Complete Plays of Frances Burney: Volume 1: Comedies. Volume 2: Tragedies

This two-volume set of the comedies and tragedies of Frances Burney (1752-1840) reveals her remarkable, yet little-known, talent as a dramatist. Compiled from the original manuscripts, it includes a substantial general introduction, headnotes to each play, explanatory notes, and variant readings.

In the plays, as in her novels, Burney satirizes the social conventions and pretensions of her day. The Witlings (1779), her first play, is a biting satire on the Bluestockings; it was never performed, however, for fear of a possible scandal. The violent, the grotesque, and the macabre also figure strongly in her writings.

Contents
Volume 1: The Comedies
Introduction
Chronology
The Witlings (1778-80)
Love and Fashion (1798-99)
A Busy Day (1800-02)
The Woman-Hater (1800-02)

Volume 2: The Tragedies
Edwy and Elgiva (1788-95)
Hubert de Vere (1790-97)
The Siege of Pevensey (1790-91)
Elberta (1791-1814)
Appendix: The Triumphant Toadeater (1798)