Upton Sinclair is best known for his novel The Jungle, an expose of the meatpacking industry. He was also a playwright whose works for the stage reflected the same progressive viewpoints found in his other writing. In The Machine, published as part of Sinclair's 1912 collection Plays of Protest, Socialist activists show a rich man's daughter the truth about the society in which she has been raised.

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[JULIA PATTERSON'S apartments in a model tenement on the lower East Side. The scene shows the living room, furnished very plainly, but in the newest taste; "arts and crafts" furniture, portraits of Morris and Ruskin on the walls; a centre table, a couple of easy chairs, a divan and many book shelves. The entrance from the outer hall is at centre; entrance to the other rooms right and left... Continue reading book >>