A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 14

This volume opens a portal into the turbulent world of early 18th century English theater, where playwrights wielded drama as a mirror to courtly ambition and civil unrest. The featured tragedy "The Rebellion" by Thomas Rawlins introduces us to Antonio, a nobleman caught in the machinery of conflict, and Machiavel, a calculating figure whose scheming for power drives the play's dark engine. These are not gentle comedies of manners but raw examinations of loyalty tested, honor compromised, and ambition devouring its children. The collection preserves works that rarely see the light of modern readership, offering scholars and enthusiasts alike access to a dramatic tradition that shaped the English stage before Sheridan and Goldsmith redefined it. Here, love and war intertwine, moral dilemmas cut deeper than mere plot devices, and the consequences of betrayal carry the weight of real tragedy. For anyone seeking to understand how our ancestors wrestled with questions of power, fidelity, and the human heart under pressure, these plays remain remarkably alive.