The Hypochondriac: Full Text and Introduction (NHB Drama Classics)

by Molière

Overview

The NHB Drama Classics series presents the world's greatest plays in affordable, highly readable editions for students, actors and theatregoers. The hallmarks of the series are accessible introductions (focussing on the play's theatrical and historical background, together with an author biography, key dates and suggestions for further reading) and the complete text, uncluttered with footnotes. The translations, by leading experts in the field, are accurate and above all actable. The editions of English-language plays include a glossary of unusual words and phrases to aid understanding.
Molière's classic farce, Le Malade Imaginaire, in a fresh and performable translation.
The 'imaginary invalid' Argan is so obsessed with his health that he fails to notice what is happening around him in his own family. His scheming wife and loving daughter are finally revealed to him in their true light by Argan's brother, who poses as a quack doctor and suggests he feigns death to test their loyalty.
Translated and introduced by Martin Sorrell.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780016429
Publisher:	Hern, Nick Books
Publication date:	07/01/2015
Series:	NHB Drama Classi
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	125
File size:	173 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière (1622 – 1673), was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature. Among his best-known works are Le Misanthrope (The Misanthrope), L'École des Femmes (The School for Wives), Tartuffe ou L'Imposteur (Tartuffe or the Hypocrite), L'Avare (The Miser), Le Malade Imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid) or The Hypochondriac, and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (The Bourgeois Gentleman).

His work was often criticised by moralists and the Roman Catholic Church for his satirical attacks on religious hypocrisy. Many works such as Tartuffe and Don Juan were condemned and subsequently banned from performance. But his genius eventually shone through and his work continues to inspire writers from generation to generation.