Literature Tragedy

Two half brothers look so similar as infants that no one can tell them apart. One, the legitimate son of a rich man, is destined for a life of comfort; the other is condemned to be a slave, as he is part black. The mother of the would-be slave is also the nurse of the other boy, and to give her son the best life possible, she switches the two. Soon, the boy who is given every advantage becomes spoiled and cruel. He takes sadistic pleasure in tormenting his half brother.

The Tragedy of Timon of Athens (The Life of Tymon of Athens) is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in collaboration with Thomas Middleton in about 1605–1606, which was published in the First Folio in 1623. It is about the fortunes of an Athenian named Timon. The central character is a beloved citizen of Athens who through tremendous generosity spends his entire fortune on corrupt hangers-on only interested in getting the next payout. The earliest-known production of the play was in 1674, when Thomas Shadwell wrote an adaptation under the title The History of Timon of Athens, The Man-hater.

Senator Fawcett, a man with many enemies, is found stabbed to death in his study. Patience and her father, Inspector Thumm, try to unravel the web of circumstantial evidence that has enmeshed an innocent man. Patience refuses to be beaten by a lack of evidence and, with the help of Drury Lane, finally stops an execution and brings the true criminal to justice.

David Wilson is called "Pudd'nhead" by the townspeople, who fail to understand his combination of wisdom and eccentricity. He redeems himself by simultaneously solving a murder mystery and a case of transposed identities.

With Rosclay the Absolute dead, momentum greatly shifts toward Hiroto the Paradox, while Kia and Tu are identified as enemies of Aureatia. As the threat grows in magnitude, the only way to counter it seems to be... with another threat

Rashid is a young Black man from Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, with a complicated life. Looking for an escape from a neighborhood few ever leave, he finds it in Rachel - married, twenty years his senior, and the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. It begins with a flirtation and a tryst. It becomes an intense romance, exhilarating and enriching, that defies the expectations of Rashid’s friends and family. What draws Rachel to Rashid is his curiosity, his need for intimacy, and his adoration - everything lacking in her crumbling marriage.

There is a dark side to human nature that can be neither wished away nor completely mitigated. Ashley Franz Holzmann details just several of these laws in his introduction to The Laws of Nature: A Collection of Short Stories of Horror, Anxiety, Tragedy and Loss before taking his readers on a journey through the bizarre, the terrifying, and, ultimately, the disturbingly real truths that underlie much of modern American life.

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet, is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1602. Set in Denmark, the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother.

Thomas Hardy, never one to be conventional, took a very unconventional moral stance in this novel, which shocked readers of the time. In doing so, he created one of the great romantic novels of all time, the story of a striking and tragic heroine who came to life for the reader as she did for the author.

Hero and Leander is a Greek myth concerning the tragic story of two lovers. One was a priestess of Aphrodite who lived in a tower in Sestos, and the other a young man from Abydos on the opposite side of the strait. Leander fell in love with Hero and would swim every night across the Hellespont to spend time with her, with Hero's lamp at the top of her tower as his guiding light, and they shared a warm summer of love.

The Tragedy of Errors is the lengthy and detailed plot outline for the final but never published Ellery Queen novel, containing all the hallmarks of the greatest Queen mysteries - the dying message, the succession of false solutions before the astonishing truth is revealed, and scrupulous fair play to the listener. And the theme is one that Queen had been developing for many years: the manipulation of events in a world going mad by people who aspire to the power of gods.

St. Paul, Minnesota, 1946: Introspective Shannon Malone and her more popular sister Eliza are Irish twins and best friends. As little girls, they relied on each other for companionship and affection as their mother remained distant, beating back the demons of her own mysterious childhood. As womanhood approaches, both look forward to promising - though different - futures. But when tragedy rocks the Malone family, secrets bloom and one sister leaves, possibly forever. The other, physically and emotionally scarred, vows to hold the invisible thread that runs deeply between them.

At the end of a long, sweltering day, as markets and businesses begin to close for the evening, an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude shakes the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince. Award-winning author Myriam J. A. Chancy masterfully charts the inner lives of the characters affected by the disaster.

For years, timid Cary toiled away in a cold cubicle. He had dreams, but not the courage to pursue them. That is, until he lost his job and found his fortune in a most unexpected way. Now love, money, and fame come to Cory all too easily. But someone is out for blood. When unspeakable horrors and death start to befall everyone around Cary, everything slips from his grasp. His girlfriend, his fame, and finally...his sanity. All gone. Cary does everything he must do in order to uncover the truth about the murder that led to his great fortune.

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet, is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother.

Young, inexperienced and fleeing a terrible personal loss, Rosie travels to France to become an au pair to the Tivot family. Nicole, the cool, distant and beautifully polished mother of the three children she cares for is impossible to connect with - there is something about the woman that both fascinates and unnerves Rosie. The same is true of the rest of the Tivot clan. Nicole’s husband, Marc, and their children all seem to be caught in an unending struggle against each other for love and acceptance. Only when Rosie is sent to care for Nicole’s guardian does she finally discover the truth.

Confined to a back brace, tormented by classmates, 17-year-old April Marks hides in her room, reading, writing and no longer believing she can find love. When Jamie Clarke, the handsome new kid at school, shows interest in her, April puts aside her fear of becoming the school joke and risks having her heart broken by going out with him. When their movie-like romance begins it seems that April has found the love she's always longed for and the strength to overcome her disability.

A WW1 vet with extreme PTSD struggles to hold on to his sanity while living with the harsh reality of the Great Depression in 1933.

"King Lear" is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, depicting the gradual descent into madness of the title character after he disposes of his kingdom giving bequests to two of his three daughters based on their flattery of him, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is derived from the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological pre-Roman Celtic king; after the English Restoration, it was often revised with a happy ending for audiences who disliked its dark and depressing tone, but since the nineteenth century, Shakespeare's original version has been regarded as one of his supreme achievements.

In 1953, a teenage girl, Jeanne Saré, jumps in front of a train at the Gare du Nord station. She leaves behind writings that to some are unreadable, but to others tell universal, unspoken truths about the lives and struggles of women. When published in the 1970s, her work triggers a rash of copycat suicides. It is hastily withdrawn from sale and eventually forgotten about.