Selections from British Drama

Author: He Qi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: Dramatic literature is the third literary genre to emerge after lyric poetry and epic, and it is also a comprehensive art form that integrates various artistic elements such as literature, performance, fine arts, music, and dance. The origins of English drama can be traced back to the Middle Ages, where it began in the church masses of England. Over nearly a thousand years of development, English drama has produced many important literary schools and has given rise to a large number of significant playwrights, such as Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and George Bernard Shaw. Among them, Shakespeare's numerous plays are not only a precious treasure in world literature but also literary masterpieces that have had the most profound influence on English and American literature over the past four hundred years. Therefore, studying English drama from a historical perspective not only allows one to learn an important branch of English literature but also helps to gain a comprehensive understanding of the entire field of English literature. The Ministry of Education's "Senior English Teaching Syllabus for English Majors in Higher Education" mandates the offering of a certain number of British and American literature courses in the third and fourth years of university. Selected Readings in English Drama was compiled in line with the spirit of this syllabus and can serve as a core textbook for literary elective courses such as Selected Readings in British and American Literature and Introduction to Drama. This book was reviewed by Professor Tao Jie (Peking University), Professor Chen Ruilan (Peking University), Professor Chang Yaoxin (Nankai University), and Professor Huang Lanlin (School of International Relations), who were appointed by the English Group of the College English Textbook Review Committee of the Ministry of Education. Here, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the experts who participated in the review.