Four Plays by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - Softcover

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1523282738 ISBN 13: 9781523282739

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016

Synopsis

Rousseau is often called the Father of the Romantic Movement. Here, in one volume, are his four completed plays in lively, sparkling new English translations created for stage performance as well as reading pleasure and study.

NARCISSUS (One-act comedy): A young man obsessed with his good looks is tricked into falling in love with a most unlikely subject.

PRISONERS OF WAR (One-act comedy): A French soldier held prisoner in Hungary is torn between duty to his country and his love for the daughter of an enemy.

THE RECKLESS WAGER (Three-act comedy): A young widow, determined never to marry again, plays a dangerous game of love and jealousy with her would-be suitor.

PYGMALION (One-act lyric romance): A great sculptor, in the throes of despair, comes to realize that only by pouring his very soul into his art can it truly come to life.

Introductions to the volume and to each individual play trace Rousseau's personal and professional life, and the various ways in which it was reflected in his plays.

About this title

About the Author

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 78) was a leading Genevan philosopher and political theorist and one of the key figures of the Enlightenment.

Review

“I have read with much pleasure the translation of plays by Jean-Jacques Rousseau prepared by Jerome Martin Schwartz and Kathleen Huber. The widely-held opinion is that Rousseau was an inveterate opponent of the conventional theatre. These dramatic writings provide a charming and convincing refutation of that opinion, providing an insight into a Rousseau who not only had sympathy with the theatre tradition of his time but had the talent and interest to make an important contribution to it. These works deserve to have a wider circulation in English, not only for their own merits but for the more nuanced insight they provide into one of the most important literary figures of the Enlightenment.”

— MARVIN CARLSON, Sidney E. Cohn Distinguished Professor of Theatre and Comparative Literature, CUNY. Author of "The Theatre of the French Revolution" and "Voltaire and the Theatre of the Eighteenth Century"
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“The Schwartz/Huber translations are remarkable in that they are so crisp and clean. They capture character nuance, social sensibility, historical period and the serious or witty tone of the material without calling attention to the translations themselves. The words flow freely off the tongue. They just feel ‘right.’ It is with great enthusiasm that I recommend these new translations to scholars and producers alike.”

—ERIC FORSYTHE, Professor of Theatre Arts, University of Iowa
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“For these plays by Rousseau to work on the page and on a stage, it takes translators with a profound theatrical acumen along with an understanding of the material as literature. Both Ms. Huber and Dr. Schwartz are extraordinarily well suited to the task. Their rich theatrical background, coupled with their considerable intellects and artistry, has allowed these works to come alive and almost leap off the page. This work is bound to open up a heretofore under-represented writer to the theatrical cannon, allowing us all – especially those of us in America – a great insight into the genius of Rousseau.”

—MARCO BARRICELLI, Artistic Director, Shakespeare Santa Cruz
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“All of the pieces have been adapted by Dr. Schwartz and Ms. Huber with style, wit, and a keen ear for theatrical language. These “new works,” wrought from the classic pen of an Eighteenth Century author, are cause for celebration.”

—WAYNE BRYAN, Artistic Director, Music Theatre of Wichita

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1523282738
• ISBN 13: 9781523282739
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 194