Woe from Wit

Alexander Griboedov

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Language: English

Published by Columbia University Press, US, 2020

0231189796 / 9780231189798

Series: Book 18 of 28 - Russian Library

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  • New
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Alexander Griboedov's Woe from Wit is one of the masterpieces of Russian drama. A verse comedy set in Moscow high society after the Napoleonic wars, it offers sharply drawn characters and clever repartee, mixing meticulously crafted banter and biting social critique. Its protagonist, Alexander Chatsky, is an idealistic ironist, a complex Romantic figure who would be echoed in Russian literature from Pushkin onward. Chatsky returns from three years abroad hoping to rekindle a romance with his childhood sweetheart, Sophie. In the meantime, she has fallen in love with Molchalin, her reactionary father Famusov's scheming secretary. Chatsky speaks out against the hypocrisy of aristocratic society-and as scandal erupts, he is met with accusations of madness.Woe from Wit was written in 1823 and was an immediate sensation, but under heavy-handed tsarist censorship, it was not published in full until forty years later. Its influence is felt not just in Russian literary language but in everyday speech. It is the source of a remarkable number of frequently quoted aphorisms and turns of phrase, comparable to Shakespeare's influence on English. Yet owing to its complex rhyme scheme and verse structure, the play has frequently been considered almost untranslatable. Betsy Hulick's translation brings Griboedov's sparkling wit, spirited dialogue, and effortless crossing of registers from elevated to colloquial into a lively contemporary English.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780231189798

Title
Woe from Wit
Author
Alexander Griboedov
Publisher
Columbia University Press, US
Publication year
2020
Condition
New
Binding
Paperback
Language
English
ISBN 10
0231189796
ISBN 13
9780231189798
Series
Book 18 of 28: Russian Library

Rarewaves.com USA

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