The Misanthrope and Tartuffe [Paperback]

Moliere (Author), Richard Wilbur (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 20, 1965

Two classic plays translated by a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet into English verse. In The Misanthrope, society itself is indicted and the impurity of its critic’s motives is exposed. In Tartuffe, the bigoted and prudish Orgon falls completely under the power of the wily Tartuffe. Introductions by Richard Wilbur.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

RICHARD WILBUR, one of America’s most beloved poets, has served as poet

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (October 20, 1965)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156605171
• ISBN-13: 978-0156605175
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Sincerity in excess / Can get you into a very pretty mess", June 19, 2003

By 

J. Ott "John Ott" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Misanthrope and Tartuffe (Paperback)

Here they are. The Misanthrope and Tartuffe, arguably Moliere's two most famous plays, translated by Pulizter Prize-winner Richard Wilbur, the crown jewels of his poetic output. These translations are performed all the time, and have proved themselves on the modern stage. But the effect of them is not lessened by reading, as this bookshelf-ready edition shows. They are packed with hilarious observations about the pretentions in us all.

The Misanthrope is about a man who tells the harshest truth to everyone but himself; Tartuffe about hypocricy in religion. They read fast and funny, the rhyming couplets of the original faithfully reproduced. The language seems so natural and witty that you think perhaps these plays weren't written in the seventeenth century. But they were, this species of farce being extinct these days, except in rare places like The Simpsons. I can not only unhesitatingly recommend these, but also all of Wilbur's translations of Moliere. It is rare for a comic author to get such a seriously worthy treatment. Hooray!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and fast moving translation, March 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Misanthrope and Tartuffe (Paperback)

Wilbur's translation of this Moliere work is particularily well done, with excellent rhyme scheme even in English translation. Misanthrope is a excellent play, filled with ironic twists.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Balletic Comedy & Translation, August 11, 2001

By 

Jon Linden (Warren, N.J. United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Misanthrope and Tartuffe (Paperback)

In both these plays, Wilbur brings Moliere's true genius to real life. Previous translations of Moliere's work pale by comparison to Wilbur's brilliant translations. It was my feeling, that would Moliere by alive today, and writing in American English, he would write the way Wilbur translated it.

In comparison to prose translations in the past, Wilbur, past US Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner, truly gives the reader the real feeling of Moliere's "Balletic Comedy" style, as Moliere used his poetry and comedy to make complex and serious points about life of "regular" people, as opposed to royalty such as Shakespeare concentrated on, and so many other playwrites of the past.

In reading Wilbur's translations, one can virtually imagine the cast prancing and mincing across the stage as they humorously render these rhyming couplets at each other, and the audience. The true genius of both Moliere and Wilbur is illustrated most profoundly and strikingly in these translations. Any true lover of Moliere, and even those who have never read him before, should treat themselves to Wilbur's translations for a Moliere experience, that is unparalleled in any other versions previously published.