The Vulgar Eclectic

Tag: plays

  • The Lower Depths by Maxim Gorky

    I just finished reading The Lower Depths (translated by David Magarshack), a play written by Maxim Gorky in 1902. It brutally depicts the lives of several poor Russians who are living in the cramped basement of a boarding house. The characters are superbly drawn. Through the dialogue, Gorky is able to ask profound questions regarding…

  • The Power of Darkness by Leo Tolstoy

    I finished reading The Power of Darkness (1886) by Leo Tolstoy. It’s a five act tragedy set in a peasant village in 19th century Russia. Several of the characters commit increasingly depraved acts, culminating in a particularly vile crime. As these actions and their outcomes are contrasted with another, sympathetic character, I was left with…

  • Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy

    I just finished reading Under the Greenwood Tree (1872) by Thomas Hardy. It was his second published novel, and the first one set in his fictional Wessex County. In it, Hardy unfolds a love story set amid the rural, rustic farmland and villages of 1850s England. There is a simplicity and warmth about the story…

  • A Bitter Fate by Alexey (Aleksey) Pisemsky

    I finished reading A Bitter Fate by Alexey (Aleksey) Pisemsky.

  • The Covetous Knight by Alexander Pushkin

    I finished reading The Covetous Knight (1830), a short play by Alexander Pushkin, translated by A. F. B. Clark. I subsequently learned that Sergei Rachmaninoff wrote a one act opera known as The Miserly Knight based closely on Pushkin’s text. The plot is simple and focuses on the avarice of an elderly baron and his…

  • The Father by August Strindberg

    Book jot from November 2021: I just finished reading The Father by August Strindberg (1887), a three act play. It is a psychological page-turner (if that can be said of a play), centered on the relationship between a husband and wife and the growing conflict over the future of their daughter. In the ensuing strife,…

  • Chatsky (or The Misery of Having a Mind) by Alexander Griboyedov

    I finished reading Chatsky (or The Misery of Having a Mind), a play in verse written in 1823 by Alexander Griboyedov (translated by Joshua Cooper). It’s also known as Woe from Wit in some English translations. It is a satirical look at Russian society, especially the prejudices and preoccupations of the aristocracy. Although humorous, there…

  • The Birds by Aristophanes

    I just finished reading The Birds (414 BC) by Aristophanes, translated by Alan Sommerstein. I have read many of the surviving Greek tragedies, but this comedy is the first play by Aristophanes I’ve read. It is a fantastical, absurd work. I was surprised at just how different it is from the dramas written by Aeschylus,…

  • The Infant by Denís Fonvízin

    I finished reading The Infant by Denís Fonvízin (1782; Nèdorosl’), a play in five acts. It is translated by Joshua Cooper and is the earliest play included in a collection of Russian theater titled Four Russian Plays. This was a lot of fun to read. There was quite a bit of witty humor, social critique,…

  • Thunder by Alexander Ostrovsky

    I finished reading Thunder (also translated as The Storm; 1859), a play written by Alexander Ostrovsky. I had never read anything by Ostrovsky before, and coming across this play was like finding a hidden jewel! There is a well-developed cast of characters surrounding two young Russians: Catherine, an unhappy married woman, and Boris, the son…