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On Something

by Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953)

  • Free to read
  • 4 hours to read
  • 36 chapters
  • Reading level: 7th grade

"On Something" by Hilaire Belloc is a collection of essays and reflections written during the early 20th century. The book explores various topics, including the arts, societal observations, and philosophical musings. Belloc’s distinct voice and insight provide a commentary on the simplicity of everyday life, drawing attention to the experiences and struggles of ordinary people. The opening portion introduces Belloc's thoughts on the drama and its evolution, where he argues for a return to simpler and more relatable themes in British art. He proposes that dramatists should focus on the everyday lives of the middle class, suggesting that such narratives possess profound emotional power. As an example, he hints at a play titled "The Crisis," which features a vicar, his wife, and discussions about their domestic struggles. This examination sets a tone that combines humor and criticism, inviting readers to consider the depth within mundane experiences while lamenting the complexities that overshadow them.

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  • Essays

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A Plea for the Simpler Drama

It is with the drama as with plastic art and many other things: the plain man feels that he has a right to put in his word, but he is rather afraid that the art is beyond him, and he is frightened by technicalities.

After all, these things are made for the plain man; his applause, in the long run and duly tested by time, is the main reward of the dramatist as of the painter or the sculptor. But if he is sensible he knows that his immediate judgment will be crude. However, here goes.

The plain man sees that the drama of his time has gradually passed from one phase to another of complexity in thought coupled with simplicity of incident, and it occurs to him that just one further step is needed to make something final in British art. We seem to be just on the threshold of something which would give Englishmen in the twentieth century something of the fullness that characterized the Elizabethans: but somehow or other our dramatists hesitate to cross that threshold. It cannot be that their powers are lacking: it can only be some timidity or self-torture which it is the business of the plain man to exorcise.

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Contents

Show all 36 chapters
  1. A Plea for the Simpler Drama
  2. The Crisis
  3. On a Notebook
  4. On Unknown People
  5. On a Van Tromp
  6. His Character
  7. On Thruppenny Bits
  8. On the Hotel at Palma and a Proposed Guide-Book
  9. Ulysses
  10. The Death of Wandering Peter
  11. The Tree of Knowledge
  12. A Norfolk Man
  13. The Odd People
  14. Letter of Advice and Apology to a Young Burglar
  15. The Monkey Question: An Appeal to Common Sense
  16. The Empire Builder
  17. Caedwalla
  18. A Unit of England
  19. The Relic
  20. The Ironmonger
  21. A Force in Gaul
  22. On Bridges
  23. On Bridges
  24. A Blue Book
  25. Your Honour
  26. Jack Bimber
  27. Recommendations
  28. Perigeux of the Perigord
  29. The Position
  30. Home
  31. The Way to Fairyland
  32. The Portrait of a Child
  33. On Experience
  34. On Immortality
  35. On Sacramental Things
  36. In Patria

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About this edition

This free edition of On Something by Hilaire Belloc comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #7354, released 2005-01-01. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Essays, Letters & Speeches, British Literature.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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