Four French Plays

This new Penguin volume includes the ''greatest hits'' of French classical theatre, in vivid and acclaimed English translations.

The plays in this volume - Cinna, The Misanthrope, Andromache and Phaedra - span only thirty-seven years, but make up the defining period of French theatre. In Corneille''s Cinna (1640), absolute power is explored in ancient Rome, while Moli¿''s The Misanthrope (1666), the only comedy in this collection, sees its anti-hero outcast for his refusal to conform to social conventions. Here also are two key plays by Racine: Andromache (1667), recounting the tragedy of Hector''s widow after the Trojan War, and Phaedre (1677), showing a mother crossing the bounds of love with her son.

John Edmunds'' translation of Phaedra was originally broadcast on Radio Three with a cast including Prunella Scales and Timothy West, and was subsequently praised by Harold Pinter. This is the first time it