Ireland. Ire. Irony. This euphonious trio of words explains the humor of Jonathan Swift; though he reportedly bore the most dour countenance in history, his wit could make readers laugh through his bile. Swift's "Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burde
'Moli're was not just a playwright,' wrote scholar Ethan Mordden. 'Moli're was a thespian, wholly of the theater, and his compositions breach the gulf between literature and performance, between language as its own art and language as a tool of art.' Like Shakespeare, who was an actor first, Moli're