Collected Plays of W. Somerset Maugham (Annotated)

Enriched Edition. A Man of Honour, Lady Frederick, The Explorer, The Circle, Caesar's Wife, East of Suez

William Somerset Maugham

• Publisher: e-artnow
• Year: 2015
• Topic: Literature
• eBook ISBN:
  9788026833635
• Subtopic: British Drama
• Index: Literature

Collected Plays of W. Somerset Maugham gathers the dramatic work of a writer whose stagecraft helped define the modern drawing-room drama. These plays move through comedy, social satire, melodrama, and moral inquiry, exposing the hypocrisies of marriage, class, reputation, and desire with lucid dialogue and elegant construction. Maugham's theatrical style is economical yet incisive: he favours polished surfaces under which emotional and ethical tensions steadily accumulate, placing him in conversation with Wilde, Pinero, and the early twentieth-century commercial theatre. William Somerset Maugham was uniquely equipped to write such drama. Trained in medicine, widely travelled, and sharply observant of human behaviour, he brought to the stage a clinician's eye for motive and self-deception. Before becoming renowned for fiction such as Of Human Bondage and The Razor's Edge, Maugham achieved considerable success as a playwright, and his cosmopolitan life furnished him with the social types, moral dilemmas, and ironic detachment that animate these works. This collection is recommended to readers interested in theatrical history, modern British literature, and the art of refined dramatic irony. It offers not merely period entertainment but a penetrating record of manners and morals, rewarding both general readers and scholars attentive to performance, dialogue, and social critique. This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience. - A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions. - The Author Biography highlights personal milestones and literary influences that shape the entire body of writing. - A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation. - A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists. - A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths. - Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts. - Lastly, our hand?picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Author Biography
• Historical Context
• Synopsis (Selection)
• Collected Plays of W. Somerset Maugham: A Man of Honour, Lady Frederick, The Explorer, The Circle, Caesar's Wife, East of Suez
• Analysis
• Reflection
• Memorable Quotes