Theater Of Illusion

The Theatre of Illusion

A magician conjures a dramatic adventure of romance and intrigue in this seventeenth-century French tragicomedy by the author of Le Cid. In Pierre Corneille's sparkling play The Theatre of Illusion, magicians, lovers, and heroes prove that all the world truly is a stage. First performed in 1636, it was pioneering in its use of metatheatrical storytelling. It then vanished from the stage for the next three hundred years—to be revived in 1937 at the Comédie Française. Since then it has been widely considered, in Virginia Scott's words, "Corneille's baroque masterpiece." Today this classic work is available in a translation from one of America's finest poets and translators of French, Richard Wilbur. Widely praised for his translations of plays by Molière and Racine, Wilbur now turns his poetic grace to this celebration of the comedy of humanity and the magic of life.

Drama & Theatre

King Lear

In its timeless exploration of familial and political dissolution, and in its relentless questioning of the apparent moral indifference of the universe, King Lear is Shakespeare's darkest tragedy. It is also one of his most timely, for many of the issues it raises resonate loudly within our own era. Perhaps because of its contemporary relevance, it is one of Shakespeare's most frequently produced, taught, and studied works. And the amount of scholarship on King Lear is exceeded only be the complexity which that scholarship reveals. This book is a lucid and thorough guide to the play's roots and legacy. The volume begins with a discussion of the play's textual history, which is complicated by the different quarto and folio versions. It also addresses the merits of several recent editions. The book then looks at the literary, historical, and cultural contexts that inform the play. This is followed by an examination of Shakespeare's dramatic art, an analysis of the play's themes, and a summary of the different approaches critics have used to elucidate its meaning. A final chapter explores the play's rich production history, and a selected bibliography concludes the volume. As a guide, this reference successfully navigates the tremendous body of available scholarship and is a ready aid for a wide range of readers.