Five Comedies

Two full-length and three one-act plays, translated here for the first time into English.

Best known as a novelist, George Sand (1804–1876) was also arguably the most successful woman dramatist in history. More than twenty of her plays were staged in major Paris theaters to widespread popular and critical acclaim. Translated here for the first time into English are her two most famous full-length comedies, The Marquis de Villemer and Françoise, as well as her three major one-act plays, The Paving Stone, The Japanese Lily, and A Good Deed Is Never Wasted. Noted for their lively characterization, sparkling dialogue, and deft constructions, her plays reflect the passion and generosity of her own character, as well as a quick-witted sense of humor.

The translations are preceded by an introduction outlining Sand's theatrical career, the main themes and characteristics of her plays, and critical appraisals from her own generation to the present day. The translations are followed by notes and a bibliography.

E. H. Blackmore and Francine Giguère are freelance translators. A. M. Blackmore is Lecturer at Curtin University. Their previous collaborative translations include Twelve Plays by Alfred de Musset. The Blackmores have also coedited and cotranslated Selected Poems of Victor Hugo; The Major Epics of Victor Hugo; and (with James McGowan and Martin Sorrell) Six French Poets of the Nineteenth Century.