Selected Prose and Dramatic Work

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Carcanet Press, 1997 - Literary Collections - 189 pages
John Lyly was the principal court dramatist of the 1580s and author of the period's best-selling prose work, Euphues. Three texts are included in this edition for both specialist and non-specialist readers: an extract from Euphues: the Anatomy of Wit; and the plays, Campaspe and Gallathea.

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About the author (1997)

Lyly wrote eight elegant and refined comedies for the boy companies and for court performance. His witty and elaborate prose style, drawing many allusions from classical mythology, was honed in his prose romance, "Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit" (1578), and its sequel, "Euphues and His England" (1580). These works are the basis for the "euphuistic" style, characterized by an intensity of antithesis, alliteration, and simile. Lyly's comedies are notable for their graceful and incisive portraits of women.

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