The School for Wives

(Paperback)

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Molire, undoubtedly one of the greatest writers of comedy in the history of theatre, won enormous success for The School for Wives (LEcole des Femmes) in Paris in 1662; yet this highly popular play, satirising ridiculous male attitudes to women, aroused as much hostility as critical acclaim. Arnolphe, a narrow-minded merchant hoping to marry his young ward, Agns, is obsessed with the fear of being made a cuckold. But all his artful plans serve only to speed him towards the fate he is so desperate to avoid.
Molire himself first played the hapless merchant, and this believable character in an all too believable predicament both startled and delighted his public. This highly successful translation of The School for Wives, directed by Sir Peter Hall, ran in the West End for six months.

Reviews

Ranjit Bolt's gleeful, engaging translation - retains the lively lyrical rhythm of Moliere's verse, but recasts it robustly to keep the sense of mischievous novelty and shock the play carried in 1662. * Guardian *

Author Bio

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliere (1622-73), the French actor-manager and dramatist, was one of the theatre's greatest comic classics. Inspired by traditions of French farce and the 'commedia dell'arte', he courted controversy with his satiric commentaries on the society of his time and on eternal human foibles, but was saved by the patronage of the 'Sun King' Louis XIV. Born in Manchester in 1959, Ranjit Bolt was educated at Perse School and at Balliol College, Oxford. He worked as an investment analyst and advisor for eight years, before concentrating on theatre translation from the end of 1990. Ranjit Bolt's acclaimed translations for the theatre, many of which are published by Oberon Books, include works by Moliere, Seneca, Sophocles, Corneille, Beaumarchais, Brecht, Goldoni and Zorilla.