Injustice to Dou E

Injustice to Dou E (Dou E yuan)

    Alternative Title: Snow in Midsummer; The Injustice Done to Tou O; Tou O Was Wronged

    Author: Guan Hanqing

    First Performance: 13th c., China

    First English Translation: 1958

    Genre: Zaju play in 4 acts; prose and song

    Setting: The town of Chuchow in China during the Yuan dynasty, 13th c.

    Cast: 8m, 2f, extras.

A poor scholar, Dou Tien-Chang, owes money to Mrs Tsai, a widow. In order to settle his debt, he gives his only daughter, later named Dou E (Tou E, Tou Ngo), to marry Mrs Tsai's son. The son dies shortly after the wedding, so Dou E, at the age of 20, is also widowed. Angered that Dou E rejects his advances, Donkey Chang plots to kill Mrs Tsai. By mistake, however, he poisons his own father and then accuses Dou E of the murder....

[The entire page is 387 words long]

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