Showing results by author "Michela Bertazzo" in All Categories

The full title of the novel is Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress Or, a History of the Life and Vast Variety of Fortunes of Mademoiselle de Beleau, Afterwards Called the Countess de Wintselsheim. The novel concerns the story of an unnamed "fallen woman", the second time Defoe created such a character (the first was a similar female character in Moll Flanders). In Roxana, a woman who takes on various pseudonyms, including "Roxana," describes her fall from wealth thanks to abandonment by a "fool" of a husband and movement into prostitution upon his abandonment. Roxana moves up and down through the ...

Defoe wrote this novel after his work as a journalist and pamphleteer. By 1722, Defoe had become recognized as a novelist, with the success of Robinson Crusoe in 1719. His political work was tapering off at this point, due to the fall of both Whig and Tory party leaders with whom he had been associated. - Defoe's Whig views are nevertheless evident in the story of Moll. The full title of the novel tells part of its story: "The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, Etc. Who was born in Newgate, and during a life of continu'd Variety for Threescore Years, besides her Childhood, ...

The novel is a fictionalized account of one man's experiences of the year 1665, in which the Great Plague struck the city of London. The book is told roughly chronologically, though without sections or chapter headings.

Love's Labour's Lost is an early comedy by William Shakespeare. The King of Navarre and his three friends take a vow of study and seclusion for three years, during which they are forbidden to see or speak to women. Their vows are immediately tested by the arrival of the Pricess of France and her three ladies to the King's court. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)Cast:Biron: mbBoyet: Mark PenfoldCostard: John D. NugentDon Adriano de Armado: David GoldfarbDull:David LawrenceDumain: om123Ferdinand: Bruce PirieFirst Lord: Vicente Costa FilhoForester: PhilippaHolofernes: Denny SayersJaquenetta: Chelsea ...

The Two Gentlemen of Verona is the earliest comedy written by Shakespeare (and possibly his first play), probably written around 1590-91. It focuses on two friends, Valentine and Proteus, whose friendship is disrupted by their mutual passion for the lovely Silvia. Proteus jilts Julia in order to pursue Silvia; she responds by enlisting the help of her maid Lucetta to dress as a boy and go after Proteus. The play also includes some wonderfully comic supporting characters, particularly Launce and his scene-stealing dog Crab. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)Cast:Antonio: Ernst PattynamaDuke of Milan/...

The first of two volumes of collected poetry by this revered and highly influential English restoration poet and playwright. The poems, many quite long and elaborate, reflect the poet's role in contemporary society, as political and religious commentator (religion, politics and royalty being closely associated at the period). The works include panegyrics to prominent and regal personages, extended allegories (as in "The Hind and the Panther"), and a few biting satires including a lampooning of a fellow playwright in "Mac Flecknoe". "Annus Mirabilis" is a sort of historical roundup. ( Peter ...

Camilla is Frances Burney's third novel. It became very popular upon its publication in 1796. Jane Austen referred to it, among other novels, in her novel Northanger Abbey:“'And what are you reading, Miss — ?' 'Oh! It is only a novel!' replies the young lady, while she lays down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame. 'It is only Cecilia, or Camilla, or Belinda'; or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit ...

“THE FARTHER ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE; Being the Second and Last Part OF HIS LIFE, And of the Strange Surprizing Accounts of his Travels Round three Parts of the Globe.” After the death of his wife, Robinson Crusoe is overcome by the old wanderlust, and sets out with his faithful companion Friday to see his island once again. Thus begins a journey which will last ten years and nine months, in which Crusoe travels over the world, along the way facing dangers and discoveries in Madagascar, China, and Siberia. (Summary by D. Leeson)

King Arthur, or The British Worthy, is a play or Semi-Opera with a libretto by John Dryden and music by Henry Purcell. It was first performed at the Queen's Theatre in London in 1691.In this unusual version of the Arthurian legend Arthur is King of Britain fighting to repel the invading Saxons led by Oswald, King of Kent, and in love with the blind Princess Emmeline, daughter of the Duke of Cornwall. The play has many supernatural elements, Enchanters, Magicians, Spirits, Apparitions and Transformations. The play ends with a Masque for which Purcell wrote some of his finest music including the...

William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice was probably written between 1596 and 1598, and was printed with the comedies in the First Folio of 1623. Bassanio, an impoverished gentleman, uses the credit of his friend, the merchant Antonio, to borrow money from a wealthy Jew, Shylock. Antonio pledges to pay Shylock a pound of flesh if he defaults on the loan, which Bassanio will use to woo a rich heiress, Portia. A subplot concerns the elopement of Shylock's daughter Jessica with a Christian, Bassanio's friend Lorenzo. In its focus on love and marriage, the play shares certain concerns with ...

The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays, believed to have been written between 1592 and 1594. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors tells the story of two sets of identical twins that were accidentally separated at birth. Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant, Dromio of Syracuse, arrive in Ephesus, which turns out to be the home of their twin brothers, Antipholus of Ephesus and his servant, Dromio of Ephesus. When ...

Troilus and Cressida is Shakespeare's "problem" play about the Trojan War. As the opening Chorus tells us, the play "begins in the middle" of the epic conflict, and counterpoints the drama of battle with the romance of the title characters. Just as Agamemnon and his Greek forces (particularly the smooth-tongued Ulysses) attempt to woo the invincible Achilles to resume fighting on their side, the Trojan go-between Pandarus tries to bring together Troilus, a son of King Priam, with his niece, the lovely Cressida. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)Cast:Achilles: John FrickerAeneas: David ...

Generally considered one of Shakespeare's problem plays, Measure for Measure examines the ideas of sin and justice. Duke Vincentio turns Vienna's rule over to the corrupt Angelo, who sentences Claudio to death for having impregnated a woman before marriage. His sister Isabella, a novice nun, pleads for her brother's life, only to be told that he will be spared if she agrees to relinquish her virginity to Angelo. (Summary by wildemoose)Cast:Abhorson: John D. NugentAngelo: Roger CliftonBarnardine: Pseudonae VoxClaudio: mbElbow: David NicolEscalus: Bellona TimesFirst Gentleman: L. Lambert ...

The Taming of the Shrew is one of Shakespeare's earliest comedies, and was inspired by classical Roman comedy and the Italian commedia dell'arte. Baptista Minola, a rich gentleman of Padua, has two daughters: Katherina, renowned for her sharp tongue, and Bianca, who is sought after by multiple suitors. Baptista decides that Bianca cannot marry until her elder sister finds a husband. Enter Petruchio, who has come to "wive it wealthily in Padua," and who is convinced by Bianca's suitors to woo Katherina. The play ultimately poses the question of who is the bigger shrew: Kate or Petruchio. The ...

John Dryden and William D'Avenant's Restoration adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest preserves the main plot and characters of the original. Prospero, the former Duke of Milan, lives on an isolated island with his daughter Miranda, and plans to take revenge on his brother Antonio, who usurped his throne. He is aided by his servant, the airy sprite Ariel, and is hated by his other servant, the monster Caliban. Dryden and D'Avenant added in a number of characters: Dorinda, Prospero's other daughter, Hippolito, a young man who has never seen a woman, Sycorax, Caliban's sister, and more spirits...

John Dryden was an English poet and playwright who was the first person to hold the title of Poet Laureate.Many of Dryden's lyrics were designed to be set music and this was done by a number of composers including Henry Purcell and George Frederick Handel. - Summary by Alan Mapstone

The Expedition of Humphry Clinker was the last of the picaresque novels of Tobias Smollett, and is considered by many to be his best and funniest work.Published in London on 17 June 1771, it is an epistolary novel, presented in the form of letters written by six different characters: Matthew Bramble, a Welsh Squire; his sister Tabitha; their niece and nephew, Jery and Lydia Melford; Tabitha's maid Winifred Jenkins; and Lydia's suitor, Wilson.Much of the comedy arises from differences in the descriptions of the same events by different participants. Attributions of motives and descriptions of ...

The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle is a picaresque novel by the Scottish author Tobias Smollett (1721 – 1771), first published in 1751, and revised and reissued in 1758. It is the story of the fortunes and misfortunes of the egotistical dandy Peregrine Pickle, and it provides a comic and caustic portrayal of 18th century European society. (Summary by Wikipedia)

The narrator dies in the first sentence. Through relating his travels in the afterlife, Henry Fielding, author of Tom Jones and Joseph Andrews, gently satirizes life here on earth. (Summary by Denny Sayers)This project was proof listened by Linda Andrus and Betty M.

Tom Thumb, small of stature, great of heart. This play was written as a parody of the tragic heroic biography of a great man, filled with biting satire as to people and events of the time. Note as warned by the title that this is not a happy-ending fairy tale. (Follow the etext link to see how the script is full of fictitious supposedly real researchy footnotes by "H. Scriblerus Secundus" providing fake references to the events and allusions of the play.) Supposedly Jane Austen put on a family performance of this play. - Summary by ToddHWCast list:King Arthur, a passionate sort of king, ...