Why this topic, why these plays
The plays gathered under "Italy" share a recurring thematic preoccupation that, across 5 different scripts in our archive, has produced a remarkable variety of theatrical solutions. Reading them in proximity to one another is one of the more useful comparative exercises a student of dramatic writing can do, because the contrasts in tone, structure, and resolution show how much choice a playwright really has, even when the underlying subject is the same. The list below collects the works in our library that catalogue indexers identified with this subject; in some cases the connection is overt and in others oblique, but in every case the thematic affinity is real and worth pursuing.
All plays on this topic (5)
- The Duke of Gandia — by Algernon Charles Swinburne
- The Man of Destiny — by Bernard Shaw
- The Two Lovers of Heaven: Chrysanthus and Daria A Drama of Early Christian Rome — by Pedro Calderón de la Barca
- The Merchant of Venice — by William Shakespeare
- Shakespeare's play of the Merchant of Venice Arranged for Representation at the Princess's Theatre, with Historical and Explanatory Notes by Charles Kean, F.S.A. — by William Shakespeare