The Complete Plays of Jean Racine: The Fratricides

by Racine, Jean; Argent, Geoffrey Alan

• ISBN13: 9780271037301
• ISBN10: 027103730X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-12-31
• Publisher: Pennsylvania State Univ Pr

Summary

"The Bard, who was unknown in seventeenth-century France, now challenges Racine as the consummate tragedian even within France. The time has now come for Racine to return the compliment by becoming accessible for the English-speaking world through the powerful translations of Geoffrey Alan Argent."-from the Foreword by Ronald W. TobinThis is the first volume of only the third-ever translation into English of all twelve of Jean Racine's plays, and the first in rhymed iambic pentameter couplets. Racine is here reconceived in that pedigreed English verse form to produce a poetic translation of concentrated potency and dramatic impact, rendered in English that is incisive, lucid, and memorable. Geoffrey Alan Argent's volumes will prove to be the definitive English version of Racine's theatrical work for the foreseeable future.Complementing the translations are the illuminating Discussions and the extensive Notes and Commentaries Argent has furnished for each play. The Discussions are not offered as definitive interpretations of these plays, but are intended to stimulate readers to form their own views and to explore further the inexhaustibly rich world of Racine's plays.