Curtis C. Chen

The Gilded Age, first published in 1873, is a caustic satire as well as a fascinating depiction of post-Civil War America—a corrupt era in which greedy land speculators, cutthroat bankers, and dishonest politicians voraciously exploited the country’s postwar optimism.

On stage, Roebuck Ramsden, an old man of money and affairs, emerges. The maid, dressed in a beautiful mourning suit, announces Octavius Robinson, a young poet. Ramsden cautions the young poet about his companion, John Tanner.

Mr. and Mrs. McGregor drive away in a gig, as seen by little Benjamin Bunny. He hops along toward his aunt’s house, where she is a widow with four small children named Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter.

Troilus and Criseyde, Geoffrey Chaucer’s tragic poetry romance written in the 1380s and regarded by some experts to be his best work. The narrative of this 8,239-line poem was heavily influenced by Giovanni Boccaccio’s Il filostrato.V

Two dance and music instructors, together with their pupils, were waiting for the master of the house to emerge. Monsieur Jourdain resolved to become an aristocrat, to emulate aristocratic gentlemen. His madness generated much disruption and excitement in the home