"The Frozen Deep" is a melodrama by Wilkie Collins, first performed in 1857. Set against the backdrop of a doomed Arctic expedition, the story follows Richard Wardour, a brooding sailor who secretly loves Clara Burnham. Clara, however, loves Frank Aldersley, a fellow explorer unknown to Wardour. When both men join the ill-fated Franklin search expedition, they become bitter rivals in the frozen wilderness. Wardour discovers Aldersley's identity and plots revenge, but ultimately sacrifices his own life to save his rival. This moving tale of love, jealousy, and redemption is famously said to have inspired Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities."
