THE MISER AND OTHER PLAYS
Description
The School for Wives/The School for Wives Criticized Don Juan/The Miser/The Hypochondriac 'Provided I find that she has something of a dowry I have made up my mind to marry her myself" 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 earlier play's supposed immorality. And while Don Juan is the darkest and most tragic of the plays in this collection, it still mocks the soullessness of the skinflint with scathing irony. This lively translation is complemented by an introduction examining the contemporary targets of Moliere's satire. This volume is accom-panied by The Misanthrope and Other Plays in Penguin Classics.