|
Marriage
English version by Barbara Field. User Rating: 3.6 (1 votes)Author(s):
Nikolai Gogol
THE STORY: Deciding that it is time he was married, Podkoliosin, a long-time bachelor (and minor court councillor) engages a match-maker, Fiolka, to find him a wife of suitable social status--not to mention fortune. Fiolka comes up with Agafya, the spinster daughter of a wealthy merchant, who is seeking a husband of demonstrably higher social position. Podkoliosin deigns to visit the charming Agafya, only to discover that the bustling Fiolka has rounded up four other suitors as well, which leads to some unseemly--and hilarious--bickering among the preening competitors. The suitors are all quite different (one enormously fat, one painfully skinny, one terribly tiny, another notoriously prissy), which enriches the farcical contretemps which result--and adds to the relish with which Podkoliosin's sidekick, the scheming Kochkariev, sets about winning Agafya for his friend. In the end he succeeds, but perhaps too well, as he also provides Podkoliosin with a glimpse of what marriage really entails and, as the curtain falls, the terrified would-be suitor makes his escape--leaping unceremoniously from a second story window, and back to the comforting routine of blissful bachelorhood.
|
|
Genre(s): | Comedy
| Time Period(s): | Not Available | Play Type: | Play | Runtime: | Not Available | Acts: | Not Available | Set Complexity: | Not Available | Set Information: | Not Available | Year First Published: | Not Available | Total Characters: | 10 | Male Characters: | 6 | Female Characters: | 4 | Androgynous Characters: | Not Available | Minimum Cast: | Not Available | Maximum Cast: | Not Available | Cost: | FEE: $50 per performance Royalty/cost information prone to change. Please check with the publisher for the most accurate information. | Publisher: | Dramatists Play Service Click on the publisher's name above for additional information, including updated prices. | ISBN: | Not Available |
|