Saint Joan

George Bernard Shaw

Beschreibung

The life of fifteenth-century heroine Joan of Arc is the stuff of legend, and her cruel death (burnt at the stake aged just nineteen) led to her being declared a martyr, granting her an extraordinary legacy.
Following her canonisation in 1920, and against a history of overly romanticised retellings of the story, Bernard Shaw put pen to paper to give a more accurate account, without resorting to demonising her persecutors; as he writes in his preface, 'there are no villains in the piece'.
It was an immediate success, securing him the Nobel Prize for Literature, although critics were initially divided by this frank approach – T.S. Eliot was outraged, saying, 'instead of the saint or the strumpet of the legends he has turned her into a great middle-class reformer.' Nonetheless – or perhaps even because of this controversy – Saint Joan is considered one of Shaw's finest and most important plays.
This edition has an introduction by Simon Mundy, who has spent several years as Vice-President of PEN International's Writers for Peace Committee, and extensive explanatory notes.

Verfügbar seit: 26.01.2022.

Drucklänge: 256 Seiten.

Poesie & Theater

Weitere Bücher, die Sie mögen werden

The Flowers of Evil

Charles Baudelaire

Loneliness, temptation, the fragility of man in a soulless new age . . . The controversial, banned masterpiece from the nineteenth-century French poet.   Sparking scandal in France, declared “an outrage to public morals” and “an offense to religious morals” by the Ministry of the Interior, The Flowers of Evil plunged Charles Baudelaire into a controversy that his public image never quite overcame. Nevertheless, the collection has since been lauded as a landmark in literary history and its writer extolled as the first modern poet.   With themes of love, world-weariness, beauty, and death, The Flowers of Evil juxtaposes the sublime with the commonplace. In the section titled “Parisian Scenes” are some of Baudelaire’s greatest poems—“The Swan,” “The Little Old Women,” and “The Seven Old Men”—which give readers an unsentimental view of the City of Light and of a bleak urban existence. As the Wall Street Journal proclaimed, “There is a sense in these angry, eructating late fragments of a man fully releasing himself to what he called ‘the joy of downward descent.’ And where Baudelaire went, modernity tended to follow.”  “The essence of a genius.” —The Guardian  “The profound originality of Charles Baudelaire is to represent powerfully and essentially modern man.” —Paul Verlaine

Zum Buch

The Dublin Fosterling

Thomas Kennedy

This novel is an engaging, witty blend of comic fantasy, Irish mythology, romance and taut modern-day thriller, located mainly in Dublin, Ireland.Following the suicide of her teenage mother, baby Fiona is put into State care. Fiona doesn’t know her absent father was the disgraced God of Love. Growing up, she suffers abuse and bullying and begins to see Otherworld creatures such as trolls and faeries, and worries for her sanity. Fiona discovers she has a physical strength beyond what is normal, and can fight the bullies, but is branded as violent and held in an Institution for the criminally insane. She is released on her eighteenth birthday into a hostel in Dublin City, Ireland.Joey, one of the bullies who made her past miserable, is now a Dublin gang member. They meet but agree to forget the past and romance blossoms. But someone is killing his friends, former bullies, now gang members, and Joey fears he is next. Meanwhile, the Celtic Goddess Danu of Otherworld has discovered Fiona’s existence and wants her dead. The Drimnagh Witches are tasked to find her and Wizard Drowe is released from Otherworld prison tasked to kill her. Fiona survives his initial attempt to murder her and befriends him before entering a strange, mystical Otherworld beyond her current reality. She has to figure out how to survive in both worlds, on the tough streets of Dublin and in Otherworld.

Zum Buch

Field Guide to the Haunted Forest

Jarod K. Anderson

This poetry collection celebrates the impossible truths of the natural world and the magic that hides in plain sight. Poet and podcaster Jarod K. Anderson (creator of The CryptoNaturalist podcast) has built a large audience of social media followers and podcast listeners with his strange, vibrant appreciations of nature. Ranging from contemplations of mortality to appreciations of single-celled organisms, the poems in this collection highlight our connection to a living universe and affirm our place in a wilderness worthy of our love.

Zum Buch

The Holy Sonnets - Incredible...

John Donne

John Donne was born on the 22nd January 1572 in London, into a Roman Catholic family when Catholicism was illegal in England, and there was turbulence and unrest with both state and church throughout much of Europe.

His father, also named John, died when he was four, and his mother, Elizabeth Haywood, married a wealthy widower, ensuring the family were looked after. He received a good education at both Oxford and Cambridge but was unable to obtain a degree without taking the oath of supremacy, which as a Catholic he refused to do.

During the 1590s, Donne wrote a wide range of verses, including both erotic and sacred poems, creating two major volumes of work. His strong vivacious and sensual style fusing intellect and passion, as well as inventive use of subtle argument and syntax, provided a new radical perspective that reached beyond his contemporaries, and continued to chime and charm poetry lovers throughout the ages.

Difficult to believe that with this enormous talent, Donne lived in poverty for many years, exacerbated by his secret marriage to Anne Moore, which meant no dowry, and they having twelve children. Later he served in Parliament and became Dean of St Paul's in 1621, noted for his learned and charismatic sermons.

John Donne died in London on the 31st March 1631, but leaves an enormous legacy of many splendid influential poems. He was known as the founder of the Metaphysical Movement and is widely regarded as one of Britain's best-loved poets.

Zum Buch

Dream Visions

Craig Enger

A call to Dreams. A vibrant, transcendent journey… 
These poems offer reflections, to reawaken the light within you, to open your heart. To let go of the past, finding new strength. To recall your dreams, reconnecting with nature, life, and love. To see new visions, to explore and discover new pathways to your true self. 
This book showcases the power of poetry and reminds you to keep your dreams alive.

Zum Buch

small (NHB Modern Plays)

Holly Robinson

A compassionate and probing exploration of youth and aging, nostalgia and regret, and the dangers of refusing to get old.
All children grow up, but what if they could grow back down again? A new medical process is being attempted, and it's got an extraordinary aim: attempting to 'de-age' its volunteers back into young children.
The scientists don't know if it'll work. The doctors aren't sure if it should. And the friends and families of those undergoing the risky procedure can't understand why anybody would willingly do this in the first place… Why would you want to be small again?
Holly Robinson's play small was first performed at Soho Theatre, London, in a production by Oxford School of Drama.

The Nick Hern Books Multiplay Drama series features large-cast plays specifically written to be performed by and appeal to older teenagers and young adults.

Zum Buch