‘Just be sincere, and as a man of honour, Say nothing that does not come from the heart.’
The plays in this volume - Cinna, The Misanthrope, Andromache and Phaedra - span only thirty-seven years, but make up the defining period of French theatre. In Corneille’s Cinna (1641), absolute power is explored in ancient Rome, while Moliere’s The Misanthrope (1666), the only comedy in this collection, sees its anti-hero reject society for its hypocrisy. Here also are two key plays by Racine- Andromache (1667), recounting the tragedy of Hector’s widow after the Trojan War, and Phaedra (1677), showing a mother crossing the bounds of love with her stepson.
John Edmunds’s new verse translations have been written with performance in mind and capture all the intensity and drama of the originals. In his introduction, Joseph Harris examines how these groundbreaking plays became the models for much of European theatre, and explains their social and cultural context. This edition also contains the dramatists’ own prefaces, explanatory notes, a genealogical table and pronunciation guide, as well as a chronology and suggested further reading.
Translated with notes by John Edmunds With an introduction by Joseph Harris