This new Penguin volume includes the ''greatest hits'' of French classical theatre, in vivid and acclaimed English translations.
The plays in this volume - Cinna, The Misanthrope, Andromache and Phaedra - span only thirty-seven years, but make up the defining period of French theatre. In Corneille''s Cinna (1640), absolute power is explored in ancient Rome, while Moli-''s The Misanthrope (1666), the only comedy in this collection, sees its anti-hero outcast for his refusal to conform to social conventions. Here also are two key plays by Racine: Andromache (1667), recounting the tragedy of Hector''s widow after the Trojan War, and Phaedre (1677), showing a mother crossing the bounds of love with her son.
John Edmunds'' translation of Phaedra was originally broadcast on Radio Three with a cast including Prunella Scales and Timothy West, and was subsequently praised by Harold Pinter. This is the first time it
