The Miser and Other Plays
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Product Description
Product Description
Molière combined all the traditional elements of comedy - wit, slapstick, spectacle and satire - to create richly sophisticated and enduringly popular dramas. The Miser is the story of Harpagon, a mean-spirited old man who becomes obsessed with making money out of the marriage of his children, while The Hypochondriac, another study in obsession, is a brilliant satire on the medical profession. The School for Wives, in which an ageing domestic tyrant is foiled in his plans to marry his young ward, provoked such an outcry that Molière followed it with The School for Wives Criticized - a witty retort to those who disapproved of the play's supposed immorality. And while Don Juan is the darkest and most tragic of all the plays in this collection, it still mocks the soullessness of the skinflint with scathing irony.
About the Author
Molière was born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in Paris in 1622. He began studying law but gave it up in favour of an acting career. A gifted actor, director and writer, he is remembered as the
creator of French classical comedy. He died in 1673 aftera performance of The Hypochondriac.
John Wood was involved with theatrical productions of Molière as a producer and translator.
David Coward is a Professor of French at the University of Leeds. He has translated many French novels and plays.
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chrysalde: You're here, you say, to marry her? Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
chrysalde: You're here, you say, to marry her? Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The introduction to this book helps put the plays in their correct context with the times they were written and the traditions of the French theatre. Moliere was an actor-manager/ playwright who wrote farces and satires that still please audiences today. His characters are three dimensional and believable, and he shows great insight into psychology and observational comedy. The great thing about reading these plays is the scarcity of stage directions making it is to read without loads of distractions. The plays are full of scintillating dialogue and the characters play off each other. In this book you have farces on marriage, satires on the medical profession and making money, along with his great satire 'The School for Wives Criticized' where he mocks intellectual pretensions and verbiosity. This book is an enjoyable read that shows the range of Moliere, and that he knew what the paying public want.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Don Juan and The Hypocondriac
22 July 2008
Format:Paperback
Moliere is always a treat, and his plays always seem to conceal their age. This selection is no exception. The John Wood/David Coward translations, however, do not have the lively contemporary fluidity of those of Richard Wilbur, whose elegant flair for Moliere's conversational prose is unmatched. But by all means, try both translations and decide for yourself.
Don Juan
This play is a fun read, and it is a gem when performed well. The contemporary American reader lives in a land of waning religiosity, yet one in which theocracy is ironically gaining influence in national politics. It is in this context that we have to smile, if not laugh, when Don Juan says,
"It's no longer shameful to be a dissembler; hypocrisy is now a fashionable vice and all the fashionable vices pass for virtues. The part of the God-fearing man is the best possible role to play nowadays, and in our present society the hypocrite's profession has extraordinary advantages. It's an art whose dishonesty always goes unchallenged...The hypocrite, by means of pious pretenses, attaches himself to the devout, and anyone who then assails him is set upon by a great phalanx of the godly...The true believers are easily hoodwinked by the false...I can't tell you how many men I know who, by means of a feigned devotion, have glossed over the sins of their youth, wrapped themselves in the cloak of religion, and in that holy disguise are now free to be the worst of scoundrels!"
Amazon's rules prohibit me from disclosing the ending, though it has been known for some 331 years, but I will tell you that it leaves Don Juan's valet, Sganarelle, wondering how he'll ever get his back pay.
The Hypocondriac
The plot of The Hypocondriac, also translated The Imaginary Invalid, is riotously funny. Argan, the protagonist, is the hypochondriac, and everyone knows he's not sick; he just loves the attention and the pity he gets by being chronically ill. There is a ton of criticism of the medical profession, and the reader must keep in mind that, considering the state of medical science 350 years ago, the derision was entirely warranted. Argan arranges a marriage for his daughter, Angelique, with a young doctor, who he hopes will minister to his ills. Angelique is in love with Cleante, and resists the arrangement. In a subplot, Argan's wife, Beline, tries through a conspiracy with a notary, to disinherit Argan's daughters and get his wealth for herself. Argan's simple, but ingenious trickery brings both Beline's contempt and Angelique's love to light and the lovers are united.
Moliere wrote The Hypocondriac to be staged as a musical comedy, with singing and dance interspersed amongst the drama. It is a difficult play to direct, and difficult to stage. Any theater company which attempts it deserves credit, but the risk of failure is ever present.
Don Juan
This play is a fun read, and it is a gem when performed well. The contemporary American reader lives in a land of waning religiosity, yet one in which theocracy is ironically gaining influence in national politics. It is in this context that we have to smile, if not laugh, when Don Juan says,
"It's no longer shameful to be a dissembler; hypocrisy is now a fashionable vice and all the fashionable vices pass for virtues. The part of the God-fearing man is the best possible role to play nowadays, and in our present society the hypocrite's profession has extraordinary advantages. It's an art whose dishonesty always goes unchallenged...The hypocrite, by means of pious pretenses, attaches himself to the devout, and anyone who then assails him is set upon by a great phalanx of the godly...The true believers are easily hoodwinked by the false...I can't tell you how many men I know who, by means of a feigned devotion, have glossed over the sins of their youth, wrapped themselves in the cloak of religion, and in that holy disguise are now free to be the worst of scoundrels!"
Amazon's rules prohibit me from disclosing the ending, though it has been known for some 331 years, but I will tell you that it leaves Don Juan's valet, Sganarelle, wondering how he'll ever get his back pay.
The Hypocondriac
The plot of The Hypocondriac, also translated The Imaginary Invalid, is riotously funny. Argan, the protagonist, is the hypochondriac, and everyone knows he's not sick; he just loves the attention and the pity he gets by being chronically ill. There is a ton of criticism of the medical profession, and the reader must keep in mind that, considering the state of medical science 350 years ago, the derision was entirely warranted. Argan arranges a marriage for his daughter, Angelique, with a young doctor, who he hopes will minister to his ills. Angelique is in love with Cleante, and resists the arrangement. In a subplot, Argan's wife, Beline, tries through a conspiracy with a notary, to disinherit Argan's daughters and get his wealth for herself. Argan's simple, but ingenious trickery brings both Beline's contempt and Angelique's love to light and the lovers are united.
Moliere wrote The Hypocondriac to be staged as a musical comedy, with singing and dance interspersed amongst the drama. It is a difficult play to direct, and difficult to stage. Any theater company which attempts it deserves credit, but the risk of failure is ever present.
10 of 14 people found the following review helpful
the miser and other plays
31 May 2000
Format:Mass Market Paperback
moliere is one of the great comic genuises of our time. The miser, which is perhaps the most well known and definately my personal favorite play in this book, is a great example of his quick wit and irony. this translation, while for clarity completely perfect, seems to stray a little from other and more beautiful translations of this play i have read. However, what a treat for the actor and the reader alike. Second only to the misanthrope (and maybe Tartuffe) this, one of Moliere's classics, is a must read. Note also, for the actor, that there are some wonderful scenes that require great timing in this play and would be wonderful as a duo audition piece.
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