"Swat the Fly!": A One-Act Fantasy by Eleanor Gates
"Swat the Fly!" by Eleanor Gates is a one-act fantasy play written in the early 20th century. The story unfolds in a garden behind a laboratory for animal experimentation, highlighting the ethical dilemmas surrounding vivisection and animal rights. The play explores themes of compassion, cruelty, and the interconnectedness of all living beings through a humorous yet poignant narrative. The plot centers on a confrontation between a doctor experimenting on animals and a
woman inspector who questions his methods. A boy enters to feed the animals, believing they're being mistreated, which leads to a debate over the morality of animal testing. While the animals express their grievances against the doctor, they ultimately discover that a common fly is the real threat, carrying diseases that necessitate the doctor's work. In a twist, they decide to team up against the fly, realizing that it is the source of their troubles, resulting in a comical yet insightful resolution where they resolve to "swat the fly" instead of the doctor. The play cleverly uses anthropomorphic animals to discuss serious issues, blending humor with a message about the responsibility humans have towards animals and nature. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Gates, Eleanor, 1875-1951 |
|---|---|
| LoC No. | 15008838 |
| Title | "Swat the Fly!": A One-Act Fantasy |
| Note | Reading ease score: 89.2 (6th grade). Easy to read. |
| Credits | D A Alexander, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | RC: Medicine: Internal medicine |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | American drama -- 20th century |
| Subject | Flies as carriers of disease |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 65912 |
| Release Date | Jul 24, 2021 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 94 downloads in the last 30 days. |
| Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free! | |
