What was the source of Bertolt Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera (1928)?
Bertolt Brecht follows the general outline of English playwright John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera (1728), but focuses more on social evils in The Threepenny Opera.
Similar Posts
What was George Eliot’s real name?
The English author of Middlemarch (1871-72), George Eliot was born Mary Ann Evans.
How many novels did Vladimir Nabokov write in Russian before turning to English?
Vladimir Nabokov wrote ten novels in Russian before turning to English, including Laughter in the Dark (1938). His first novel written in English was The Real Life of Sebastian Knight (1941). Nabokov (1899-1977) came to the United States in 1940 and was naturalized in 1945.
Who was the Beatrice that Dante wrote about in the Divine Comedy?
Beatrice was probably Beatrice Portinari, daughter of a noble Florentine family and wife of Simone de’ Bardi. She died at the age of twenty-four on June 8,1290, more than two decades before the Divine Comedy was completed. Dante fell in love with her when they were both children and dedicated most of his poetry to…
Where in Santayana’s works does the line “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” appear?
The line appears in the first volume of The Life of Reason: Reason in Common Sense (1905-1906). The philosopher George Santayana (1863-1952) did not say any of the common variations: “Those who do not learn from history . . . Those who cannot learn . . . Those who will not learn . . .”
In what year did Jean-Paul Sartre refuse the Nobel Prize in Literature?
Jean-Paul Sartre refused the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964. He explained: “A writer must refuse to allow himself to be transformed into an institution.”
Who first used the phrase “belles lettres” in English?
Jonathan Swift first used the phrase “belles lettres” in Tatler 230 (1710): “The Traders in History and Politics, and the Belles Lettres.” In French the term means “beautiful letters, fine writing.” Swift added the pejorative connotation of light or trivial literature.