Beautiful rhymed poetic translations of four Molière plays. These transcriptions provide a great introduction to the dramatic world of Molière. First, Tartuffe: One of the most divisive comedies ever written, Tartuffe was the focus of the biggest censorship dispute of the 17th century. Molière's remarkably beautiful drama concerning religious belief fundamentally altered the purposes and goals of comedy. It was extremely brave, if not foolish, of Molière to humorously tackle such a subject in a religiously sensitive era that still dealt with heresy at the stake. Tartuffe may have struck a nerve when his detractors interpreted the play's portrayal of religious hypocrisy and fake piety as an assault on religion in general. Still raw from Tartuffe's sting, it is easy to criticize the prejudice and blindness of his contemporaries. At the time of his passing, Molière's fellow clergymen were still resentful of Tartuffe. But the drama still manages to jolt and move spectators in tender places, and the urgency of being able to discern genuine devotion from fakery is as great now as it was in 17th-century France.

Moliere demonstrated that the caricatures of Farce facilitated rather than hindered the investigation of human nature and social experience and that both comedy and tragedy could delve into profound psychological depths and fundamental human concerns. It was a unique character comedy that drew laughs heartily at the mistakes and pretenses of human nature while portraying modern manners in a lifelike manner. Not everyone found it funny. ( )

I would strongly recommend Richard Wilbur's translations. This volume has 4 plays which I have rated as follows:
Tartuffe 5 *
The Misanthrope 5 *
The School for Wives 4 *
The Learned Ladies 3½ *

Only the last 2 plays were new to me; for the first 2, I had previously read prose translations which were acceptable but nowhere near as good as Wilbur's translation with the rhyming couplets.

I found The School for Wives was not quite as funny as The School for Husbands but dealt with the same main theme of the foolishness of jealousy. The Learned Ladies was quite amusing but I was not a fan of the idea that a woman shouldn't be educated outside of housewifery. ( )