The New Magdalen- Play by Wilkie Collins - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)

By Wilkie Collins

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘The New Magdalen- Play by Wilkie Collins - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of Wilkie Collins’.

Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Collins includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.

eBook features:
* The complete unabridged text of ‘The New Magdalen- Play by Wilkie Collins - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)’
* Beautifully illustrated with images related to Collins’s works
* Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook
* Excellent formatting of the textPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Jul 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781788770965

Wilkie Collins

Wilkie Collins, hijo del paisajista William Collins, nació en Londres en 1824. Fue aprendiz en una compañía de comercio de té, estudió Derecho, hizo sus pinitos como pintor y actor, y antes de conocer a Charles Dickens en 1851, había publicado ya una biografía de su padre, Memoirs of the Life of William Collins, Esq., R. A. (1848), una novela histórica, Antonina (1850), y un libro de viajes, Rambles Beyond Railways (1851). Pero el encuentro con Dickens fue decisivo para la trayectoria literaria de ambos. Basil (ALBA CLÁSICA núm. VI; ALBA MÍNUS núm.) inició en 1852 una serie de novelas «sensacionales», llenas de misterio y violencia pero siempre dentro de un entorno de clase media, que, con su técnica brillante y su compleja estructura, sentaron las bases del moderno relato detectivesco y obtuvieron en seguida una gran repercusión: La dama de blanco (1860), Armadale (1862) o La Piedra Lunar (1868) fueron tan aplaudidas como imitadas. Sin nombre (1862; ALBA CLÁSICA núm. XVII; ALBA CLÁSICA MAIOR núm. XI) y Marido y mujer (1870; ALBA CLÁSICA MAIOR núm. XVI; ALBA MÍNUS núm.), también de este período, están escritas sin embargo con otras pautas, y sus heroínas son mujeres dramáticamente condicionadas por una arbitraria, aunque real, situación legal. En la década de 1870, Collins ensayó temas y formas nuevos: La pobre señorita Finch (1871-1872; ALBA CLÁSICA núm. XXVI; ALBA MÍNUS núm 5.) es un buen ejemplo de esta época. El novelista murió en Londres en 1889, después de una larga carrera de éxitos.

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The Complete Works of

WILKIE COLLINS

VOLUME 36 OF 47

The New Magdalen- Play

Parts Edition

By Delphi Classics, 2015

Version 1

COPYRIGHT

‘The New Magdalen- Play’

Wilkie Collins: Parts Edition (in 47 parts)

First published in the United Kingdom in 2017 by Delphi Classics.

© Delphi Classics, 2017.

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

ISBN: 978 1 78877 096 5

Delphi Classics

is an imprint of

Delphi Publishing Ltd

Hastings, East Sussex

United Kingdom

Contact: [e-mail]

www.delphiclassics.com

Wilkie Collins: Parts Edition

This eBook is Part 36 of the Delphi Classics edition of Wilkie Collins in 47 Parts. It features the unabridged text of The New Magdalen- Play from the bestselling edition of the author’s Complete Works. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. Our Parts Editions feature original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of Wilkie Collins, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.

Visit here to buy the entire Parts Edition of Wilkie Collins or the Complete Works of Wilkie Collins in a single eBook.

Learn more about our Parts Edition, with free downloads, via this link or browse our most popular Parts here.

WILKIE COLLINS

IN 47 VOLUMES

Parts Edition Contents

The Novels

1, Antonina

2, Basil

3, Hide and Seek

4, A Rogue’s Life

5, The Dead Secret

6, The Woman in White

7, No Name

8, Armadale

9, The Moonstone

10, Man and Wife

11, Poor Miss Finch

12, The New Magdalen

13, The Law and the Lady

14, The Two Destinies

15, The Haunted Hotel

16, The Fallen Leaves

17, Jezebel’s Daughter

18, The Black Robe

19, Heart and Science

20, I Say No

21, The Evil Genius

22, The Guilty River

23, The Legacy of Cain

24, Blind Love

The Short Story Collections

25, After Dark

26, The Queen of Hearts

27, Miss or Mrs.? and Other Stories in Outline

28, The Frozen Deep and Other Stories

29, Little Novels

30, Miscellaneous Short Stories

The Plays

31, The Frozen Deep

32, No Thoroughfare

33, Black and White

34, No Name- Play

35, The Woman in White- Play

36, The New Magdalen- Play

37, Miss Gwilt

38, The Moonstone- Play

The Non-Fiction

39, Memoirs of the Life of William Collins Esq, Ra

40, Rambles Beyond Railways

41, My Miscellanies

42, Miscellaneous Essays and Articles

The Biographies

43, Wilkie Collins’ Charms by Olive Logan

44, Men of Mark: W. Wilkie Collins by Edmund Yates

45, Wilkie Collins by William Teignmouth Shore

46, Extracts from ‘Memories of Half a Century’ by Rudolph Chambers Lehmann

47, Extracts from ‘Life of Charles Dickens’ by John Forster

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The New Magdalen- Play

A DRAMATIC STORY IN A PROLOGUE AND THREE ACTS.

CONTENTS

THE PROLOGUE

THE STORY.

PERSONS OF THE STORY.

ACT I.

ACT II.

ACT III.

THE PROLOGUE

Period — 1870. Place — France.

Scene. — The scene represents a bedroom in a cottage on the frontier of France and Germany. A side-door on the right; a window closed by a shutter on the right. A bed on the left, standing back in a corner. Above the bed, a shelf projecting from the wall, with a small handlooking-glass and some household utensils on it. A round table and two chairs on the right. On the table, writing materials, a box of matches, and a burning candle. Behind the table, in a corner, some empty sacks, thrown on the floor. At the back, in the centre, an arched opening, screened by a canvas curtain, and supposed to lead into an outer room. On the left, a fireplace, with the red embers of a wood fire burning in it. Time, night.

On the rise of the curtain, the FRENCH CAPTAIN is discovered, seated at the table, reading some letters. The FRENCH SURGEON lifts the curtain at the back and enters the room.

The Surgeon. Captain, are we safe here for the night?

The Captain. Surgeon, why do you ask that question?

The Surgeon. I ask it in the interests of our wounded men. I have got them in that room (he points to the outer room) under shelter for the first time for four-and-twenty hours. It would be a thousand pities to move them, without a pressing reason for it. What would you advise me to do?

The Captain. I have no advice to give you.

The Surgeon. Surely, you ought to know!

The Captain. My friend, I know two things only. First — that we have surprised a skirmishing party of the Germans, and driven them back over the frontier. Second — that we are in possession of this cottage, and strongly posted on the ground about it. There my information ends. Here are the intercepted papers of the enemy (he holds them up). They tell me nothing that I can rely on. For all I know to the contrary, the main body of the Germans — out-numbering us ten to one — may be nearer to this cottage than the main body of the French. Decide for yourself what you will do.

The Surgeon. I decide to run the risk, and leave the men in peace, on their straw. (The CAPTAIN rises.) Where are you going?

The Captain. To visit the outposts.

The Surgeon. Shall you want this room for a little while?

The Captain. Not for hours to come. Are you thinking of moving your wounded men in here?

The Surgeon. I was thinking of the English lady who remains on our hands, now the Germans are driven back. She would be more comfortable here than in the outer room. And the English nurse attached to the ambulance might keep her company.

The Captain. I have no objection. Let the ladies come in when they like. How is the weather? Still raining?

The Surgeon. Pouring. And as dark as pitch.

The Captain. The darker the better. The Germans won’t see us. Good night!

(He goes out on the right. The SURGEON lifts the curtain at the back, and calls into the outer room.)

The Surgeon. Miss Merrick!

Mercy (from the room). Yes?

The Surgeon. Have you time enough to take a little rest?

Mercy (as before). Plenty of time.

The Surgeon. Come in, then, and bring the English lady with you. Here is a quiet room all to yourselves.

(He draws aside the curtain. MERCY MERRICK, dressed as a nurse in black merino, with plain collar and cuffs, and with the red cross of the Geneva Convention round her left arm, enters, leading GRACE ROSEBERRY. GRACE is dressed in a long grey cloak which entirely covers her.)

Mercy. Thank you, Surgeon. (The SURGEON bows and goes out at the back. MERCY continues, addressing GRACE.) Will you take a chair, madam?

Grace (cordially). Don’t call me madam. My name is GRACE ROSEBERRY. What is your name?

Mercy. Not a pretty name, like yours. (After a moment’s hesitation.) Mercy Merrick.

(They seat themselves on the left.)

Grace. How can I thank you for your sisterly kindness to a stranger like me?

Mercy. Don’t speak of it.

Grace. I must speak of it. What a situation you found me in, when the