Showing results for "clemence dane"

Clemence Dane's 'Regiment of Women' is a pioneering work of feminist literature, published in 1917. The novel challenges traditional gender roles and societal expectations, exploring themes of female empowerment and independence. Dane's writing style is characterized by its sharp wit and astute observations, capturing the complexities of human relationships and the struggles of women in a patriarchal society. The book's enigmatic characters and thought-provoking narrative make it a standou...

The play is structured around Shakespeare’s life in the years leading up to his rise as a playwright and his later success in London. While it is not a strict biographical account, Will Shakespeare provides a dramatic and introspective look at the man behind the iconic works. In four acts, the play alternates between Shakespeare’s personal struggles, his relationships with his family, friends, and colleagues, and his evolving sense of artistic identity.In the first act, Shakespeare is depi...

Clemence Dane's Regiment of Women is a penetrating school novel and psychological study of power, desire, and institutional discipline. Set within the closed world of a girls' school, it examines the charismatic dominance of Clare Hartill and the emotional economies that form around her authority. Written in a taut, observant prose that combines Edwardian realism with early modernist interest in motive and repression, the novel belongs to the broader wartime and post-suffrage revaluation o...

Enter Sir John is a captivating blend of courtroom drama, theatrical flair, and classic detective fiction, co-written by Clemence Dane and Helen Simpson. This golden age mystery introduces readers to the charismatic Sir John Saumarez—a renowned actor-manager who unexpectedly steps into the role of amateur sleuth when a murder casts a dark shadow over the London stage. When young actress Martella Baring is accused of murdering a fellow performer, the evidence appears overwhelming and the ca...

A celebrated English stage actor must prove an ingénue innocent of murder in this classic Golden Age mystery.A touring troupe of actors has come to the English village of Peridu to stage a play featuring promising young star Martella Baring. But it's not the show that has everyone talking after Martella is found beside the body of the troupe manger's wife . . .Actor and theater owner Sir John Saumarez recommended Martella for her role. So when he hears the ...

The 'Sapphic Classics' anthology is a lyrical exploration of love, desire, and identity through varying epochs and lenses, showcasing works that range from ancient Greek lyricism to Gothic tales and modernist narratives. This collection not only commemorates the poetic and prose works inspired by or reflective of Sappho's themes, but also traverses a spectrum of literary styles. It includes remarkable pieces, emblematic of each contributor's unique adaptation or response to Sapphic motifs....

"First the Blade: A Comedy of Growth" is a novel by Clemence Dane, a British author known for her work in both drama and fiction. The book is a comedic exploration of personal development and the trials of growing up.The story revolves around the character of Beatrix "Trixie" Clayton, a young woman in her early twenties who is navigating the complexities of adulthood. Trixie is an aspiring writer who is both ambitious and somewhat naïve. Her journey is marked by a series of humorous and in...

Clemence Dane and Helen Simpson wrote this British crime tale, "Enter Sir John," in 1928. The story revolves around Martella Baring, a young actress on trial for murder, and Sir John Saumarez, a fellow actor, who takes up her case to prove her innocence. In 1932, they released the sequel film, Re-enter Sir John. The jury has found Martella Baring, a young actress, guilty of the murder of Edna Druce, the wife of the acting firm's manager. As a result of his attendance at the trial, the attr...

The school secretary pattered down the long corridor and turned into a class-room. The room was a big one. There were old-fashioned casement windows and distempered walls; the modern desks, ranged in double rows, were small and shallow, scarred, and incredibly inky. In the window-seats stood an over-populous fish-bowl, two trays of silkworms, and a row of experimental jam-pots. There were pictures on the walls—The Infant Samuel was paired withCherry Ripe, and Alfred, in the costume of Robi...

On a country house Christmas Day in 1933, Clement Dane's A Bill of Divorcement turns a family gathering into a chamber of emotional reckoning. Beneath the surface of polite conversation, Margaret Fairfield, her troubled husband Hilary, their daughter Sydney, and the formidable Miss Hester confront the wreckage of marriage, separation, and duty in a world reshaped by changing divorce laws. When Gray Meredith, Kit Pumphrey, Dr. Alliot, and the Reverend Christopher Pumphrey enter the orbit of...

If she had not been ill so long it would have been harder. As it was—but there’s no use in writing down that black time. Afterwards I didn’t know what to do. The pension had stopped, of course. I’d managed to teach myself typing, though Mother couldn’t be left much; but I didn’t know shorthand, and I couldn’t get work, and my money was dwindling, and I was getting scared. I was ready to worship Anita when her letter came. She was sorry about Mother and she wanted a secretary. If I could ty...

Clemence Dane's inventive drama reimagines Shakespeare not as a distant monument, but as a young husband torn between a Stratford cottage and the larger destiny calling him toward London. In the opening scenes, Anne Hathaway's anxious love collides with his guarded, poetic evasions, exposing a marriage strained by secrecy, ambition, and the ache of loving someone whose mind already lives elsewhere. Henslowe's arrival brings the glittering promise of the theatre, fame, and the Queen's favor...