| The Contrast: A Comedy in Five Acts Contributor(s): Tyler, Royall (Based on a Play by) |
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ISBN: 1596058854 ISBN-13: 9781596058859 Publisher: Cosimo Classics OUR PRICE: $13.29 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: July 2006 Annotation: "This powerful and lively package of primary materials and historical context will demonstrate how historical 'forces' play themselves out on the ground. Kierner's collection offers a fresh lens on a new world struggling into being and will inspire teachers and students of all ages alike."--Catherine Allgor, author of A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation The Contrast, which premiered at New York City's John Street Theater in 1787, was the first American play performed in public by a professional theater company. The play, written by New England-born, Harvard-educated, Royall Tyler was timely, funny, and extremely popular. When the play appeared in print in 1790, George Washington himself appeared at the head of its list of hundreds of subscribers.Reprinted here with annotated footnotes by historian Cynthia A. Kierner, Tyler's play explores the debate over manners, morals, and cultural authority in the decades following American Revolution. Did the American colonists' rejection of monarchy in 1776 mean they should abolish all European social traditions and hierarchies? What sorts of etiquette, amusements, and fashions were appropriate and beneficial? Most important, to be a nation, did Americans need to distinguish themselves from Europeans -- and, if so, how? Tyler was not the only American pondering these questions, and Kierner situates the play in its broader historical and cultural contexts. An extensive introduction provides readers with a background on life and politics in the United States in 1787, when Americans were in the midst of nation-building. The book also features a section with selections from contemporary letters, essays, novels, conduct books, and public documents, which debate issues of the era, ranging from the role of the arts |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Drama | American - General - History | United States - Revolutionary Period (1775-1800) |
| Dewey: 812.1 |
| Physical Information: 0.37" H x 6" W x 9" (0.54 lbs) 160 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 18th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: OF INTEREST TO: fans of 18th-century theater, readers of American literature LETITIA: It is whispered that if Maria gives her hand to Mr. Dimple, it will be without her heart. CHARLOTTE: Though the giving the heart is one of the last of all laughable considerations in the marriage of a girl of spirit, yet I should like to hear what antiquated notions the dear little piece of old-fashioned prudery has got in her head. -from Act I It is the first American comedy to be performed on stage. THE CONTRAST, which debuted in New York in 1787 to great acclaim and was performed in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Boston between then and 1792, literally set the scene for American dramatics, creating characters that have become iconically American, from the "Yankee" Johnathan to the vapid Charlotte and Letitia... characters we continue to see in film, TV, and fiction today. Frequently likened to British playwright Richard Sheridan's The School for Scandal, this remains a delightful satire-and a quintessentially American one. American playwright ROYALL TYLER (1757-1826), born William Clark Tyler, wrote many other plays, some of which have been lost, as well as novels, essays, and humorous verse. |