Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu

Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu is a collection of four major dramas by the famous Japanese playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon. The four plays were first translated by Donald Keene in 1961, and have appeared in various collections and books over the years; Four Major Plays contains a Preface, an Introduction, and two appendices in addition, and is published by Columbia University Press.

The Preface gives a more popular account of matters, mentioning that Keene's translations of the plays have actually been performed; the lengthy introduction gives a brief biographical sketch of Chikamatsu and a discussion of various literary features and other background useful for understanding Chikamatsu's plays.

Famous quotes containing the words major and/or plays:

    The major men
    That is different. They are characters beyond
    Reality, composed thereof. They are
    The fictive man created out of men.
    They are men but artificial men.
    Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)

    Goodbye, boys; I’m under arrest. I may have to go to jail. I may not see you for a long time. Keep up the fight! Don’t surrender! Pay no attention to the injunction machine at Parkersburg. The Federal judge is a scab anyhow. While you starve he plays golf. While you serve humanity, he serves injunctions for the money powers.
    Mother Jones (1830–1930)