Convict melodrama

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A convict melodrama is a type of melodrama set in Australia during the convict era. They normally revolved around stories of innocent people wrongly accused of a crime who were transported to Australia as convicts. The best known work in this field was the novel For the Term of His Natural Life , which was adapted into various plays and films. [1]

Contents

These melodramas were highly popular in novel, theatre and film form in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. They had their origins in novels such as Les Misérables . [2]

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Films

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References

  1. "Marcus Clarke". The West Australian . Perth: National Library of Australia. 25 September 1937. p. 4. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  2. "Innocent Convicts and Respectable Bushrangers: History and the Nation in Melbourne Melodrama, 1890–1914" by Wolf, Gabrielle from Journal of Australian Studies, No. 81, accessed 5 May 2013