Tragedy
King Lear
King Lear is widely held as the greatest of Shakespeare's tragedies; to some, it is the greatest play ever written. King Lear abdicates the …
The Return of the Native
Like all of Hardy's work, The Return of the Native (1878) is passionate and controversial, with themes and sympathies beyond what a good Vic…
Wuthering Heights
The story centers on the all-encompassing, passionate, but ultimately doomed love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, and how this un…
The House of Cobwebs
George Gissing was a prolific English writer of novels and short stories. Among his best known novels is The Odd Women, which was influenced…
An American Tragedy
Loosely based on a true story, this is the tale of Clyde Griffiths. At a young age, Clyde realizes that money and influence can get him the …
Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya (subtitled “Scenes From Country Life”) is a tragicomedy by Anton Chekhov. It is set on the failing country estate of a retired p…
Futility, Or the Wreck of the Titan
This novel was published a full 14 years before the sinking of the Titanic, but listeners may be surprised at how many parallels this fictio…
Oedipus at Colonus
This is the second installment in Sophocles's Theban Plays that chronicles the tragic fates of Oedipus and his family. After fulfilling the…
King Lear
The Tragedy of King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his est…
Medea
Euripides' tragedy focuses on the disintegration of the relationship between Jason, the hero who captured the Golden Fleece, and Medea, the …
Samson Agonistes
“The Sun to me is darkAnd silent as the Moon,When she deserts the nightHid in her vacant interlunar cave.”Milton composes his last extended …
The Bacchae
The Bacchae is a powerful tragedy by Euripides that delves into the conflict between reason and instinct, order and chaos. Set in Thebes, th…
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Murder and madness, witches and war: Librivox presents a recording of Macbeth, perhaps Shakespeare's best known tragedy. Macbeth, a genera…
Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Tess of the d'Urbervilles subtitled, "A Pure Woman," is the story of a young working woman named Tess Durbeyfield who is sent by h…
The Tragedy of King Richard II
Billed by scholars as the first part of the all-encompassing Henriad, Richard II is a richly satisfying probe into the inner workings of mon…
Julius Caesar
When Julius Caesar returns to Rome from conquering the Gauls, Cassius and his friends are worried that he will try to seize power and make h…
Hamlet
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. Set in the Kingdom of Denmark, the play dramatizes the revenge…
The Duchess of Malfi
John Webster's bloody Jacobean tragedy exposes the decadence of the Italian court. The virtuous Duchess of Malfi, a young widow, secretly ma…
Farewell Love!
This tragic love story begins by meeting the passionate Anna Acquaviva who is willing to leave her position in society to elope with her lov…
The Jew of Malta
Christopher “Kit” Marlowe (baptised 26 February 1564 – 30 May 1593) was an English dramatist, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. T…