As an actor and playwright, Moliere played a key role in the transition away from the Italian Commedia Dell'Arte to the ever popular la Comédie Française. Moliere broke away from the impromptu, formula-mask type presentations which were rooted in the Italian Renaissance theater, and introduced live, written dialogue based on the people and costumes of the day--real people whose characters acceded the stage, and the audience made its connection with each foible enacted by the performing protagonists. Thus, the satire in the Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme became poignant and entertaining. In L'Avare, Moliere gave the miser a physical body that was believable and real.
In this anthology containing four of Moliere most popular plays, The Bourgeois Gentleman, The Doctor In Spite of Himself, The Affected Damsels, The Miser (regular edition), and The Miser (short edition), Mr. Pergolizzi translates a French master of the theater in fluent and modern English ready for performance on any American stage.
In the masterpiece, The Miser, Moliere, the author, and Pergolizzi, the translator--both combine to re-create the masterpiece in the English language.
