... thistles, and a silk purse—perhaps a Fortunatus' purse—may often be made from a sow's ear. The whole delicate texture of Ibsen's Doll's House was woven from a commonplace story of a woman who forged a cheque in order to redecorate her drawing-room. Stevenson's romance of Prince Otto (to take an example from fiction) grew out of a tragedy on ... — Play-Making - A Manual of Craftsmanship • William Archer