The Misanthrope, Tartuffe and other plays

This volume brings together four verse translations of Molière's greatest comedies covering the best years of his prolific writing career. Actor, director, and playwright, Molière (1622-73) was one of the finest and most influential French dramatists, adept at portraying human foibles and puncturing pomposity. The School for Wives was his first great success; Tartuffe, condemned and banned for five years, his most controversial play. The Misanthrope is his acknowledged masterpiece, and The Clever Women his last, and perhaps best-constructed, verse piece. In addition this collection includes a spirited attack on his enemies and a defence of his theatre, in the form of two sparkling short prose plays, The School for Wives Criticized and The Impromptu at Versailles. These lively new translations are both accurate and eminently performable. They complement the edition of Molière's prose plays in Oxford World's Classics, Don Juan and Other Plays.