Opis: LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. 1938 stan db/db- ( zakurzona, podniszczona okładka, zżółcenia), okładka twarda, str. 190 ISBN dziesięć oznak angielskiego Komicznego Ducha INTRODUCTION The gift of being able to " touch and kindle the mind through laughter," as Meredith says, is one with which English playwrights and novelists have been plentifully endowed. It is a precious gift. It is not enough to introduce John Smith into the argument and make him slip on a banana skin. John Smith must have character as well. He must even be a philosopher who has achieved inner equilibrium and serenity of mind, able at the same time to realize the laughable smallness of human tragedies and to detect the sometimes tragic implications of a practical joke. Here are ten manifestations of the English Comic Spirit. They only hold the stage for a few pages apiece, but I trust their scenes will prove fairly self-contained. They come from four different centuries and they vary very much in stature. Lismahago, the product of Smollett's soured and limited genius, is no Falstaff, nor has George Eliot's Mrs. Poyser the universality of the Wellers, but they are all genuine creatures of comedy, three dimensional and alive. They fulfil the noble function of "cheering us all up," and they make us laugh thoughtfully. CONTENTS 1 The Gadshill Adventure. William Shakespeare 2. The Lieutenant Leaves Hurriedly. Tobias Smollett 3. Interview in a Dungeon. Sir Walter Scott 4. A Short Way with Blackmailers. William Makepeace Thackeray 5. The Wellers Take Revenge. Charles Dickens 6. Mrs. Poyser Has Her Say. George Eliot 7. Much Ado About a Harmonium. Thomas Hardy 8. Exit With Music. H. G. Wells 9. Any More for the Lifeboat? Arnold Bennett 10. Wanted by the Police. /. B. Priestley Notes
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