Brief Description
This biography of Moliere was first published in 2000 and will appeal to general reader and specialists in French and Theatre Studies."
Learn More about the Book
Moliere's long-lost trunk of letters and manuscripts has yet to be found amidst the dust of some Parisian attic, but in spite of that, a story of his life can be told from documentary evidence, reminiscence, gossip and innuendo, and inferences from his plays. He was very much a man of his time and place, and this new biography, the first to be written in English since 1930, places the great actor/playwright in his historical context as the son of well-to-do bourgeois and student at the Jesuit College de Clermont in the 1630's, as one of a group of stage-struck hopefuls and as a vagabond actor in the provinces in the 1640's and 50's, and--from 1658 to his death in 1673--as a clever courtier, a faithful friend, a not-so-faithful lover, a successful and controversial playwright striking out against hypocrisy in religion and medicine, and a cynical survivor of the literary, cultural, and marital wars. Virginia Scott is Professor of Theater at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She has published numerous articles in Theater Survey, Theater Journal, and Theater Research International as well as writing the book The Commedia dellArte in Paris, which won the George Freedley Award for the best book in theater studies in 1991.
About the Author
Virginia Scott is Professor of Theater at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She is the author of The Commedia dell'Arte in Paris (1990), winner of the George Freedley Award for best book in theatre studies, 1991.
Review Quotes
1. 'As the first substantive English-language biography of Moliere since 1930, this is a happy arrival for students of the theater and of French literature and culture ...'. Publishers Weekly
2. '... arrestingly illuminates the complex world of the theatre and court, both in Paris and elsewhere, that finally constitutes almost all that can really be known of Moliere's life.' The Economist
3. ..."crammed with theatrical information." Dallas Morning News
4. ..."conscientiously researched..." The New York Review of Books
5. "a fine biography of an interesting man who deserves to be better known. My chapeau is respectfully doffed to Scott for an excellent job." Greenwich, CT Time
6. ..."eminently readable... scholarly without lapsing into jargon, witty without straining to be clever, flavorously personal but never self-indulgent." Washington Post
7. "The strength of her ÝScott's¨ book...lies less in its portrait of Moliere himself than in the densely researched and pervasive background against which she is able to situate him....What she does do is arrestingly illuminate the complex world of theatre and court, both in Paris and elsewhere, that finally constitutes almost all that can really be known of Moliere's life." Economist
8. .,."crammed with theatrical information." Dallas Morning News
9. .,."conscientiously researched..." The New York Review of Books
10. .,."eminently readable... scholarly without lapsing into jargon, witty without straining to be clever, flavorously personal but never self-indulgent." Washington Post
11. "The strength of her [Scott's] book...lies less in its portrait of Moliere himself than in the densely researched and pervasive background against which she is able to situate him....What she does do is arrestingly illuminate the complex world of theatre and court, both in Paris and elsewhere, that finally constitutes almost all that can really be known of Moliere's life." Economist
12. ."..eminently readable... scholarly without lapsing into jargon, witty without straining to be clever, flavorously personal but never self-indulgent." Washington Post
13. ."..conscientiously researched..." The New York Review of Books
14. "Nobody knew that the middle classes had manners of their own, rather than just aspirations to other people's, until Moliere emerged to mock them. One of the virtues of Scott's biography is that he shows just how thoroughly bourgeois and Parisian an upbringing Moliere had." The New Yorker
15. ."..crammed with theatrical information." Dallas Morning News
16. "Ms. Scott provides valuable correctives here. The strength of her book lies less in its portrait of Moliere himself than in the densely researched and pervasive background against which she is able to situate him....What she does do is arrestingly illuminate the complex world of theatre and court, both in Paris and elsewhere, that finally constitutes almost all that can really be known of Moliere's life." Economist
17. "In the first biography of MoliD'ere in English since 1930, [Scott] threads her way gracefully and wittily through this tangle of information to build up a credible portrait of the playwright... Scott spends much time on Moliere's historical context, relationships, economic and political life, and artistic struggles and develops an excellent portrait of his theater and the state of drama in his time. ... Highly recommended." Library Journal
18. ..".eminently readable... scholarly without lapsing into jargon, witty without straining to be clever, flavorously personal but never self-indulgent." Washington Post
19. ..".conscientiously researched..." The New York Review of Books
20. ..".crammed with theatrical information." Dallas Morning News
