The Eldest Son: A Domestic Drama in Three Acts

by John Galsworthy

The Eldest Son is a play written by John Galsworthy, a renowned British author and playwright. The play is a domestic drama that revolves around the lives of the Ashleys, a wealthy family living in London in the early 20th century. The eldest son of the family, Jack Ashley, is the central character of the play. Jack is a successful barrister who is engaged to Edith Murphet, the daughter of a wealthy businessman.The play opens with Jack returning home after a long absence to attend his sister's wedding. He is greeted by his family, including his father, mother, younger brother, and sister. However, Jack's return is not welcomed by everyone, especially his younger brother, Fred, who is jealous of Jack's success and popularity.As the play progresses, tensions rise between Jack and his family, particularly with his father, who disapproves of Jack's engagement to Edith. The conflict between Jack and his family reaches a climax when Jack's father threatens to disinherit him if he marries Edith.The play explores themes of family, love, jealousy, and social class. It also highlights the struggle of the eldest son in a wealthy family, who is expected to follow in his father's footsteps and maintain the family's social status.Overall, The Eldest Son is a compelling drama that offers a glimpse into the lives of the upper-class society in early 20th century London. Galsworthy's masterful storytelling and vivid characterization make this play a must-read for fans of domestic dramas and classic literature.1916. English novelist and playwright, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932, Galsworthy became known for his portrayal of the British upper middle class and for his social satire. The Eldest Son is a play about injustice-how there is one law for the rich and another for the poor. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Genres: Plays, British Literature

80 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1964

About the author

Literary career of English novelist and playwright John Galsworthy, who used John Sinjohn as a pseudonym, spanned the Victorian, Edwardian and Georgian eras.

In addition to his prolific literary status, Galsworthy was also a renowned social activist. He was an outspoken advocate for the women's suffrage movement, prison reform and animal rights. Galsworthy was the president of PEN, an organization that sought to promote international cooperation through literature.

John Galsworthy was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1932 "for his distinguished art of narration which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga."

Reviews

[Mariangel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The play reminded me of “The silver box”, on how the different classes are treated with respect to the same event. In “The silver box” it was about a theft. Here, a poor man is threatened with losing his employment if he does not marry the girl who is expecting his son, while in the same situation, the rich one is threatened with being disinherited if he does marry his girl, a servant of the house.

[Youssef Al-Brawy · Rating 2 out of 5]

مسرحية مليئة بالدراما والرُقيّ، خالية من الخيال والتعبير الموسيقي والتجارب الحياتية، لا يوجد فيها أي مؤثرات سوى مؤثرات الحوار نفسه، أما موضوعها فهو موضوع عائلي بحت ليس له أي ناحية عالمية لذلك فهي تُعد صورة فوتوغرافية لحياة الإنجليز الأرستقراطيين المعارضين للراديكالية والاشتراكية في بدايات القرن العشرين، أكثر من كونها مسرحية عالمية تستحق أن تُقرأ في زمن غير زمنها، فمعالجة زمن جيلٍ ما على أساس اجتماعي تُعتبر جذابة، لكن في العصر الذي كتبت فيه، أما الآن فقد استُهلكت مرات عديدة تجعها تسير في منحى الاعتيادية إلى جانب الواقعية.

جلزورذي واقعي في تصوير الشخوص، الأماكن، وبواطن الوعي لدى الشخصيات، لكنه أبعد ما يكون عن واقعية الحوار، وأقصد بذلك واقعية ألسُن الشخصيات، فلغتهم لغةُ السادة، حتى الخدم نفسهم لا يظهر من سوء منشأهم أي أثر في لغة الحوار.

مسرحية خفيفة، لكن لا فائدة من قراءتها، وسوء الترجمة زادَ من الاعتيادية والملل المتفشيين فيها.

[Dr.J.G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

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The Eldest Son, by John Galsworthy.
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This play in its theme is similar to another one, The Silver Box, by Galsworthy, in that there are two young men across caste lines whose crime is same, but result different due to status; the difference in the two plays is the nature of the crime, and every other circumstance and more.

Here it's not about theft, but about marriage, or rather, refusal or inability to marry even when there's a baby coming, and how society looks at such conduct. The latter, while it should be, is far from independent of the social caste of the couple, and that's mostly the point.

Galsworthy has solved it a tad close to convenient but attempting to save some grace, by the angry father of the girl giving her courage through his pride, to refuse the young master's "offer of marriage", which the young boy has made not only firmly but stuck to despite his almost whole family attempting to dissuade him; nevertheless, one has to wonder why the lot weren't amenable to the young boy's scheme of marrying and relocating to Canada, why they thought it was tragic, why they thought the marriage must fail. In the social setup of rigid castes in England or Britain, they could be predicting correctly; but in say, California, it wouldn't have mattered. Or even in the snobbish Southrn society, where the girl would be considered more of a lady than in Britain, while his antecedents would be serving him better than his ability to earn, the latter unproved as long as he lived in Britain.
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[Ahmed Yousri ataweyya · Rating 5 out of 5]

كنز آخر من كنوز المسرح العالمي التى كانت تصدرها وزارة الثقافة في الستينيات