Project Gutenberg 2012-09-03 Public domain in the USA. 174 Macklin, Charles 1797 Kern, Jean B. 71001030 A Will and No Will; or, A Bone for the Lawyers. (1746) The New Play Criticiz'd, or the Plague of Envy. (1747) Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "A Will and No Will; or, A Bone for the Lawyers" by Charles Macklin is a comedic farce written in the mid-18th century. This two-act play satirizes the legal profession and social conventions of its time, particularly focusing on themes of avarice and deceit through the character of Sir Isaac Skinflint, who exhibits extreme caution regarding his fortune and his will. Other characters, including his potential heirs and a scheming servant, contribute to the chaos surrounding Skinflint's attempts to secure his legacy while avoiding financial loss. The opening of the play introduces a theatrical prologue featuring banter between audience members discussing the play's reception and teasing the Irish lawyer character. It sets a light-hearted tone while hinting at the comedic misadventures to follow, as characters express their motivations tied to inheritance and legal maneuvering. The prologue's whimsical discussion about the farce prepares the audience for the ensuing antics as the plot unfolds around Skinflint’s reluctance to draft a will and his encounters with would-be heirs and opportunists, ultimately revealing the absurdities of wealth and familial greed in a lively theatrical context. (This is an automatically generated summary.) file:///public/vhost/g/gutenberg/html/files/40653/40653-h/images/cover.jpg Reading ease score: 80.4 (6th grade). Easy to read. en English drama -- 18th century PR Text Category: Humour Category: Plays/Films/Dramas Category: British Literature 218544 2025-08-16T12:54:54.806830 text/html 193758 2024-10-23T10:37:20 text/html 195807 2025-08-16T12:54:59.244841 application/epub+zip 198444 2025-08-16T12:54:55.562840 application/epub+zip 145988 2025-08-16T12:54:55.163847 application/epub+zip 289067 2025-08-16T12:55:01.897813 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 271436 2025-08-16T12:54:58.899834 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 219429 2022-09-18T15:32:47.387936 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 182829 2025-08-16T12:54:53.594952 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 162794 2024-10-23T10:37:20 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 16649 2025-08-16T12:55:02.040819 application/rdf+xml 27274 2025-08-16T12:54:55.264839 image/jpeg 4156 2025-08-16T12:54:55.214831 image/jpeg 176071 2025-08-16T12:54:54.829849 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia