The Barber of Seville * The Marriage of Figaro * The Guilty Mother
Eighteenth-century France produced only one truly international theatre star, Beaumarchais, and only one name, Figaro, to put with Don Quixote or D'Artagnan in the ranks of popular myth. But who was Figaro? Not the impertinent valet of the operas of Mozart or Rossini, but both the spirit of resistance to oppression and a bourgeois individualist like his creator.
The three plays in which he plots and schemes chronicle the slide of the ancien régime into revolution but also chart the growth of Beaumarchais' humanitarianism. They are also exuberant theatrical entertainments, masterpieces of skill, invention, and social satire which helped shape the direction of French theatre for a hundred years. This lively new translation catches all the zest and energy of the most famous valet in French literature.
ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
The Barber of Seville, The Marriage of Figaro and The Guilty Mother were the first plays to use a set of recurring characters who develop over time. They chronicle the slide of the ancien regime into revolution and Figaro was seen as a threat to the establishment. The impertinent, bustling servant was appropriated by Mozart and Rossini for their own purposes, and Beaumarchais became eighteenth-century France's only truly international theatrestar.
'Coward's introduction is a small masterpiece, weaving information and interpretation into a compelling narrative in a way which makes it alone worth the modest price of the volume.' 'David Coward's translations cope admirably with Beaumarchais' wide range of tones and registers in three very different plays, and are as speakable as they are readable.' 'this excellent volume provides an admirable introduction for the English-speaking reader to Beaumarchais' greatest creation'
