Original Plays [First Series]

In Short

This collection brings together six verse plays and operatic librettos that lampoon Victorian morality, ideal romantic love, and institutional self-importance. Across ethereal cloud realms, academic women’s colleges, ancient Athenian studios, and corrupt courtrooms, characters try to maintain noble façades while giving in to petty jealousies, greed, and romantic fickleness. Magic talismans and legal technicalities reveal the awkward truth beneath their polished words. Written with tight, rhyming verse and dry comic timing, these pieces remain enduringly fresh because their target—human hypocrisy masked as high virtue—never goes out of style.

The Story

The volume opens in the clouds with The Wicked World, where pure-hearted fairies look down on mortal earth with condescending pity. Curious about human romance, they summon two mortal knights to their realm and exchange places with them. The moment mortal affection enters fairy land, the once-placid fairies descend into jealousy, deception, and spiteful rivalry, proving that earthly love carries the seeds of strife wherever it takes root.

In Pygmalion and Galatea, an Athenian sculptor carves a statue of ideal womanhood so perfect that the gods grant it life. Yet the living Galatea possesses absolute innocence paired with total literal-mindedness. Her naive declarations of affection cause immediate chaos, shattering Pygmalion’s marriage to Cynisca, provoking local gossip, and exposing the sculptor's own double standards. Realizing the heartbreak her presence causes among mortals, Galatea willingly steps back onto her pedestal, freezing into cold marble once more.

Charity grounds the collection in Victorian satire. Mrs. Van Brugh, a wealthy woman with a secret past, runs her estate on true Christian generosity, taking in outcasts regardless of their denomination. Her neighbor, the pompous Mr. Smailey, and his son Fred preach strict moral correctness while hunting for a way to strip Mrs. Van Brugh of her fortune. When a hidden truth about her past marriage comes to light, Smailey moves to ruin her, only for his own hypocrisy and underhanded schemes to collapse on his head.

The Princess offers a satirical take on women's higher education. Princess Ida retreats to Castle Adamant to found a university strictly barred to men. Prince Hilarion, to whom she was betrothed in childhood, disguises himself and two companions as female students to infiltrate the campus. Their terrible grasp of needlework and casual male habits betray them to the faculty. When the college is threatened by invading forces, romance and common sense dismantle the rigid separation of the sexes.

The Palace of Truth tests a court of flatterers who travel to an enchanted castle where everyone is forced to speak their exact thoughts without realizing it. Sycophantic courtiers blurt out their true contempt for the King's poetry, while Prince Philamir casually admits to his fiancée, Zeolide, that he is bored of her and loves her friend. A stolen crystal box holding the magic of the palace is uncovered, forcing the court to confront the vast gap between their smooth compliments and their selfish motives.

The collection concludes with Trial by Jury, a brief comic opera. A distressed bride sues her rogue betrothed for breach of promise. As the trial proceeds, the jury and the Judge show shameless bias, until the Judge solves the impasse by marrying the plaintiff himself.

How It Unfolds

Fairies invite mortal love Anxious to test human sentiment, a community of spotless fairies invites two wounded knights into their cloud realm. The mortals introduce romance, instantly turning the innocent fairies against one another in a wave of jealousy and spite.

A statue comes to life Pygmalion prays for his sculpted masterpiece to live, only to find that total innocence creates total havoc. Galatea’s literal honesty and simple affection ruin his marriage and drive his household into hysterics.

Virtue faces social ruin Mrs. Van Brugh’s non-denominational almshouses offend her hypocritical neighbors, who plot to ruin her by unearthing a secret from her past. Their greed backfires when their own deceitful schemes are exposed to the community.

Infiltrating Castle Adamant Prince Hilarion and his friends put on dresses to enter Princess Ida’s male-free university. Their clumsy attempt to pass as female scholars fails, leading to an absurdity-filled clash between ideal isolation and real-world affection.

Honesty forced by magic Courtiers arrive at a castle where no one can tell a lie, instantly blurting out their secret jealousies, vanity, and shallow affections. The chaos resolves only when the magic enchanted box controlling the spell is exposed.

Courtroom chaos resolved A breach-of-promise trial devolves as the jury and judge openly favor the pretty plaintiff over the defense. The judge ends the legal dispute by coming down from the bench to marry her himself.

The People

• Selene: Queen of the fairies in The Wicked World. She begins as a serene figure of celestial purity, but succumbs to overwhelming jealousy the moment mortal love touches her heart.
• Pygmalion: An arrogant sculptor who demands perfection in art and devotion in marriage. When his statue comes to life, he is unequipped for the messiness of actual human emotion and faces the loss of his wife, Cynisca.
• Galatea: The sculpted woman brought to life. Pure, logical, and entirely without guile, her innocent observations expose the dishonesty and double standards of the humans around her.
• Mrs. Van Brugh: A compassionate philanthropist in Charity. She shelters outcasts despite social censure, standing firm against local hypocrites who try to use her past mistakes to ruin her.
• Mr. Smailey: A pious, self-righteous neighbor who uses religious language to justify his greed. He seeks to disinherit Mrs. Van Brugh, only to have his scheming undo him.
• Princess Ida: The idealistic founder of a women-only university in The Princess. She seeks to elevate women above dependence on men, but her grand project collapses when real romance enters the gates.
• Prince Hilarion: Ida’s determined suitor, who prefers romantic charm and lighthearted deception over brute military force to win her heart.
• The Learned Judge: The presiding official in Trial by Jury. Entirely unbothered by legal ethics, he relies on personal convenience and vanity to hand down his shameless courtroom decisions.

In Its Own Voice

"The brawler fights for love--the drunkard drinks / To toast the girl who loves him, or to drown / Remembrance of the girl who loves him not!"

Lutin warns the naive fairies that mortal love is not a gentle virtue, but the chaotic root of human misconduct and folly.

"I have been false to them, but not to thee! / Spare me!"

Pygmalion pleads for mercy from his wife, Cynisca, insisting that his foolish wish to bring a statue to life was an offense against the gods rather than a betrayal of his marriage vows.

"I’d sooner tie the sandals of my lord, / Than own five hundred thousand such as you."

The slave Agesimos boasts of his bond to a wealthy master, proudly defending the very hierarchy that keeps him subservient.

What It's Really About

These plays probe the distance between who people pretend to be and what they actually want. Throughout the collection, characters cloak their desires in lofty language—piety, artistic purity, high intellect, or heavenly innocence. Yet under the right pressure, whether an enchanted palace or a sudden romance, those high ideals instantly yield to petty self-interest.

The work argues that rigid idealism is often just vanity in disguise. By placing absurd situations in fairy kingdoms and formal Victorian parlors, the plays question whether human society can ever be truly honest without the cover of politeness, showing that our noble pretenses are usually the first things to shatter.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate dry, light-footed satire and rhythmic verse will find plenty to enjoy in this collection. The dialogue moves with rapid, song-like precision, making the centuries-old humor feel remarkably modern and accessible. Rather than delivering heavy-handed moral lessons, the plays rely on clever situational twists and quick wit, offering a brisk, entertaining experience from start to finish.

The main challenge for a modern reader lies in the Victorian theatrical conventions. The verse relies on formal rhyming patterns and occasional archaic phrasing, while the social commentary targets 19th-century institutions like gender-segregated education, court etiquette, and parish politics.

What lingers after reading is the sharp, persistent hilarity of human absurdity. The characters may wear fairy robes, academic gowns, or legal wigs, but their flaws—vanity, hypocrisy, and desperate rationalization—are timeless. The collection serves as a charming, sharp reminder of how easily high-minded ideals crumble when they meet basic human nature.