Classical Latin

No wonder this was one of Helen Hayes' favorite roles! Plain Maggie works behind the scenes for the man she loves while he never suspects that it is she who is making him successful in his career. Enter "the other woman"....

Baltasar Bustos, un estudiante de derecho y empleado de la Audiencia de Buenos Aires, se introduce en la recámara del presidente de esa Audiencia y reemplaza a su hijo recién nacido por un niño negro, hijo de una prostituta enferma y azotada públicamente. Horas más tarde, el edificio se incendia y deja irreconocible el cadáver del niño negro. El hijo legítimo es entregado a esclavas.

L'amour et l'indépendance de la jeune fille, les préséances sociales et les revanches sur le passé, l'attirance pour les idéaux généreux, les messages de la passion triomphant du temps et de l'espace, les flammes de la folie, tels sont quelques-uns des thèmes qui se détachent sur un fond d'observation à la Dickens et qui sont emportés par un grand souffle romanesque.

The late 16th-century penal debt bond, which allowed an unsatisfied creditor to seize the body of his debtor, set in motion a series of precedents that would shape the legal, philosophical, and moral issue of property-in-person in England and America for centuries. Focusing on this historical juncture at which debt litigation was not merely an aspect of society but seemed to engulf it completely, Of Bondage examines a culture that understood money and the body of the borrower as comparable forms of property that impinged on one another at the moment of default.

"A House of Pomegranates" (1891) is a collection of fairy tales, written by Oscar Wilde, that was published as a second collection for "The Happy Prince and Other Tales" (1888). Wilde once said that this collection was "intended neither for the British child nor the British public."

Conrad’s Lord Jim is the iconic story of a romantic young man and his struggle with guilt and self-loathing. The novel begins with Jim’s earlier life as a ship’s officer. He and the other crew members abandon an imperiled vessel and its passengers after a mysterious collision reveals a dangerous bulge below the water line. But the ship does not sink and Jim survives to face an official inquiry. He is stripped of his license and faces universal scorn and the reality of his own guilt.

(Translated and Annotated: A unique and original translation of this classic work, annotated with extensive modern notes, context, and explanations.) The epic poem of the fall of Troy, the heroic journey, battles and loves of Aeneas, and the founding of Rome, by the great Latin poet Virgil -- as translated, condensed, and explained to modern readers by a professor who uses rhyme and a lively presentation to honor the spirit and true intent of Virgil -- without the customary literalism of previous translations. Epic in every way, this is one of the greatest and most entertaining adventure ...

"The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in 8 Fits" is usually thought of as a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) in 1874, when he was 42 years old. It describes with infinite humour the impossible voyage of an improbable crew to find an inconceivable creature. The poem borrows occasionally from Carroll's short poem "Jabberwocky" in "Through the Looking Glass" (especially the poem's creatures and portmanteau words), but it is a stand-alone work, first published in 1876 by Macmillan.

En las sombras del Londres victoriano, un bebé abandonado es hallado a las puertas de un hospicio. Junto a él, un misterioso papel que solo dice un nombre: "Walter Wilding". Años más tarde, ese niño se convierte en un hombre de bien y dueño de una próspera casa de comercio de vinos. Pero cuando Walter decide vender el negocio, un oscuro secreto emerge del pasado y lo sumerge en un torbellino de dudas sobre su verdadera identidad.

Tom Jones is a splendid Hogarthian panorama of 18th-century English life and morals, encompassing both city and country, and comprising some of the greatest comic characters in British literature. First published in 1749, it was an instant success and has gone on to become a classic of its genre. Quite simply, there has never been anything like it.

One of Oscar Wilde's best-loved short stories, which includes romance, love, and murder. The discussion of murder is light-hearted and witty, in typical Wilde fashion. A must listen for fans of the author.

Comedy reigns supreme as the earl of Marshmoreton's sister's plans for marrying off her relatives to landed gentry go terribly awry!

Fifteen-year-old Esperance Darbois, the only daughter of philosophy professor François Darbois, is determined to become a woman of the stage. But becoming an actress will sully the respectability of the Darbois family, damage her marriage prospects, and harm her father’s distinguished reputation.

u chamo-me Theodoro — e fui amanuense do Ministerio do Reino. N’esse tempo vivia eu á travessa da Conceição n.º 106, na casa d’hospedes da D. Augusta, a esplendida D. Augusta, viuva do major Marques.

A chave, de Machado de Assis, tem seu enredo devidamente circunscrito no tempo: a história começa em 7 de outubro de 1861. Os banhos de mar era então uma realidade no Rio de Janeiro e a personagem central do conto, Marcelina, tem neles sua entrada na narrativa. De forma torta: apesar de ser excelente nadadora, quase se afoga, sendo salva pelo pretendente Luís Bastinhos. Ela, no entanto, considera outros rapazes – quem teria a chave para abrir seu coração? É ler o conto e deliciar-se com a ironia machadiana aí tão presente!

"Le Portrait de Dorian Gray" a été rédigé en 1890, puis complété en 1891. Ce roman fantastique est à la fois un manifeste esthétique et un récit moral. Bien qu'Oscar Wilde y développe l'idée d'un art dégagé de toute éthique, le jeune Dorian Gray va faire face à sa conscience morale à travers son portrait qui porte à sa place les traces de sa perversité et la décadence que le temps inflige aux esprits les plus purs.

The novel is the story of a scientist who, through the study of optics finds a way to make things invisible. In a desire for recognition, fame, and the advantages of being invisible, he subjects himself to the process. But being unseen isn't as positive as he had hoped, and he soon finds himself regretting his condition, and his mind also becomes warped. He becomes mentally unhinged. Later, he embraces his invisibility and begins to spiral into a lust for power and control, and he reveals a plan he has hatched to unleash his personal "terror" on the world.

Ein Wirbelsturm im Chinesischen Meer wird zur dramatischen Zerreißprobe für Schiff, Besatzung und Passagiere.

This classic tale, set in the jungle of the Belgian Congo, tells the story of Marlow's search for the powerful and possibly deranged Kurtz, in an atmosphere of evil. This novel was later adapted and updated by Francis Ford Coppola as his film Apocalypse Now.

The setting is the years prior to the outbreak of World War I. It is a time when Germany is outwardly preparing for war, but Britain continues to believe it is invincible and that no one would challenge her. A vast German spy network flourishes in England, often in plain view. The main character is Francis Norgate, an aspiring British diplomat who falls in disfavor with his superiors for defending a woman while stationed in Berlin. The resulting scandal causes Norgate to be recalled.