Tartuffe and the Misanthrope

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Prudence Steiner's lively prose translations remain close to the original French, giving us the speech of the characters in a slightly compressed and formalized language that echoes the effect created by Molière's verse. 

Roger Herzel's thoughtful Introduction discusses Molière's life; Tartuffe, The Misanthrope, and the comic tradition; and the setting, casting, and style of the plays.

 On Tartuffe:

"The new Steiner Tartuffe offers welcome relief from all the rhymed translations that make Molière sound like a third-rate Restoration poet while creating the (false) impression that verbal dexterity and wit trump all other values in the great comic playwright's dramaturgy. Steiner's crisp, lucid prose—her adroitly balanced sentences are especially effective at conveying the slippery rhetoric of Tartuffe's seductions—unfolds the plot and characters of Molière's play with an unaccustomed clarity, presenting the ideological clashes of the play with a bluntness many other translations attenuate."
     —Jim Carmody, Professor of Theatre History, Department of Theatre and Dance, University of California, San Diego

On The Misanthrope:

"Prudence Steiner has produced an excellent prose translation of The Misanthrope that respects the internal dynamics of the text while capturing admirably the feel of the French text in English. The translation succeeds in conveying both the texture of the world of Louis XIV and a modern feel that will particularly appeal to young audiences."
     —Florent Masse, Director, L'Atelier, The French Theater Workshop,
Princeton University 

About the Authors:

Roger W. Herzel is Professor Emeritus, Department of Theater and Drama, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Prudence L. Steiner took her Ph.D. at Harvard University, where she served as Lecturer and Director of the Harvard Extension School Writing Program.