New mermaids

A wealthy Venetian man attracts several would-be heirs.

"The play, based on a sensational witchcraft trial of 1621, presents Mother Sawyer and her local community in the grip of a witch-mania reflecting popular belief and superstition of the time..."--Back cover.

"A comedy of manners by Oscar Wilde. Annoyed at her husband's persistent interest in Mrs Erlynne, a woman of little reputation, Lady Windermere decides to leave him and run away with Lord Darlington. Mrs Erlynne, actually Lady Windermere's mother, who deserted her husband and daughter years ago for a lover who then left her, finds the note and rushes to Lord Darlington's apartments. Here, without revealing her identity, she persuades Lady Windermere not to take this rash step and succeeds in rushing her off in a carriage just as Lord Darlington appears with Lord Windermere. Lord Windermere immediately notices his wife's fan; Mrs Erlynne comes forth and generously assumes guilt, saying that she mistook it for her own. She succeeds, however, in convincing Lord Augustus Lawton that it was in his interests that she came to Lord Darlinton's rooms, and the two marry." - - Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia - Fourth Edition

Flame Bennett was a successful advertising executive, who owed part of her success to her mentor Malcolm Powell. Powell wanted more than just thanks, but Flame had fallen for brash and powerful real-estate mogul Chance Stuart. He wanted Flame at any cost, but his lover, opera diva, Lucianna Colton, was determined that he would never have her. But without their knowing it, the fate of Flame and Chance had been sealed by the past,and a century-old legacy of greed, adultery and murder, would reach out its hand from the grave to ensare them both....

"He is one of the most reviled English kings in history. He drove his kingdom to the brink of civil war a dozen times in less than twenty years. He allowed his male lovers to rule the kingdom. He led a great army to the most ignominious military defeat in English history. His wife took a lover and invaded his kingdom, and he ended his reign wandering around Wales with a handful of followers, pursued by an army. He was the first king of England forced to abdicate his throne. Popular legend has it that he died screaming impaled on a red-hot poker, but in fact the time and place of his death are shrouded in mystery. His life reads like an Elizabethan tragedy, full of passionate doomed love, bloody revenge, jealousy, hatred, vindictiveness and obsession. He was Edward II, and this book tells his story. The focus here is on his relationships with his male 'favourites' and his disaffected wife, on his unorthodox lifestyle and hobbies, and on the mystery surrounding his death. Using almost exclusively fourteenth-century sources and Edward's own letters and speeches wherever possible, Kathryn Warner strips away the myths which have been created about him over the centuries, and provides a far more accurate and vivid picture of him than has previously been seen"--Publisher's description.

This text is part of the 'New Mermaids' series of modern spelling, fully-annotated editions of English plays. Each volume includes a critical introduction, biography of the author discussions of dates and sources, textual details, a bibliography and information about the staging of the play.