Henrik Ibsen:

The following example is a fragment (the front matter, and pages 102 to 105, belonging to the fifth act) of Henrik Ibsen’s play , encoded and made available by the University of Virginia Library, for their Text Collection.

The text of the play is preceded by front matter, consisting of a title page, and a table of contents.

The body of the play (body) consists of 5 acts, in which no further scenes are discerned. Acts are encoded in div1 elements, with an act value for their type attributes. The first act is preceded by a character list, encoded in a separate div1 element, of type section. This character list is transcribed as part of the text’s body, in the form of a simple list, with role names and descriptions as plain text inside item elements. Inside the same div1 element, the cast list is followed by two paragraphs (p). As descriptions of global aspects of the play’s settings, they could have been wrapped in a more expressive set element, were they transcribed as part of the text’s front part (set is only allowed as a child element of front). Inside the acts, each speech is marked with sp, indicating the speaker as it occurs in the source (speaker), without formal reference to the character’s definition in the cast list. This link could be provided with a who attribute on sp.

Stage instructions are encoded inside stage. The speeches are encoded as prose paragraphs (p). Notice, however, how this encoding makes abstraction of physical lines: these are explicitly encoded using the lb element.

Besides the regular drama elements, this fragment also contains one footnote, which is transcribed as: "Livslognen,"

literally "the life-lie."

right before the corresponding page break (pb). From this encoding it is not clear, however, whether this is a transcribed authorial annotation, or an annotation made by the editor; the resp attribute could have avoided this confusion. Moreover, as it apparently concerns a translation, the contents of the note could have been encoded more semantically as a term - gloss pair. The note indicator in the running text is encoded as * where it occurs in the text.

THE WILD DUCK THE LEAGUE OF YOUTH ROSMERSHOLM By HENRIK IBSEN BONI AND LIVERIGHT, INC. PUBLISHERS — NEW YORK Printed in the United States of America CONTENTS PAGE THE WILD DUCK ACT I................. 3 ACT II................ 24 ACT III............... 48 ACT IV................ 74 ACT V................. 98 THE LEAGUE OF YOUTH ACT I................. 123 ACT II................ 148 ACT III............... 178 ACT IV................ 199 ACT V................. 227 ROSMERSHOLM ACT I................. 251 ACT II................ 278 ACT III............... 304 ACT IV................ 326 CHARACTERS WERLE, a merchant, manufacturer, etc. GREGERS WERLE, his son. OLD EKDAL. HIALMAR EKDAL, his son, a photographer. GINA EKDAL, Hjalmar's wife. HEDVIG, their daughter, a girl of fourteen. MRS. SORBY, Werle's housekeeper. RELLING, a doctor. MOLVIK, student of theology. GRABERG, Werle's bookkeeper. PETTERSEN, Werle's servant. JENSEN, a hired waiter. A FLABBY GENTLEMAN. A THIN-HAIRED GENTLEMAN. A SHORT-SIGHTED GENTLEMAN. SIX OTHER GENTLEMEN, guests at Werle's dinner-party. SEVERAL HIRED WAITERS.

The first act passes in WERLE'S house, the remaining acts at HJALMAR EKDAL'S.

Pronunciation of Names: GREGERS WERLE = Grayghers Verle; HIALMAR EKDAL = Yalmar Aykdal; GINA = Cheena; GRABERG = Groberg; JENSEN = Yensen.

ACT FIFTH Relling.

Well, you see, I'm supposed to be a sort of a doctor — save the mark! I can't but give a hand to the poor sick folk who live under the same roof with me.

Gregers.

Oh, indeed! Hialmar Ekdal is sick too, is he!

Relling.

Most people are, worse luck.

Gregers.

And what remedy are you applying in Hialmar's case?

Relling.

My usual one. I am cultivating the life-illusion* in him.

Gregers.

Life-illusion? I didn't catch what you said.

Relling.

Yes, I said illusion. For illusion, you know, is the stimulating principle.

Gregers.

May I ask with what illusion Hialmar is inoculated?

Relling.

No, thank you; I don't betray professional secrets to quacksalvers. You would probably go and muddle his case still more than you have already. But my method is infallible. I have applied it to Molvik as well. I have made him "daemonic." That's the blister I have to put on his neck.

Gregers.

Is he not really daemonic then?

Relling.

What the devil do you mean by daemonic! It's only a piece of gibberish I've invented to keep up a spark of life in him. But for that, the poor harmless creature would have succumbed to self-contempt and despair many a long year ago. And then the old lieutenant! But he has hit upon his own cure, you see.

Gregers.

Lieutenant Ekdal? What of him?

Relling.

Just think of the old bear-hunter shutting himself up in that dark garret to shoot rabbits! I tell you there is not a happier sportsman in the world than that old man pottering about in there among all that rubbish. The four or five withered Christmas-trees he has saved up are the same to him as the whole great fresh Hoidal forest; the cock and the hens are big game-birds in the fir-tops; and the rabbits that flop about the garret floor are the bears * "Livslognen,"

literally "the life-lie."

he has to battle with — the mighty hunter of the mountains!

Gregers.

Poor unfortunate old man! Yes; he has indeed had to narrow the ideals of his youth.

Relling.

While I think of it, Mr. Werle, junior — don't use that foreign word: ideals. We have the excellent native word: lies.

Gregers.

Do you think the two things are related?

Relling.

Yes, just about as closely as typhus and putrid fever.

Gregers.

Dr. Relling, I shall not give up the struggle until I have rescued Hialmar from your clutches!

Relling.

So much the worse for him. Rob the average man of his life-illusion, and you rob him of his happiness at the same stroke. (To HEDVIG, who comes in from the sitting-room.) Well, little wild-duck-mother, I'm just going down to see whether papa is still lying meditating upon that wonderful invention of his.

[Goes out by passage door. Gregers (approaches HEDVIG).

I can see by your face that you have not yet done it.

Hedvig.

What? Oh, that about the wild duck! No.

Gregers.

I suppose your courage failed when the time came.

Hedvig.

No, that wasn't it. But when I awoke this morning and remembered what we had been talking about, it seemed so strange.

Gregers.

Strange?

Hedvig.

Yes, I don't know — Yesterday evening, at the moment, I thought there was something so delightful about it; but since I have slept and thought of it again, it somehow doesn't seem worth while.

Gregers.

Ah, I thought you could not have grown up quite unharmed in this house.

Hedvig.

I don't care about that, if only father would come up —

Gregers.

Oh, if only your eyes had been opened to that which gives life its value — if you possessed the true, joyous, fearless spirit of sacrifice, you would soon see how he would come up to you. — But I believe in you still, Hedvig.

[He goes out by the passage door. HEDVIG wanders about the room for a time; she is on the point of going into the kitchen when a knock is heard at the garret door. HEDVIG goes over and opens it a little; old EKDAL comes out; she pushes the door to again.

Ekdal.

H'm, it's not much fun to take one's morning walk alone.

Hedvig.

Wouldn't you like to go shooting, grandfather?

Ekdal.

It's not the weather for it to-day. It's so dark there, you can scarcely see where you're going.

Hedvig.

Do you never want to shoot anything besides the rabbits?

Ekdal.

Do you think the rabbits aren't good enough?

Hedvig.

Yes, but what about the wild duck?

Ekdal.

Ho-ho! are you afraid I shall shoot your wild duck? Never in the world. Never.

Hedvig.

No, I suppose you couldn't; they say it's very difficult to shoot wild ducks.

Ekdal.

Couldn't! Should rather think I could.

Hedvig.

How would you set about it, grandfather? — I don't mean with my wild duck, but with others?

Ekdal.

I should take care to shoot them in the breast, you know; that's the surest place. And then you must shoot against the feathers, you see — not the way of the feathers.

Hedvig.

Do they die then, grandfather?

Ekdal.

Yes, they die right enough — when you shoot properly. — Well, I must go and brush up a bit. H'm — understand — h'm.

[Goes into his room.

[HEDVIG waits a little, glances towards the sitting-room door, goes over to the book-case, stands on tip-toe, takes the double-barrelled pistol down from the shelf, and looks at it. GINA, with brush and duster, comes from the sitting-room. HEDVIG hastily lays down the pistol, unobserved.

Adapted from a TEI P4 encoding of Henrik Ibsen’s play (Ibsen, 1918). TEI XML source available from .

Christopher Marlowe:

The following example is a fragment (the front matter, scene 2 of the first act, and back matter) of Christopher Marlowe’s , encoded and made available by the Perseus Digital Library.

The text of the play is preceded by front matter, consisting of a character list, and a prologue. The character list is encoded as a castList structure within a div container in the front part. The cast list mainly consists of loose descriptions of the roles’ names (role) per character (castItem); some have a role description in roleDesc. The Sins are grouped in a labeled castGroup element; another castGroup groups Charles, Darius, and Alexander without explicit label. The cast list is concluded by a list of minor characters, grouped in a castItem type="list" element, which overrides the default value of role for the type attribute on castList. The front matter is concluded with a prologue (prologue) consisting of a speech (sp) of 28 lines (l) spoken by the Chorus, as indicated by the who attribute on sp, which refers to the ID code of the Chorus role in the cast list.

The play is concluded by an 8 line epilogue (spoken by the Chorus), an epigraph, and trailing material in trailer. These are grouped in the back section.

The body of the play (body) consists of 20 scenes, grouped into 6 acts. Acts are encoded in div1 elements, in which the scenes occur as div2 elements. Each speech is marked with sp, containing the indication of the speaker as it occurs in the source text (speaker), as well as a formal indication (using the who attribute). Stage instructions are encoded inside stage. Notice how the first 10 speeches contain paragraphs (p), while the last 4 are made up of verse lines (l).

Finally, notice how this text is encoded as any other text, resulting in the use of many common TEI elements (name, foreign, orig / reg, add, ...). A system of milestone unit="page" elements is used to mark the page boundaries (as an equivalent to the shorter pb element), while each visual line break is explicitly marked with a lb element, if it does not coincide with a verse line.In this transcription, the join element is used to group the lines of the play in alternative groups, thus overriding the structural organisation in speeches. Although the purpose of this alternative grouping is unknown to us, it could well be for analytical reasons. The join element lists pointers to the identification codes of the elements to be grouped as a space-separated list in the target attribute. The purpose of this element is to formally indicate elements that should be joined. The actual join is supposed to be performed in further processing (e.g., by means of XSLT transformations). For a detailed account of the use of join, see section 16.7 Aggregation of the TEI Guidelines.

Dramatis Personae Chorus Faustus Wagner Good Angel Bad Angel, (Spirit) Valdes Cornelius First Scholar Second Scholar Lucifer Mephostophilis Mephistophilis a Clown (Robin) Beelzebub Sins Pride Covetousness Envy Wrath Gluttony Sloth Lechery Dick, a clown The Pope (Adrian) Raymond, King of Hungary Bruno First Cardinal (of France) Second Cardinal (of Padua) The Bishop (of Rheims) a Friar a Vintner Martino Frederick Benvolio The German Emperor Charles The Duke of Saxony Darius, Alexander, his Paramour 1st Soldier 2nd Soldier a Horse-corser Horse-courser a Carter a Hostess The Duke of Vanholt his Duchess a Servant Third Scholar Helen (of Greece) an Old Man Devils, Bishops, Monks, Friars, Attendants, Soldiers, and two Cupids.

The Tragicall Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus (1616) Enter Chorus. Not marching in the fields of Thrasimen Thrasimene , Where Mars did mate the warlicke warlike Carthagens, Nor sporting in the dalliance of loue love In Courts courts of Kings kings , where state is ouer-turn'd overturned , Nor in the pompe pomp of proud audacious deeds, Intends our Muse to vaunt his heauenly heavenly verse . Onely Only this, Gentles gentles : we must now performe perform The forme form of Faustus ' fortunes, good or bad , . And now to patient iudgements judgments we appeale appeal , And speake speak for Faustus in his infancie infancy . Now is he borne born , of parents base of stocke stock , In Germany, within a Towne town cal'd called Rhodes : . At riper yeares years to Wittenberg he went, Whereas his kinsmen chiefly brought him vp up ; . So much he profits in Diuinitie divinity , That shortly he was grac'd graced with Doctors Doctor's name, Excelling all, and sweetly can dispute In th'heauenly th'heavenly matters of Theologie theology , . Till swolne swoll'n with cunning , of a selfe self conceit, His waxen wings did mount aboue above his reach And melting, heauens heavens conspir'd conspired his ouer-throw overthrow : , For falling to a diuellish devilish exercise, And glutted now with learnings learning's golden gifts, He surfets surfeits vpon upon cursed Necromancie necromancy : . Nothing so sweet as Magicke magic is to him; Which he preferres prefers before his chiefest blisse bliss , And this the man that in his study sits . Enter two Schollers Scholars . 1. Sch. Scholar

I wonder what's become of Faustus that was wont To make our schooles schools ring, with sic probo. Enter Wag Wagner .

2. Sch. Scholar

That shall we presently know, here comes his boy.

1. Sch. Scholar

How now , sirra sirrah , ! wherets Where's thy Maister master ?

Wag. Wagner

God in heauen heaven knowes knows .

2. Sch. Scholar

Why dost not thou know then ! ?

Wag. Wagner

Yes, I know, but that followes follows not.

2. Sch. Scholar

Go to , sirra sirrah , ; leaue leave your iesting jesting , & and tell vs us where he is.

Wag. Wagner

That followes follows not by force of argument, which you, being Licentiats licentiates , should stand vpon upon , . therefore Therefore , acknow- ledge your errour error , and be attentiue attentive .

2. Sch. Scholar

Then you will not tell vs us ?

Wag. Wagner

You are deceiu'd deceived , for I will tell you : . yet Yet if you were not dunces, you would neuer never aske ask me such a question : . For is he not Corpus naturale? and And is not that Mobile mobile ? Then wherefore should you aske ask me such a question? But that I am by nature flegmatique phlegmatic , slow to wrath, & and prone to letcherie lechery (to loue love I would say) it were not for you to come within for- tie ty foot of the place of execution, although I do not doubt but to see you both hangd'd hanged the next Sessions sessions . Thus , hauing having tri- umpht umphed ouer over you, I will set my countenance like a Precisian precision , and begin to speake speak thus: Truely truly my deere dear brethren, my Mr master . is within at dinner, with Valdes and Cornelius, as this wine, if it could speake speak , would informe inform your Worships worships : . and And so the Lord blesse bless you, preserue preserve you, and keepe keep you, my deere dear brethren. Exit.

1. Sch. Scholar O Faustus, then I feare fear yt it which I haue have long suspected: That thou art falne fallen into that damned Art art For which they two are infamous through the world. 2. Sch. Scholar Were he a stranger, not allyed allayed to me, The danger of his soule soul would make me mourne mourn : . But come, let vs us go, and informe inform the Rector : . It may be his graue grave counsell counsel may reclaime reclaim him. 1. Sch. Scholar I feare fear me, nothing will reclaime reclaim him now. 2. Sch. Scholar Yet let vs us see what we can do. Exeunt. Enter Chorus. Cut is the branch that might haue have growne grown full straight And burned is Apollo's Apollo 's Lawrell laurel bough , That some time sometime grew within this learned man , . Faustus is gone , ; regard his hellish fall, Whose fiendfull fiendful fortune may exhort the wise Onely Only to wonder at vnlawfull unlawful things : , Whose deepnesse deepness doth intice entice such forward wits , To practice more then than heauenly heavenly power permits.

Terminat hora diem, Terminat terminat Author auctor opus.

FINIS. Adapted from a TEI P4 XML encoding of Christopher Marlowe’s play (Marlowe 1616). TEI XML source available from .

Herman Melville:

This example features the first two pages of chapter 40 of Herman Melville’s novel :

Pages 214 and 215 of

This example nicely illustrates a mixture of different genres. The main structure is a novel, divided in chapters, most of which consist of narrative paragraphs. However, this chapter (recognisable as such by the heading Chapter XL), has the form of embedded drama, with speeches (sp), containing indications of the speaking characters (speaker) and the speech contents. Moreover, some of the speeches of this drama fragment consist of prose paragraphs (p), while others are expressed in verse lines (l). The second speech on p. 214 even mixes paragraphs and verse lines. Notice, also, how stage directions (stage) occur between speaker indications and speech contents. The first speech of p. 215 contains an embedded stage direction.

Of course, the main structure of this text will have the form of a novel, consisting of chapter text divisions, without any traditional drama front matter (such as cast lists, epilogues, etc.).

CHAPTER XL Midnight, Forecastle Harpooneers and sailors (Foresail rises and discovers the watch standing, lounging, leaning, and lying in various attitudes, all singing in chorus.) Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish ladies! Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain! Our captain's commanded.-- 1st Nantucket sailor.

Oh, boys, don't be sentimental; it's bad for the digestion! Take a tonic, follow me!

(Sings, and all follow) Our captain stood upon the deck, A spy-glass in his hand, A-viewing of those gallant whales That blew at every strand. Oh, your tubs in your boats, my boys, And by your braces stand, And we'll have one of those fine whales, Hand, boys, over hand! So, be cheery, my lads! may your hearts never fail! While the bold harpooneer is striking the whale! Mate's voice from the quarter-deck.

Eight bells there, forward!

2nd Nantucket sailor.

Avast the chorus! Eight bells there! d'ye hear, bell-boy? Strike the bell eight, thou Pip! thou blackling! and let me call the watch. I've the sort of mouth for that--the hogshead mouth. So, so, (thrusts his head down the scuttle,) Star-bo-l-e-e-n-s, a-h-o-y! Eight bells there below! Tumble up!

Dutch sailor.

Grand snoozing to-night, maty; fat night for that. I mark this in our old Mogul's wine; it's quite as deadening to some as filliping to others. We sing; they sleep--ay, lie down there, like ground-tier butts. At 'em again! There, take this copper-pump, and hail 'em through it. Tell 'em to avast dreaming of their lasses. Tell 'em it's the resurrection; they must kiss their last, and come to judgment. That's the way--that's it; thy throat ain't spoiled with eating Amsterdam butter.

French sailor.

Hist, boys! let's have a jig or two before we ride to anchor in Blanket Bay. What say ye? There comes the other watch. Stand by all legs! Pip! little Pip! hurrah with your tambourine!

Pip. (Sulky and sleepy.)

Don't know where it is.

French sailor.

Beat thy belly, then, and wag thy ears. Jig it, men, I say; merry's the word; hurrah! Damn me, won't you dance? Form, now, Indian-file, and gallop into the double-shuffle? Throw yourselves! Legs! legs!

TBE-crafted example encoding of Herman Melville’s novel (Melville 1922).

William Shakespeare:

The following example is a fragment (the front matter, and scene 2 of the second act) of William Shakespeare’s , encoded and made available by the Perseus Digital Library.

The text of the play is preceded by front matter, consisting of a character list, and a prologue. The character list is encoded as a castList structure within a div1 container in the front part. The cast list consists of castItem elements, listing the roles (role) with their description (roleDesc). Each role is identified with the xml:id attribute. Three named groups of characters are grouped into castGroup elements; one nameless group of minor characters is listed as castItem type="list". Notice, how in the latter type of lists, both role and roleDesc are used a bit indiscriminate at first sight (e.g., both Romans and Goths and Romans occur). On second sight, however, role appears to be used for all speaking characters, who are formally identified with an xml:id attribute. The front matter is concluded with a prologue (prologue) consisting of 28 lines spoken by the Chorus. The cast list is succeeded by a general description of the setting in which the action takes place, in the set element.

The body of the play (body) consists of 14 scenes, grouped into 5 acts. Acts are encoded in div1 elements, in which the scenes occur as div2 elements. Each speech is marked with sp, containing the indication of the speaker as it occurs in the source text (speaker), as well as a formal indication (using the who attribute). Stage instructions are encoded inside stage. The speeches are encoded as verse lines (l) Notice, however, how logical lines (l) are distinguished from typographic lines: the latter are explicitly encoded with the lb element, occurring inside l.Notice, how the lb elements in this example make use of the ed (edition) attribute, for indicating the specific edition in which the specific line breaks occur. For an explanation of this feature, see section 3.10.3 Milestone Elements of the TEI Guidelines.

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ SATURNINUS son to the late Emperor of Rome and afterwards declared Emperor BASSIANUS brother to Saturninus; in love with Lavinia TITUS ANDRONICUS a noble Roman general against the Goths MARCUS ANDRONICUS tribune of the people and brother to Titus sons to Titus Andronicus. LUCIUS QUINTUS MARTIUS MUTIUS YOUNG Lucius a boy, son to Lucius PUBLIUS son to Marcus the Tribune kinsmen to Titus. SEMPRONIUS CAIUS VALENTINE AEMILIUS a noble Roman sons to Tamora. ALARBUS DEMETRIUS CHIRON AARON a Moor, beloved by Tamora A Captain Tribune Messenger and Clown Romans Goths and Romans TAMORA Queen of the Goths LAVINIA daughter to Titus Andronicus A Nurse Senators Tribunes Officers Soldiers and Attendants

Scene: Rome, and the country near it.

ACT II SCENE II A forest near Rome. Horns and cry of hounds heard. Enter TITUS ANDRONICUS, with Hunters, etc., MARCUS, LUCIUS, QUINTUS, and MARTIUS. Tit. The hunt is up, the morn is bright and grey, The fields are fragrant and the woods are green: Uncouple here and let us make a bay And wake the emperor and his lovely bride And rouse the prince and ring a hunter's peal, That all the court may echo with the noise. Sons, let it be your charge, as it is ours, To attend the emperor's person carefully: I have been troubled in my sleep this night, But dawning day new comfort hath inspired. A cry of hounds, and horns winded in a peal. Enter SATURNINUS, TAMORA, BASSIANUS, LAVINIA, DEMETRIUS, CHIRON, and Attendants. Many good morrows to your majesty; Madam, to you as many and as good: I promised your grace a hunter's peal. Sat. And you have rung it lustily, my lord; Somewhat too early for new-married ladies. Bas. Lavinia, how say you? Lav. I say, no; I have been broad awake two hours and more. Sat. Come on, then; horse and chariots let us have, And to our sport. To TamoraMadam, now shall ye see Our Roman hunting. Marc. I have dogs, my lord, Will rouse the proudest panther in the chase, And climb the highest promontory top. Tit. And I have horse will follow where the game Makes way, and run like swallows o'er the plain. Dem. Chiron, we hunt not, we, with horse nor hound, But hope to pluck a dainty doe to ground. Exeunt. Adapted from a TEI P4 encoding of William Shakespeare’s play (Shakespeare 1594). TEI XML source available from .

Oscar Wilde:

This example features a fragment (the front matter and first page) of Oscar Wilde’s , a play in three acts. In this transcription, no further scenes are discerned within the acts.

THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY: John Worthing, J.P. Algernon Moncrieff Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D. Merriman, Butler Lane, Manservant Lady Bracknell Hon. Gwendolen Fairfax Cecily Cardew Miss Prism, Governess

THE SCENES OF THE PLAY: Act I. Algernon Moncrieff's Flat in Half-Moon Street, W. Act II. The Garden at the Manor House, Woolton. Act III. Drawing-room at the Manor House, Woolton. TIME: The Present

The Importance of Being Earnest FIRST ACT Scene Morning-room in Algernon's flat in Half-Moon Street. The room is luxuriously and artistically furnished. The sound of a piano is heard in the adjoining room. Lane is arranging afternoon tea on the table, and after the music has ceased, Algernon enters. Algernon.

Did you hear what I was playing, Lane?

Lane.

I didn't think it polite to listen, sir.

Algernon.

I'm sorry for that, for your sake. I don't play accurately—anyone can play accurately—but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned sentiment is my forte. I keep science for Life.

Lane.

Yes, sir.

Algernon.

And, speaking of the science of Life, have you got the cucumber sandwiches cut for Lady Bracknell?

Lane.

Yes, sir.

[Hands them on a salver.] Algernon.

[Inspects them, takes two, and sits down on the sofa.] Oh! … by the way, Lane, I see from your book that on Thursday night, when Lord Shoreman and Mr. Worthing were dining with me, eight bottles of champagne are entered as having been consumed.

Lane.

Yes, sir; eight bottles and a pint.

Algernon.

Why is it that at a bachelor's establishment the servants invariably drink the champagne? I ask merely for information.

Lane.

I attribute it to the superior quality of the wine, sir. I have often observed that in married households the champagne is rarely of a first-rate brand.

Algernon.

Good Heavens! Is marriage so demoralizing as that?

Lane.

I believe it is a very pleasant state, sir. I have had very little experience of it myself up to the present. I have only been married once. That was in consequence of a misunderstanding between myself and a young person.

Algernon.

[Languidly.] I don't know that I am much interested in your family life, Lane.

Lane.

No, sir; it is not a very interesting subject. I never think of it myself.

Adapted from a TEI P3 SGML encoding of Oscar Wilde’s play , in the anthology (Wilde 1930). TEI SGML source available from .

The actual text is preceded by a character list and a list of the scenes, both encoded as div elements inside the front part of the text, with appropriate values for their type attributes. The character list is encoded as a plain list structure, containing item elements for the characters (divided into sub-lists of male and female characters). Role descriptions are encoded with emph elements. Whereas the specialised castList, castGroup and castItem, role, and roleDesc elements could have been used, this is a perfectly valid (though less expressive) interpretation and application of the TEI elements. The scenes are listed in a stage element, which is a bit more controversial, as the TEI Guidelines make a clear distinction between the stage element (stage directions in or in between speeches) and set (a description of the setting, time, locale, appearance, etc., of the action of a play, typically found in the front matter of a printed performance text (not a stage direction)) elements. Because it is wrapped inside a div structure, this is valid TEI, but the encoding could probably be improved to:

THE SCENES OF THE PLAY: Act I. Algernon Moncrieff's Flat in Half-Moon Street, W. Act II. The Garden at the Manor House, Woolton. Act III. Drawing-room at the Manor House, Woolton. TIME: The Present

The play itself is encoded as a div1 level text division, in which each act is wrapped in a div2 element. Inside the speeches (sp), the speakers are transcribed as speaker, and the speech as prose paragraphs (p). Stage directions (stage) occur between and in the speeches. Notice how at the beginning of the act, the view element is used inside a stage direction, to describe the visual aspects of the setting. This is probably a liberal interpretation of the semantics of this element, which is more geared to the visual context of some part of a screen play, viz. the description of what’s on a screen. The view element doesn’t seem strictly necessary here: a stage type="setting" would probably convey the same information.