Wuthering Heights is Emily Brontë's only novel. It was first published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, and a posthumous second edition was edited by her sister Charlotte. The name of the novel comes from the Yorkshire manor on the moors on which the story centers (as an adjective, wuthering is a Yorkshire word referring to turbulent weather). The narrative tells the tale of the all-encompassing and passionate, yet thwarted, love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them and many around them. Read more

Notes from Underground also translated as Notes from the Underground or Letters from the Underworld) is a novella by Fyodor Dostoevsky, first published in the journal Epoch in 1864. It is a first-person narrative in the form of a "confession": the work was originally announced by Dostoevsky in Epoch under the title "A Confession".The novella presents itself as an excerpt from the memoirs of a bitter, isolated, unnamed narrator (generally referred to by critics as the Underground Man), who is a retired civil servant living in St. Petersburg. Although the first part of the novella has the form of a monologue, the narrator's form of address to his reader is acutely dialogized. According to Mikhail Bakhtin, in the Underground Man's confession "there is literally not a single monologically firm, undissociated word". The Underground Man's every word anticipates the words of an other, with whom he enters into an obsessive internal polemic. Read more

“A lively, well-researched book that displays great affection for the film and the highly gifted and vastly troublesome people who made it.”--Glenn Frankel, Washington Post“Raucous, unpredictable, wild, and affecting.”--Entertainment WeeklyAn award-winning writer reveals the behind-the-scenes story of the provocative play, the groundbreaking film it became, and how two iconic stars changed the image of marriage forever.From its debut in 1962, Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was a wild success and a cultural lightning rod. The play transpires over one long, boozy night, laying bare the lies, compromises, and scalding love that have sustained a middle-aged couple through decades of marriage. It scandalized critics but magnetized audiences. Across 644 sold-out Broadway performances, the drama demolished the wall between what could and couldn't be said on the American stage and marked a definitive end to the I Love Lucy 1950s. Then, Hollywood took a colossal gamble on Albee's sophisticated play--and won. Costarring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, the sensational 1966 film minted first-time director Mike Nichols as industry royalty and won five Oscars. How this scorching play became a movie classic--surviving censorship attempts, its director's inexperience, and its stars' own tumultuous marriage--is one of the most riveting stories in all of cinema. Now, acclaimed author Philip Gefter tells that story in full for the first time, tracing Woolf from its hushed origins in Greenwich Village's bohemian enclave, through its tormented production process, to its explosion onto screens across America and a permanent place in the canon of cinematic marriages. This deliciously entertaining book explores how two couples--one fictional, one all too real--forced a nation to confront its most deeply held myths about relationships, sex, family, and, against all odds, love. Read more

The Pulitzer Prize and Drama Critics Circle Award winning play—reissued with an introduction by Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman and The Crucible), and Williams' essay "The World I Live In."It is a very short list of 20th-century American plays that continue to have the same power and impact as when they first appeared—57 years after its Broadway premiere, Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire is one of those plays. The story famously recounts how the faded and promiscuous Blanche DuBois is pushed over the edge by her sexy and brutal brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski. Streetcar launched the careers of Marlon Brando, Jessica Tandy, Kim Hunter and Karl Malden, and solidified the position of Tennessee Williams as one of the most important young playwrights of his generation, as well as that of Elia Kazan as the greatest American stage director of the '40s and '50s.Who better than America's elder statesman of the theater, Williams' contemporary Arthur Miller, to write as a witness to the lightning that struck American culture in the form of A Streetcar Named Desire? Miller's rich perspective on Williams' singular style of poetic dialogue, sensitive characters, and dramatic violence makes this a unique and valuable new edition of A Streetcar Named Desire. This definitive new edition will also include Williams' essay "The World I Live In," and a brief chronology of the author's life. Read more

A glittering comedy of love and marriage that represents the pinnacle of Jane Austen's creativityEmma Woodhouse is stunning, intelligent, wealthy, and single. She is pleased with her existence and does not need love or marriage. But nothing makes her happier than meddling in other people's sexual relationships. But when she tries to find a nice match for her protegee Harriet Smith despite the cautions of her close friend Mr. Knightley, her well crafted plans quickly fall apart and have unexpected results. Emma is frequently regarded as Jane Austen's most perfect book because of its flawed but endearing heroine and its clever and nuanced examination of relationships. Read more

The ideal present for any Jane Austen fan. Each boxset includes seven books, adding up to a complete collection of Jane Austen's most popular and well-known works.Includes: Emma, Lady Susan and Other Works, Mansfield Park , Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility. Read more

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Enjoy a Deeper Experience With Our Summary & Analysis! Harper Lee’s classic To Kill a Mockingbird is read by millions of school children each year—but that does not mean that it has nothing to say to older readers. Far from it: presenting a gripping story of prejudice and non-understanding at work in 1930’s Alabama, it remains a rich text for readers of all ages, speaking to peculiarly American iterations of universal human failings. The novel narrates a span in the life of Scout Finch during which she, her family and friends and the larger community in which they exist. The children try to untangle the mystery of Boo Radley; the adults attempt to negotiate the miscarriage of justice perpetrated on Tom Robinson by a court system that relies upon the people who compose its juries being unbiased. This companion of To Kill a Mockingbir also includes the following: • Book Review • Story Setting Analysis • Story elements you may have missed as we decipher the novel • Details of Characters & Key Character Analysis • Summary of the text, with some analytical comments interspersed • Thought Provoking /or Discussion Questions for Readers & Book Clubs• Discussion & Analysis of Themes, Symbols… • And Much More! This Analysis fills the gap, making you understand more while enhancing your reading experience. Read more

“A vivid page-turner” (NPR) detailing the rise, fall, and redemption of Broadway—its stars, its biggest shows, its producers, and all the drama, intrigue, and power plays that happened behind the scenes.“A rich, lovely, debut history of New York theater in the 1970s and eighties” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), Razzle Dazzle is a narrative account of the people and the money and the power that turned New York’s gritty back alleys and sex-shops into the glitzy, dazzling Great White Way. In the mid-1970s Times Square was the seedy symbol of New York’s economic decline. Its once shining star, the renowned Shubert Organization, was losing theaters to make way for parking lots and losing money. Bernard Jacobs and Jerry Schoenfeld, two ambitious board members, saw the crumbling company was ripe for takeover and staged a coup and staved off corporate intrigue, personal betrayals and criminal investigations. Once Jacobs and Schoenfeld solidified their power, they turned a collapsed theater-owning holding company into one of the most successful entertainment empires in the world, spearheading the revitalization of Broadway and the renewal of Times Square. “For those interested in the business behind the greasepaint, at a riveting time in Broadway’s and New York’s history, this is the ticket” (USA TODAY). Michael Riedel tells the stories of the Shubert Organization and the shows that re-built a city in grand style—including Cats, A Chorus Line, and Mamma Mia!—revealing the backstage drama that often rivaled what transpired onstage, exposing bitter rivalries, unlikely alliances, and inside gossip. “The trouble with Razzle Dazzle is…you can’t put the damn thing down” (Huffington Post). Read more

Musical Theatre: A History is a new revised edition of a proven core text for college and secondary school students – and an insightful and accessible celebration of twenty-five centuries of great theatrical entertainment. As an educator with extensive experience in professional theatre production, author John Kenrick approaches the subject with a unique appreciation of musicals as both an art form and a business. Using anecdotes, biographical profiles, clear definitions, sample scenes and select illustrations, Kenrick focuses on landmark musicals, and on the extraordinary talents and business innovators who have helped musical theatre evolve from its roots in the dramas of ancient Athens all the way to the latest hits on Broadway and London's West End. Key improvements to the second edition: · A new foreword by Oscar Hammerstein III, a critically acclaimed historian and member of a family with deep ties to the musical theatre, is included · The 28 chapters are reformatted for the typical 14 week, 28 session academic course, as well as for a two semester, once-weekly format, making it easy for educators to plan a syllabus and reading assignments. · To make the book more interactive, each chapter includes suggested listening and reading lists, designed to help readers step beyond the printed page to experience great musicals and performers for themselves. A comprehensive guide to musical theatre as an international phenomenon, Musical Theatre: A History is an ideal textbook for university and secondary school students. Read more

The revival of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play starring Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Brooks, and John David Washington is now on Broadway!Winner of the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, this modern American classic is about family, and the legacy of slavery in America. August Wilson has already given the American theater such spell-binding plays about the black experience in 20th-century America as Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fences. In his second Pulitzer Prize-winner, The Piano Lesson, Wilson has fashioned perhaps his most haunting and dramatic work.At the heart of the play stands the ornately carved upright piano which, as the Charles family's prized, hard-won possession, has been gathering dust in the parlor of Berniece Charles's Pittsburgh home. When Boy Willie, Berniece's exuberant brother, bursts into her life with his dream of buying the same Mississippi land that his family had worked as slaves, he plans to sell their antique piano for the hard cash he needs to stake his future. But Berniece refuses to sell, clinging to the piano as a reminder of the history that is their family legacy. This dilemma is the real "piano lesson," reminding us that blacks are often deprived both of the symbols of their past and of opportunity in the present. Read more

Cedric J. Robinson offers a new understanding of race in America through his analysis of theater and film of the early twentieth century. He argues that economic, political, and cultural forces present in the eras of silent film and the early "talkies" firmly entrenched limited representations of African Americans.Robinson grounds his study in contexts that illuminate the parallel growth of racial beliefs and capitalism, beginning with Shakespearean England and the development of international trade. He demonstrates how the needs of American commerce determined the construction of successive racial regimes that were publicized in the theater and in motion pictures, particularly through plantation and jungle films. In addition to providing new depth and complexity to the history of black representation, Robinson examines black resistance to these practices. Whereas D. W. Griffith appropriated black minstrelsy and romanticized a national myth of origins, Robinson argues that Oscar Micheaux transcended uplift films to create explicitly political critiques of the American national myth. Robinson's analysis marks a new way of approaching the intellectual, political, and media racism present in the beginnings of American narrative cinema. Read more

Playwright/novelist/screenwriter Goldman analyzes Broadway from the perspective of the audiences, playwrights, critics, producers and actors. “Very nearly perfect... It is a loose-limbed, gossipy, insider, savvy, nuts-and-bolts report on the annual search for the winning numbers that is now big-time American commercial theatre.” –Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times Read more

Ibsen’s plays rank among those most frequently performed world-wide, rivaled only by Brecht, Chekhov, Shakespeare, and the Greek tragedies. By the time Ibsen died in 1906, his plays had already conquered the theaters of the Western world. Inviting rapturous praise as well as fierce controversy, they were performed in Europe, North America, and Australia, contributing greatly to the theater, culture, and social life of these continents. Soon after Ibsen’s death, his plays entered the stages of East Asia - Japan, China, Korea - as well as Africa and Latin America. . But while there exist countless studies on Ibsen the dramatist and the significance of his plays within different cultures written mainly by literary scholars, none of them examine the ways in which Ibsen's plays were performed, or the impact of such performances on the theater, social life, and politics of these cultures. In Global Ibsen, contributors look at the way performances of Ibsen's plays address problems typical to modern societies all over the world, including: the inferior social status of women, the decay of bourgeois family life and values, religious fundamentalism, industrial pollution and corporate cover-up, and/or the loss of and search for identity. Read more

Billionaire Babes Club is the book the affluent society doesn't want you to read. Learn how to lure a wealthy man into spending money on you, falling for you, and in the end becoming his Spoiled Girlfriend or Trophy Wife. Billionaire Babes Club lays out the practical steps to upgrade the everyday lady into becoming a high-value woman. Included in the book are guides on leveling up, etiquette, and personality. As well as the secrets to femininity, seduction, and manipulation. Learn online dating tips from how to set up your profile and take your photos, to scripts and scenarios for first dates, how to get a second date, traveling, and more.This book is the bible on freestyling and meeting men in real life. Get any man to approach you. We cover it all. You will have access to text message examples and real stories from the Spoiled Girlfriends and Trophy Wives you aspire to be. Follow us on Instagram: @billionairebabes.club Today’s women are victims of the commitment phobia, hookup culture, cheap dates, and cheap talk. Why are you hooking up with a man who hasn’t invested in you financially? Why are you playing by the obsolete rules of society’s dating game that don’t benefit you, but instead leave you heartbroken, used, and ghosted? Your kindness isn’t rewarded in this dating world. Spoiled Girlfriends and Trophy Wives of the rich are an Elite Group of women who know their worth, refuse to be manipulated, and never settle for a man that doesn’t rise up to their standards. This Elite Group of women know what they deserve and attain it by beating men at their own game.In Billionaire Babes Club, they spill the secrets to the life you want. By utilizing the secrets and strategies exposed in this book, the everyday woman is able to transform and in turn gain Love, Power, Money, and Status. Billionaire Babes Club teaches women how to seduce and lure affluent men into spending, spoiling, pampering, and falling head over heels for them. Billionaire Babes Club provides women with a sex-free master plan on how to have any generous benefactor eating out of the palms of your hands. Stop spending time and energy on men who have nothing to offer except conversation, false promises, and IOUs. Stop banking on potential and secure your finished product—a financially stable man. You’ve read vanilla dating books, now learn from the Elite Women who have the life you want. Read more

It is October 1592. Christopher Marlowe, the most accomplished playwright in London, has written The Massacre at Paris for his company, the Lord Admiral's Men. Bubonic plague has hit outlying parishes, forcing theaters to close and postponing the season. Ordinarily, the Rose Theatre would debut Marlowe's work, but its subject—the St. Bartholomew Day's Massacre—is unpleasant and might inflame hostilities against Catholics and their sympathizers, such as merchants on whom trade depends. A new company, the Lord Strange's Men, boasts a young writer, William Shakespeare, who is said to have several barnburners in the queue. A competition is called to decide which company will reopen the theaters. Who will most effectively represent the nation's ideals and energies, its humor and grandeur? One troupe will gain supremacy, primarily for literary but also for cultural, religious, and political reasons.Free supplementary materials for this textbook are available at the Reacting to the Past website. Visit https://reacting.barnard.edu/instructor-resources, click on the RTTP Game Library link, and  create a free account to download what is available. Read more

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An engrossing and provocative look at the decline of tragedy in modern art“All men are aware of tragedy in life. But tragedy as a form of drama is not universal.” So begins George Steiner’s adept analysis of the demise of classic tragedy as a dramatic depiction of heroism and suffering. In The Death of Tragedy, Steiner examines the uniqueness and importance of the Greek classical tragedy—from antiquity to the age of Jean Racine and William Shakespeare—as providing stark insight into the grief and joy of human existence. Then, delving into the works of John Keats, Henrik Ibsen, Samuel Beckett, and many more, Steiner demonstrates how the tragic voice has greatly diminished in modern theater, and what we have lost in the process. Read more

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