifice, and worldly feeling. Kingsley was a nineteenth-century English writer whose works often carry moral concern and religious reflection; this play advances its plot through verse dialogue, with finely drawn inner lives, and serves as an entry point to Victorian religious literature and the verse drama tradition. This is the Project Gutenberg electronic edition in the original English, suited to readers with some grounding in English who read it act by act; familiarity with medieval religious context will deepen appreciation of the characters' choices. It is not light entertainment, but better suited as a supplement to literature courses or for focused study.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Victorian English literature with some English reading ability
Literature students studying religious verse drama or medieval saint stories
English learners wishing to read classic public-domain works from Project Gutenberg in the original

Not a good fit for

Casual readers expecting modern narrative pacing and accessible plots
Beginners whose English is not yet equal to verse dialogue and religious vocabulary

Reading tips

Learn the basic life of Saint Elizabeth and the medieval religious background before entering the play
Read act by act, reviewing character relationships and the progression of conflict after each act
If verse language is difficult, read first for plot, then return to key monologues
Read alongside material on Victorian religious literature to understand the author's 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

What genre is this book?

The Saint's Tragedy is a verse drama whose plot unfolds through verse dialogue, drawing on a medieval saint's story. Readers must adjust to verse language and dramatic structure; the experience differs from an ordinary novel and is better suited to literary study.

Can I read it if my English is average?

You can try, but preparation helps. The work is in nineteenth-century English verse with religious and period vocabulary; read a plot summary first, proceed act by act, and use notes and a dictionary as needed. It is not an entry-level English text.

What is the source of the electronic edition?

This edition comes from Project Gutenberg and is a free public-domain ebook. The content is the original English text, suitable for reading on electronic devices or printing for study; formatting and notes follow what that edition actually provides.

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About the author

Kingsley, Charles, 1819-1875 Author

Charles Kingsley (1819–1875) was a British author, though specific details of his life are limited in publicly available sources. The library holds 48 of his works, commonly classified under inspirational growth. His representative works include Hypatia — or New Foes with an Old Face, The Water-Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby, Westward Ho!, The Heroes Or, Greek Fairy Tales for My Children, and Yeast: a Problem. These works cover a wide range of subjects, including historical novels set in late antiquity, fairy tales and Greek myths written for children, and novels concerned with social issues. Kingsley's writing often combines narrative, imagination, and moral instruction, with vivid language that conveys themes of growth, responsibility, and belief, and has had some influence on later children's literature and historical fiction.