Product Description
The great French playwright Jean Anouilh (1910-87) wrote both "pink" bittersweet comedies and "black" tragic dramas. Jean Anouilh Five Plays—the finest English-language anthology of his works—crackles with both his sharp wit and his icy cynicism. In Antigone, his preeminent play and exemplar of his themes and style, he creates a disturbing world in which fate may be no more than a game of role-playing. Eurydice, The Ermine, The Rehearsal, Romeo and Jeannette are the other plays included in this edition.
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Customer Reviews (5)

Antigone
Worth it for Antigone alone: one of the most amazing plays ever. Check out the DVD with Weaver, Bujold, and Keach -- dark, absurdist, powerful.

One of the best modern theater plays
I have read many times Antigone in its original version, and found it to be one of the most beautiful modern theater plays. The words are simple but so true, it's like you can hear the little voice of Antigone fighting against the rest of the world, fighting for her version of the truth, fighting for and against her love at the same time. Absolutely beautiful...

Excellent French Playwright
I was first introduced to Jean Anouilh during a script analysis class, where I was required to do a scene design.My professor recommended Jean Anouilh's "Antigone" to me and I took his advice.Much to my surprise, "Antigone," set in France after the Nazi invasion, quickly became my favorite play ever."Romeo and Jeanette" takes place in a poor family's house in France and is highly amusing.Set in the middle of a French train station with a defunct acting troupe and the poor family who runs the cafe there, "Eurydice" is quite entertaining.Anouilh definately puts a different spin on the typical love story.I highly recommend this book to anybody who's looking for something different to read, or maybe looking for a spin on the classics.

review of Anouilh's Five Plays
Did a study of various versions of Sophocles' *Antigone* for a highschool project last year, and used this version of Anouilh's play. I know some French and find it to be a fairly faithful translation into very persuasive English, and a wonderful read both as a version of Sophocles' original and as a political adaptation, used to speak about France under a Nazi regime. After finishing Antigone, I read the other four plays in the book for the fun of it, and thouroughly enjoyed Eurydice and Romeo and Jeannette. Anouilh seems to obsess over young love, loss of innocence, and the ideals of static perfection in a changing world; these themes seem to holdthe five plays together. In my opinion, his work is worthy of a broad audience and broad acclaim, and this edition of the plays is a very decent set of translations.

What A waste
hey people if you wanna read a good book this is robably the worst choice!! i would reccomend other books to you by the same author. ... Read more

Product Description
This introductory study guide provides a biography of the writer and an introduction to the theme of the book with a summary of the main points of each chapter. It is designed to accompany the text for students. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

On individual resistance
A play (tragedy) about collaboration and resistance, intending to be an allegory of France (could be replaced with about any invaded country) during WWII set in the context of greek mythology.
The play focus on the moral dilemnas of collaborating authorities hating to do a dirty work but doing it anyhow (because someone "has to do it" for the population, for the sake of keeping on living, even if a "lesser" life) versus individual acts of resistance, refusing any concession to their liberty and happiness. War, freedom, politics, inviduality. The book is summary but invites to an eternal discussion.

I'm not a fan of this book
I did not care for the transaltaion, nor did I care for the commentary--
except in as much as it made me want to compare translations.
I am an adult reader, and theater artist.

Antigone by Anilouth
This is a modern version of Antigone that helps students relate the themes of the original version to modern times.The concepts of a higher law than man's is certainly expressed, but more importantly, the determination of the few and the role of Haemon are stressed.This is an excellent piece for an Advanced Placement class to use after reading both OEDIPUS AND ANTIGONE BY SOPHOCLES.

Antigone
Anoulih's version of Antigone was adapted for the time in which he lived. It contains hidden symbols to, at the time, both get the book past the censors and give the french audience moral and courage to stand up to the Nazi's and follow their beliefs. The characters are adapted slightly to fit his version, ie Tieresas is left out and a nurse is introduced. He also had to adapt the personalities of the characters, for instance Antigone develops a whiny habit, and Creon is seen as a "good guy". This was also done in order to get the play by the sensors. It is a well-written play with rounder characters than the original. This version would be better read after reading the original.

It's my favorite book
Ok, I'm french and I'm VERY surprised AMAZON sells some of our books... Anyway, Antigone is my favorite story, I'll read it everyday if I could. It makes me cry everytime and it's the coolest story about life. ... Read more

Product Description
Full Length, Tragedy / 8m, 4f

Produced in modern dress in New York with Katherine Cornell and Sir Cedric Hardwicke, the Galantiere version of the Greek legend comes from a Paris that suffered under the heel of tyranny. The play's parallels to modern times are exciting and provocative.

"Its dimensions are noble, its intentions uncompromising."-Southwestern University, Texas ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Essential reading for a classical education
I read Sophocles Antigone for graduate Humanities class.It is an essential reading to understand Greek Tragedy.It is also a foundation stone of literature in studying Western Civilization.

Antigone, daughter of Oedipus in 3-cycle play, faces capital punishment for burying her brother who rebelled against Thebes.Obeying instincts of loyalty of love and the divine law, she defies Creon, the King and her uncle.Creon says laws of states outweigh all other laws, and family loyalty, when he finally relents it's too late.

Over the centuries there has been a great deal made about the conflicts played out in the play, law of state vs. law of goods, personal vs. state duties.Loves knowledge vs. state knowledge.Greek understanding of tragedy- Aristotle lays down understanding of Greek tragedy.He based it on Sophocles.Tragedy- most important thing for tragedy is plot, it is all essential. Tragedy defined as- is imitation of an action that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude in language embellished with incidents arousing pity and fear ant to the audience it accomplishes catharsis of such emotions.Every tragedy must have six parts that determine its quality.1. plot2.character 3.diction 4.fault 5.spectacle and 6.melody.

According to Aristotle, tragedy is higher and more philosophical than history or poetry; it is one of the highest expressive forms because it dramatizes what may happen.History is a narrative that tells you what has happened tragedy shows what is possible.History deals with particulars, tragedy deals with the universal.Tragedy creates a cause and effect chain and shows how the world operates.It frames human experience in universal discourse, tragedy is central in this effort.Tragedy arouses pity and fear in audience because we can envision ourselves caught in this cause and effect chain.Plot most important feature, the arrangement of incidents, the way incidents, and action is structured.Tragedies outcome depends on the outcome of these cause and effect changes not on being character driven.Plot must be whole, beginning middle and end.Beginning must have a motivation that starts the cause and effect chain of events must be a center or climax that is caused by earlier incidents.There must be an end some kind of closure caused by earlier events in tragedy.This is all part of the complication of the tragedy all must be connected.You can't have a dues ex machnia in a superior tragedy.

In tragedy, the hero or heroine walks knowingly towards the fate that is written and can't be changed.Unity of action plot must be structurally self-contained, each action leading invariably to the next without outside intervention.The worst kinds of plots are episodic, like a Jerry Seinfeld sitcom, can't be something about nothing, must have unity of action.Magnitude, quantatively meaning length, and quality of action, it must be serious.Must be of universal significance, depth, and richness.Character- most important feature is the fatal flaw.Motivations of characters are important but character is there to support the plot.Character must be a prosperous renowned personage.Change of fortune from good to bad will really matter and bring fear and pity to the audience.In ideal tragedy, the hero will mistakenly bring about his own downfall.Because they make a mistake, because knowledge of our selves is always partial, we can't have complete knowledge of ourselves.Hall quotes Descartes in the article, "The limited error prone perspective of the individual.Subject is always imperfect and human and these limitations include our ability to know in any reliable way ourselves."The fact that we as subjects, as agents can never fully know ourselves means that we are always prone to error, error is the essence of the tragic hero, tragedy is the essential drama of human subjectivity.

What is Hegel's understanding of concept of tragedy?He revises Aristotelian principals and logic.Immensely influential German philosopher, he writes about; tragedy in the Aesthete 1820-29, he proposes, "the suffering of the tragic hero are merely the means of reconciling the opposing moral clients."According to Hegel's account of Greek tragedy, the conflict isn't between good and evil, but between competing goods, all is good.Between two entirely ethical worlds that clash and can't come together.Both characters have an ethical vision or belief that they have to follow it is there one-sidedness of their vision that clashes with the one-sidedness of the other character.Both sides of contradiction are justified.Conflict of irreconcilable justifiable ethical worlds, ethical visions.Just as his dialectic must lead to an ultimate synthesis, so to must tragedy lead to a synthesis.This is dramatized in the death of the tragic actor, which becomes the synthesis.Hegel says; "the characters are too good to live."They are too good to live in this world.What is interesting is that Hegel so wants to correct moral imbalances his emphasis is on moral balances.

The better translations are Paul Roche, and RobertFagles.

Greek tragedy is great reading for people interested in aesthetics, history, psychology, and philosophy.
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Customer Reviews (1)

a fine collection!
this 1967 pocket-sized paperback from Hill & Wang is a relic of the time, now long past, when commercial publishers found it profitable and worthwhile to print affordable editions of works by great novelists, playwrights, poets and other literary figures.This edition ofAnouilh's plays is Volume Three of the collected plays.Can you imagine today collected works of authors released by the major publishing houses in cheap paperbacks?This volume contains the following plays: Medea, The Orchestra, Thieves' Carnival, Catch as Catch Can, Traveler without Luggage, Episode in the Life of an Author, andCécile or The School for Fathers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Cavern
The script arrived in exactly the condition at which it was advertised. There was some delay in the delivery, but due, it turned out, to some serious health problems at the vendor's end -- problems which certainly took precedence over the question of delivery date. All in all, I am extremely satisfied.

The Cavern
"The Cavern is one of M. Anouilh's most audacious experiments. M. Anouilh puts himself on the stage as the guileful conjuror who fumblingly tells the audience that he thinks his tricks will not come off. He talks so persuasively...that one begins to believe that his old skill has apparently deserted him. It really does look as if the story of the murder of the seduced cook, of the aristocratic indifference of her employers, and of the distresses of her seminarist son is going to miss its effect. But M. Anouilh is of corse only playing with us. He has the greatest natural genius for the stage of any man living, and when the moment comes, the knife is once again planted unerringly in our stomachs and our guts come tumbling out" - The Sunday Times (London)
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Product Description
Portrays the conflict of loyalties between church and state as they influenced the lives of two powerful men in English history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Poorly Written
This book is not very good. The plot is undeveloped and there are many scenes in the play that have no meaning at all. I adivise against buying this book, it is a poor use of your money.

from a Becket fan....
I love this play! It's one of my favourites and a wonderful complement to Eliot's "Murder in the Cathedral". The movie with Richard Burton as Becket is also outstanding. I always carry it along with me when I go in a journey along with Eliot's "Four Quartets". It shows the humane side of Becket, it is a great study on the human soul. I cannot reccomend it too much. This is the stuff heroes are made of....

Great play. Epic and tragic.
A terrific read. I agree with most of the reviews here. The story is about two giants of their time, who turn on each other through folly and necessity. That mythological study alone makes this good. Add onto it the scope of a king and an archbishop, a man looking for advise and power and another looking for a purpose in life. Anouilh's stage directions also add an excellent imagery to the story, stark and minimal that evokes an emphasis on the relationships between Henry and Becket. This is a great companion to The Lion in Winter and A Man for All Seasons. From an actor's point of view both leads are attractive, one being furious and physical and the other an internal ball of conflict and spiritual discovery.

Great Play to Read, Fantastic Film to Watch
This is one of my favorite plays. While Anouilh made Becket a Saxon (historians say he was in fact, a Norman), and that a decade's time is compressed to make a two plus hour play or movie, the fact is that "Becket" is a fast moving, epic saga which dramatizes one of the most heartbreaking episodes in English history.

Ignore the negative reviews here. I highly suggest you go see the play if you're lucky enough, or rent the movie with two superb performances from Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton.

One last note. While plays tend to suffer when just being read and not performed, "Becket" is a glad exception. It's superbly written and it goes by briskly.

I wouldn't read it again
There was something about this book that I just didn't like.Even though its a true story, it seemed a little exaggerated, especially in regard to the king. ... Read more

Product Description
This introductory survey for those unfamiliar with Anouilh covers the whole of his work, up to and including the most recent plays available at the time of writing. It also attempts to counter the prevailing criticisms of Anouilh's work and suggest the basis for a new understanding and fundamental reappraisal of his place and importance in the contemporary French theatre. ... Read more

Product Description
Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Jean Anouilh," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Jean Anouilh in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Jean Anouilh when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Jean Anouilh, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more