Showing results by narrator "Alan Scott" in All Categories

Unlike most of Peacock's novels, The Misfortunes of Elphin has a distinct plot, built around the adventures of prominent figures of Arthurian legend, like Taliesin, the bard, the princes Elphin, and Seithenyn and King Arthur himself. The drama comes to a satisfactory resolution when Arthur's wife, Gwenyvar, who has been kidnapped by the ambitious King Melvas, is restored to her husband, after some skilful negotiation by Seithenyn and a cunning abbot.

Unlike Peacock's other novels, Maid Marian has a substantial plot, based on the romantic legend of Robin Hood. As is usual with Peacock, the violence is presented in a rather humorous fashion and the characters indulge lavishly in eating and drinking. Beneath the veneer of this well-known and innocuous narrative, Peacock finds ample opportunity to satirize the foibles of church and secular government.

Hamlet and Macbeth are two of Shakespeare's best-known plays and contain some of the most famous speeches in world literature. These one-act versions of the plays, which were edited by J. P. Crabb (the details of whose life and other works have disappeared into obscurity) retain the significant monologues and dialogues while presenting a streamlined view of the action.

Headlong Hall was the first of his seven novels, all of which display the same structure. There is a faint semblance of a plot, which is merely a device to bring together a bunch of voluble eccentrics, who converse on a wide range of topical issues. Headlong Hall is the rural seat of the ebullient Squire Headlong, who invites a number of philosophers, a clergyman, a musician, a novelist, and a phrenologist, to dine with him and share their views.

The classic horror story of dual personalities gone too far, this full-cast narration explores the attempts of Utterson, a London lawyer, to investigate the strange occurrences surrounding his friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and the shocking discoveries he makes along the way. The impact of this story has been so strong that "Jekyll and Hyde" has become part of our vernacular, referring to those who are outwardly good but inwardly evil.

This classic farce was first performed in 1892. Since the record-breaking initial run in London, it has been revived many times around the world in a variety of languages, and has also been adapted for a number of presentations on film. The play incorporates many of the features which have become standard in romantic comedies: a cross dressing central character, identity confusion, young lovers kept apart by parental influence and older lovers unexpectedly reunited.

A jewelry thief. A stray cat named Harvey. A missing sapphire bracelet. With a thief lurking among the elderly residents of Pepperton Assisted Living, the only one who may be able to save them from being robbed blind is the stray cat they’ve befriended. This cat-crime-solver short story is fun and heart-warming.

Two slaves, a mother and daughter, separated during the Civil War never to see each other again. From her mother's diary, Etta Jean will learn to love the mother she never knew. And from the same diary, a mother will finally give of herself.

The melodramatic romance by Goethe The Sorrows of the Young Werther, the story of a troubled aesthete who kills himself for love, was first published in 1774 and has since become one of the staples of German literature. Such extravagant productions lend themselves readily to parody and naturally attracted the attention of skilled satirists like Thomas Love Peacock.

Antonio, a wealthy and popular merchant, is in financial difficulty. He approaches a Jewish money lender, Shylock, who agrees to provide 3000 ducats, with a very curious bond – a pound of the merchant’s flesh, to be levied if Antonio fails to make a timely repayment. Feeling confident that his argosies will arrive in time to cover the debt, Antonio agrees to this bizarre transaction.