The waltz of the dogs : A play in four acts by Leonid Andreyev
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"The waltz of the dogs" by Leonid Andreyev is a play written in the early 20th century. This intense psychological drama tracks the unraveling of precise, respected banker Henry Tile after his fiancée Elizabeth betrays him, as he hardens into a manipulative schemer, preys on the pliable Alexandrov (“Feklusha”), clashes with his cynical brother Carl, and flirts with theft, disguise, and domination. It explores betrayal, identity, and moral rot amid urban gloom,
with the mocking refrain of Henry’s childlike “Waltz of the Dogs” underscoring his descent. The opening of this play sets the fall in motion: in Henry’s still-unfinished flat, a letter arrives revealing Elizabeth has married another, and Henry’s stunned fury leaves him alone in a barren room, pacing, raging, and pounding the piano. A year later, Carl bullies the servant for a key, needles Feklusha, and crassly proposes profiting from Henry’s life insurance, while Henry—now feared at the bank—confides to Feklusha a grand plan to steal a million and flee abroad. After Henry and Feklusha go drinking, Carl sneaks in with Elizabeth, now Carl’s lover, who wavers between guilt and a lingering attachment to Henry before they’re spooked by imagined footsteps. On a foggy canal, Henry intoxicates and terrifies Feklusha with boasts of crime and omnipotence, then brings a streetwalker, “Happy Jennie,” back to the flat, where he drinks, alternately cajoles and humiliates them, rehearses an English disguise, and forces them to whirl to his taunting “Waltz of the Dogs.” At the start of the final excerpt, Elizabeth returns with Carl; he boasts he will marry her, while Feklusha reveals Henry has been insured and produces a forged suicide note—evidence of a looming plot as the atmosphere tightens toward crime. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Andreyev, Leonid, 1871-1919 |
|---|---|
| Translator | Bernstein, Herman, 1876-1935 |
| LoC No. | 22018957 |
| Title | The waltz of the dogs : A play in four acts |
| Original Publication | New York: The Macmillan Company, 1922. |
| Credits | Tim Lindell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PG: Language and Literatures: Slavic (including Russian), Languages and Literature |
| Subject | Dramatists, Russian -- 20th century |
| Subject | Russian drama -- 20th century |
| Subject | Drama -- 20th century |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 78902 |
| Release Date | Jun 21, 2026 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 852 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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