{"product_id":"9781408183533","title":"The Story of Drama: Tragedy, Comedy and Sacrifice from the Greeks to the Present","description":"Tracing the history of tragedy and comedy from their earliest beginnings to the present, this book offers readers an exceptional study of the development of both genres, grounded in analysis of landmark plays and their context. It argues that sacrifice is central to both genres, and demonstrates how it provides a key to understanding the grand sweep of Western drama. For students of literature and drama the volume serves as an accessible companion to over two millennia of drama organised by period, and reveals how sacrifice represents a through-line running from classical drama to today's reality TV and blockbuster movies.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcross the chapters devoted to each period, Day explores how the meanings of sacrifice change over time, but never quite disappear. He charts the influences of religion, social change and politics on the status and purposes of theatre in each period, and on the drama itself. But it is through a close study of key plays that he reveals the continuities centred around sacrifice that persist and which illuminate aspects of human psychology and social organisation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmong the many plays and events considered are Aeschylus' trilogy \u003ci\u003eThe Oresteia\u003c\/i\u003e, Aristophanes' \u003ci\u003eWomen at the Thesmorphia\u003c\/i\u003e, Menander's \u003ci\u003eThe Bad-Tempered Man\u003c\/i\u003e, the spectacles of the Roman Games, Seneca's \u003ci\u003eThe Trojan Women\u003c\/i\u003e, Plautus's \u003ci\u003eThe Rope\u003c\/i\u003e, the Cycle plays and \u003ci\u003eEveryman \u003c\/i\u003efrom the Middle Ages, Shakespeare's \u003ci\u003eKing Lear\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eA Midsummer Night's Dream\u003c\/i\u003e, Middleton's \u003ci\u003eThe Revenger's Tragedy\u003c\/i\u003e, Jonson's \u003ci\u003eEvery Man in His Humour\u003c\/i\u003e, Thomas Otway's \u003ci\u003eThe Orphan\u003c\/i\u003e, William Wycherley's \u003ci\u003eThe Country Wife\u003c\/i\u003e, Wilde's \u003ci\u003eA Woman of No Importance\u003c\/i\u003e, Beckett' \u003ci\u003eWaiting for Godot\u003c\/i\u003e, Tennessee Williams's \u003ci\u003eA Streetcar Named Desire\u003c\/i\u003e, Suzan-Lori Parks's \u003ci\u003eTopdog\/Underdog\u003c\/i\u003e, Sarah Kane's \u003ci\u003eBlasted \u003c\/i\u003eand Charlotte Jones' \u003ci\u003eHumble Boy\u003c\/i\u003e. A conclusion examines the persistence of ideas of sacrifice in today's reality TV and blockbuster movies.","brand":"Bloomsbury USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47126091464944,"sku":"9781408183533","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781408183533_p0.jpg?v=1763718145","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781408183533","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}