{"product_id":"the-mouse-trap-and-other-farces","title":"The Mouse-Trap and Other Farces","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginally published in Harper's Magazine before anchoring the 1889 collection The Mouse-Trap and Other Farces, this razor-sharp, single-act theatrical farce showcases William Dean Howells' exceptional wit and observational acuity. The narrative is confined entirely to the elegant drawing room of Mrs. Amy Somers, where an ordinary domestic moment rapidly devolves into chaotic misapprehension when a rumor spreads that a mouse is loose in the room. Rather than relying on the heavy, exaggerated physical gags common to traditional European farces, the play functions as a sophisticated social thermometer, utilizing lightning-fast dialogue to expose the rigid gender roles, small vanities, and awkward social proprieties of upper-class Victorian society. Nicknamed the Dean of American Letters, the author strips away theatrical melodrama to pioneer a style of compact, stage-friendly drawing-room realism. The play remains a vital historical archive documenting the late nineteenth-century evolution of classic American comedy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"W.D. Howells","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49707484479738,"sku":"NEE4\/3\/07162026","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0635\/3387\/5450\/files\/IMG_3433_09eefbf3-bb4b-4d17-ae64-58b95ede2877.jpg?v=1784200701","url":"https:\/\/flippedpages.com\/products\/the-mouse-trap-and-other-farces","provider":"Flipped Pages","version":"1.0","type":"link"}