The Vulgar Eclectic

Tag: plays

  • 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…

  • Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov

    Here is an old book jot from July 2021: I just finished reading Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov (1898), translated by Peter Carson. It is a four-act play and considered one of Chekhov’s major plays. Chekhov has long been one of my favorite authors, and I’ve read many of his short stories over the years.…

  • Electra by Euripides

    This is a book jot from June 2021: I just finished reading Electra (c. 420 BC) by Euripides, translated by Philip Vellacott. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Euripides, and tend to really like stories about the House of Atreus and any connected in some way to the Trojan War. The fate of those who…