Moli�re wrote, directed, and starred in comedies for public and court audiences in seventeenth-century France. He is perennially successful, but perennially subject to critical controversy: do his plays aim to do more than make audiences laugh? This book focuses on a group of characters in the plays, the interpretation of whose role lies at the heart of any answer to this question. For over a century critics have baptised them 'raisonneurs'. They are characters who engage with some of Moli�re's most foolish protagonists ...
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Moli�re wrote, directed, and starred in comedies for public and court audiences in seventeenth-century France. He is perennially successful, but perennially subject to critical controversy: do his plays aim to do more than make audiences laugh? This book focuses on a group of characters in the plays, the interpretation of whose role lies at the heart of any answer to this question. For over a century critics have baptised them 'raisonneurs'. They are characters who engage with some of Moli�re's most foolish protagonists, but they have been variously interpreted as exponents of wisdom or as ridiculous bores. This book argues that new light can be shed on the words and actions of these characters, and so on the tenor of the plays as a whole, by detailed contextual analysis of the dramaturgical and comic structures in which they operate. They have never before been treated so exhaustively. They emerge neither as the mouthpieces of common sense nor as pompous fools, but as thoughtful, witty, and resourceful friends of the foolish protagonists whom Moli�re himself played. The book takes into account what is known of the performance styles of Moli�re's troupe of actors as well as engaging closely with the text of the plays and the critical debate to date. Some of Moli�re's most teasingly problematic plays are held up to fresh scrutiny, including L'Ecole des femmes, Le Tartuffe, Le Misanthrope, and Le Malade imaginaire. The book is written with scholars, students, and interested theatre-goers in mind. This is the first book-length treatment of the topic.
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Add this copy of Moliere: Reasoning With Fools to cart. £83.01, fair condition, Sold by Burwood Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Wickham Market, SUFFOLK, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2007 by Oxford University Press.
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Seller's Description:
Fair. First Edition. Hardback. Dust Jacket. 8vo. Review copy with publishers printed review slip loosely inserted. ISBN: 0-19-922883-3 Pages: 247 Original publisher's black cloth slightly marked at front else sound about vg wct. D/w has 4 iinch tear mark to cover with minimum loss.
Add this copy of Molière: Reasoning With Fools to cart. £92.42, good condition, Sold by Anybook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2007 by Oxford University Press.
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Seller's Description:
This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has hardback covers. In good all round condition. Dust jacket in good condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 550grams, ISBN: 9780199228836.
