Project Gutenberg 2014-05-11 Public domain in the USA. 83 Morton, John Maddison 1811 1891 Morton, J. M. (John Maddison) Morton, Maddison A Desperate Game: A Comic Drama in One Act Produced by Paul Haxo from page images generously made available by the University of California, the HathiTrust Digital Library, and Google. "A Desperate Game: A Comic Drama in One Act" by John Maddison Morton is a comedic play likely written in the mid-19th century. The work showcases the theatre style of its time, directly reflecting Victorian characteristics with its elements of mistaken identities, misunderstandings, and the humorous tactics of its characters. The plot revolves around the themes of deception and romance, as well as the dramatic situations surrounding social conventions and relationships. In the play, Captain Ratcliffe disguises himself and infiltrates the home of Mrs. Somerton to steal her fortune of fifteen thousand pounds. However, the night takes unexpected turns as her affianced husband, Mr. Percy Postlethwaite, also makes a grand entrance after various attempts to surprise Mrs. Somerton. With mistaken identities and chaotic encounters, Ratcliffe's comedic antics and Postlethwaite's hapless character add layers of humor and tension. Ultimately, the play culminates in the resolution of misunderstandings as love prevails, and it transforms into a delightful tale of romance intertwined with comedy, illustrating the absurdities of love and theft in a classic farcical manner. (This is an automatically generated summary.) file:///public/vhost/g/gutenberg/html/files/45628/45628-h/images/cover.jpg Reading ease score: 83.0 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Comedy plays English drama -- 19th century PR Text Category: Romance Category: Humour Category: Plays/Films/Dramas Category: British Literature 117361 2025-07-18T11:55:42.564814 text/html 94774 2024-10-24T07:13:04 text/html 144414 2025-07-18T11:55:45.981815 application/epub+zip 143111 2025-07-18T11:55:43.345800 application/epub+zip 94832 2025-07-18T11:55:42.906830 application/epub+zip 201322 2025-07-18T11:55:47.861799 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 209564 2025-07-18T11:55:45.531811 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 161537 2022-09-20T19:02:46.988406 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 79843 2025-07-18T11:55:42.182795 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 79438 2024-11-28T02:21:50 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17878 2025-07-18T11:55:47.991822 application/rdf+xml 15845 2025-07-18T11:55:43.067773 image/jpeg 2413 2025-07-18T11:55:43.023773 image/jpeg 140731 2025-07-18T11:55:42.576774 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