Deaths Jest-Book: Or the Fools Tragedy (1850)

Death's Jest-Book: Or The Fool's Tragedy is a play written by Thomas Lovell Beddoes in 1850. The play is set in a small German town during the 17th century and follows the story of a group of characters who are caught up in a web of love, revenge, and death. The main protagonist, Wolfram, is a young man who is haunted by the death of his father and seeks revenge against the man he believes is responsible. Along the way, he falls in love with a woman named Maria, who is also the object of desire for several other characters in the play. The play is full of dark humor, macabre imagery, and poetic language. It explores themes of mortality, madness, and the nature of human desire. The title of the play refers to the idea that death is a cruel jester who plays tricks on the living and that life itself can be seen as a tragic comedy. Death's Jest-Book: Or The Fool's Tragedy is considered one of Beddoes' greatest works and is a masterpiece of Gothic literature.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.