"The Edwardian years in England, nostalgically remembered as 'the good old days,' were not so content as they are nowadays represented. Although the serious playwrights of the period were intent on a theatre of social and psychological significance -- the influence of Ibsen and Strindberg was just being felt -- their complacent idea of inevitable social progress through political action was tinged with pessimism. This attitude was responsible for the playwrights' holding society up to the light. This collection presents the full range of Edwardian sentiment, from the bitter wit of Maugham's Loaves and Fishes (which until now has been available in the United States), to the passionate tone of Pinero's Mid-Channel, and the peculiar combination of reformism and pessimism of Hawkin's The Return of the Prodigal. It presents the whole range of attitudes toward love in two plays of unusual form, Granville Barker's The Madras House and Shaw's Getting Married. Editor Gerald Weales, who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania, is noted for his writings on the theatre and as a novelist." -Publisher.

SACFinal081324