author
Henry Arthur Jones
1851–1929
A major voice in late Victorian theater, this English dramatist rose from melodrama to smart, socially charged plays that helped shape the stage of his time. He is especially remembered for The Silver King and for probing questions of class, morality, and public respectability.
2 Audiobooks
Dolly Reforming Herself: A Comedy in Four Acts
by Henry Arthur Jones
Michael and His Lost Angel: A Play in Five Acts
by Henry Arthur Jones
About the author
Born in Buckinghamshire in 1851, Henry Arthur Jones became one of the best-known English playwrights of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He first won wide attention with the melodrama The Silver King in 1882, written with Henry Herman, and went on to build a prolific career in the theater.
As his work developed, he became closely associated with Victorian and Edwardian "society" drama. His plays often explored moral conflict, social pressure, and the rules governing polite life, and titles such as The Middleman, Judah, The Liars, and Mrs Dane's Defence helped establish his reputation as a serious and influential dramatist.
Jones was also known for his strong opinions about the theater and public life, and his work is often described as a conservative answer to some of the more radical ideas circulating on the modern stage. He died in London in 1929, leaving behind a large body of plays that offer a vivid picture of the values and tensions of his era.