Try free for 30 days

Preview

1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Death and the Devil

By: Frank Wedekind, Samuel A. Eliot - translator, Denis Daly - translator
Narrated by: John Burlinson, Amanda Friday, Mark Crowle-Groves, Leanne Yau, Denis Daly
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $9.99

Buy Now for $9.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

Death and the Devil: A Dance of Death in Three Scenes by Frank Wedekind. Translated by Samuel A. Eliot and Denis Daly. Cast: The Marquis Casti-Piani - John Burlinson; Fräulein Elfriede von Malchus - Amanda Friday; Herr König - Mark Crowle-Groves; Lisiska - Leanne Yau. Stage directions read by Denis Daly. Audio edited by Denis Daly.

This play forms part of a tetralogy which focuses on one of Wedekind's obsessive themes: the destructive interplay between primal sexual urges and social convention. Each play revolves around a powerful young female character, who has the power to control and captivate men, but who in turn is destroyed by the exercise of that power.

In this play, the dominant female is Fräulein Elfriede von Malchus, an idealistic crusader who visits a brothel operated by the cynical impresario Casti-Piani in order to rescue a young woman who has fallen into his clutches.

In a perverse way, Wedekind's plays are morality tales, in which he gives a new twist to the biblical admonition; "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." In most cases, when characters finally do become aware of who they are and what they have done, the knowledge leads to their destruction. In Death and the Devil, Casti-Piani kills himself when he learns that prostitution can actually provide its victims with a path to moral glorification.

Public Domain (P)2018 The Online Stage

What listeners say about Death and the Devil

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.