The period 1890-1940 was a particularly rich and influential phase in the development of modern English theatre: the age of Wilde and Shaw and a generation of influential actors and managers from Irving and Terry to Guilgud and Olivier. Jean Chothia's study is in two parts beginning with a portrait of the period, setting the narrative context and considering the dramatic social and cultural changes at work during this time. It then focuses on some of the main themes in the theatre, from Shaw and comedy, to the rise of political and radio drama, providing an interpretative framework for the period. This volume will be of great benefit to students and academics of English literature and drama, as it covers the work of the major dramatists of the period as well as considering the dramatic output of literary figures, such as James, Eliot and Lawrence.

The period 1890-1940 was a particularly rich and influential phase in the development of modern English theatre: the age of Wilde and Shaw and a generation of influential actors and managers from Irving and Terry to Guilgud and Olivier.
Jean Chothia's study is in two parts beginning with a portrait of the period, setting the narrative context and considering the dramatic social and cultural changes at work during this time. It then focuses on some of the main themes in the theatre, from Shaw and comedy, to the rise of political and radio drama, providing an interpretative framework for the period. This volume will be of great benefit to students and academics of English literature and drama, as it covers the work of the major dramatists of the period as well as considering the dramatic output of literary figures, such as James, Eliot and Lawrence.

'What other judgment can I judge by but my own?' Charting the meteoric rise and fall of Joan of Arc and her mission to drive the English from France, Shaw's Saint Joan draws directly on the medieval records to cut through the sentiment that characterized previous literary treatments of her story. A powerful example of a new kind of history play, its staging of dissent and social constraint, personal responsibility and female assertion, as well as fervent adherence to a cause, gave it a powerful modernity in its own day and continuing resonance in ours. Acclaimed internationally, this instant modern classic propelled Shaw to the Nobel Prize for 1925. This new edition includes Shaw's definitive text and full Preface and provides the most comprehensive scholarly treatment of the play to date, featuring commentary on: * the historical and theatrical context * the development of the text and stage-worthiness of the play * correlation of the dialogue with the records of Jeanne D'Arc's trial * an international stage history * an appendix identifying the historical models for the characters

Andre Antoine, founder of the Theatre Libre in 1887, was one of the initiators of the modern theatre. This full-length study of Antoine's work in English for more than sixty years is notable for its attention to the variousness of Antoine's remarkable career. It explores the power and some of the inherent contradictions of Antoine's stage realism, his creation of a repertory theatre noted for its ensemble playing, and his innovatory work in directing Shakespeare and the French classics. In the final section, Antoine's encounters, c.1918, with the new medium of film are discussed. The book will be of interest to students and teachers of drama, theatre history, film studies and literature, and to the general reader. It includes a chronology of Antoine's productions and theatre career and is generously illustrated with drawings and photographs.

What must dramatic language do? Jean Chothia suggests it must shape our apprehension of individual character, at the same time conveying more to the audience than to the other characters; it must present us with a continually developing action as each speech emphasises or modifies our perception of what has gone before; and the action and staging must be so related to the dramatic language that they become its necessary complement in our experience of the play. In this lucid and perceptive 1979 account of O'Neill's linguistic development as a dramatist, Dr Chothia assesses how far he may be said to have fulfilled these obligations, a question on which critical opinion is sharply divided. Dr Chothia explores O'Neill's erratic career phase by phase, his use of literary models, his mastery of a wide range of registers from Swedish to Irish immigrant, as well as the imagery he forged amongst other things.

The Cambridge Edition of the Complete Fiction of Henry James provides, for the first time, a scholarly edition of a major writer whose work continues to be read, quoted, adapted and studied. The Outcry, James's last completed novel, is an ironic depiction of the contemporary art market in which wealthy Americans are plundering British-owned treasures. James adapted the work, originally written as a play, into novel form with great success. This edition, based on the work's first book appearance in 1911, reconstructs the novel's literary, cultural and historical contexts, includes extensive annotation, and gives a detailed textual history. In exploring the process of adaptation it allows particular insight into James's skills as a novelist. The volume will be of interest to James scholars, art and theatre historians and students of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Anglo-American literature, while also contributing to the developing field of adaptation studies.