Exiles - A Play in Three Acts - Joyce, James

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Résumé :
Exiles is a 1918 play in three acts by Irish writer James Joyce. Started just after the outbreak of WWI in 1914, it is essentially a study of a husband-and-wife relationship which harks back to the final story in Dubliners and forward to his magus opus Ulysses. This fantastic play will appeal to lovers of the stage and constitutes a must-read for fans and collectors of Joyce's seminal work. James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (1882-1941) was an Irish short story writer, novelist, teacher, poet, and literary critic. Joyce is famous for contributing to the modernist avant-garde and is today considered to be among the most important authors of the 20th century. Other notable works by this author include: Ulysses (1922), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), and Dubliners (1914). Read & Co. is republishing this classic work in a brand new edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author....

Biographie:
James Joyce (1882-1941) was an Irish novelist and short-story writer whose work reshaped modern literature. Born in Dublin and later living in continental Europe, Joyce drew extensively on his native city as both setting and imaginative source. His major works, including Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses, and Finnegans Wake, are central to literary modernism, distinguished by formal innovation, linguistic precision, and sustained exploration of consciousness and identity....

Sommaire:

Written during the early years of World War I, Exiles is James Joyce's only play, a deeply introspective and emotionally charged study of love, fidelity, and personal freedom.

Echoing themes from the final story in Dubliners and foreshadowing the psychological depth of Ulysses, this three-act drama offers a rare glimpse into Joyce's exploration of the human heart through theatrical form. At the centre of Exiles is the complex relationship between Richard Rowan, a writer returned from exile, and his wife Bertha. Their fraught dynamic unfolds with the quiet intensity of a chamber piece, laying bare the emotional and moral ambiguities of intimacy and autonomy.

A striking departure from Joyce's better-known experimental prose, Exiles reveals his enduring preoccupation with identity, loyalty, and artistic freedom. First published in 1918, this play remains essential reading for lovers of modern drama and Joyce aficionados alike.