Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1905 edition. Excerpt: ... and spirited; they abound in striking situations and hold the attention well. The characters are brave, courteous, magnanimous, and of marked and interesting individuality. Although the dialogue is rather long and high-pitched, it accords with the elevated sentiments expressed, and at times is bright with courtly repartee. Most noticeable in the dialogue is the use of blank verse of such free movement as to give a conversational manner. There are many run-on lines and many loose, irregular lines, which, however they may be criticised according to the canons of versification, are nevertheless to be defended for dramatic use. The language is not heightened, as it was later in the heroic drama, but is natural. The most important characteristic of Carliell's work is its romanticism, which is seen, aside from the general tone, in the blending of the chivalrous romance and the pastoral. His plays read well as narrative and have the heroic manner, while at the same time the dramatic form avoids deadening prolixity. The influence of the pastoral is seen in the woodland atmosphere that glimmers charmingly through several of the plays. In a word, these tragi-comedies of romantic intrigue are worthy to compare, save for mere verse and phrasing, with the best of those by the minor writers of the period. The Deserving Favourite, the first of the plays and also the best, is of undeniable merit in the construction of plot and the drawing of characters. It is a tragi-comedy of highly romantic cast, upon the theme of love, in which the principal personages indulge the passion in a most magnanimous way, and, after a series of trying adventures, are rewarded with happiness. The action is briefly introduced by a confidential dialogue between brother and...
