Aristophanes helped shape comedy ... despite their often fantasical premises, were fairly consistently concerned with contemporary politics and social institutions. ... mildly aristocratic ... patriotic ... suspicious of social innovation ... sympathetic to the struggles of the common people ... unrestrained in insult ... exuberantly bawdy.

In Miss Julie, a willful young aristocrat, whose perverse nature has already driven her fiancé to break off their engagement, pursues and effectively seduces her father's valet during the course of a Midsummer's Eve celebration. The progress of that seduction and the play's stunning denouement shocked Swedish audiences who first attended the play in 1889. Despite its controversial debut, this now-classic drama, inspired by the new ideas of naturalism...

Johannes Rosmer is a respected member of a conservative community, who's criticized for his close friendship with a young woman following his wife's untimely death. Johannes' unconventional living situation, paired with his growing liberal beliefs, becomes a cause for concern. A year after his wife Beata's suicide, Johannes Rosmer, is sharing his home with another woman. Rebecca, Beata's longtime friend, has been a source of support helping Rosmer...