The secret of Madame Defarge

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Jean Racine

Cleofile. Quoi ? Vous allez combattre un roi dont la puissance semble forcer le ciel a prendre sa defense, sous qui toute l'Asie a vu tomber ses rois, et qui tient la fortune attachee a ses lois ? Mon frere, ouvrez les yeux pour connoitre Alexandre : voyez de toutes parts les trones mis en cendre, les peuples asservis, et les rois enchaines ; et prevenez les maux qui les ont entraines. Taxile. Voulez-vous que frappe d'une crainte si basse, je presente la tete au joug qui nous menace, et que j'entende dire aux peuples indiens que j'ai forge moi-meme et leurs fers et les miens ? Quitterai-je Porus ? Trahirai-je ces princes que rassemble le soin d'affranchir nos provinces, et qui, sans balancer sur un si noble choix, sauront egalement vivre ou mourir en rois ? En voyez-vous un seul qui sans rien entreprendre se laisse terrasser au seul nom d'Alexandre, et le croyant deja maitre de l'univers, aille, esclave empresse, lui demander des fers ?

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Émile Zola

Aristide Rougon, known as Saccard, is a failed property speculator determined to make his way once more in Paris. Unscrupulous, seductive, and with unbounded ambition, he schemes and manipulates his way to power. Financial undertakings in the Middle East lead to the establishment of a powerful new bank and speculation on the stock market; Saccard meanwhile conducts his love life as energetically as he does his business, and his empire is seemingly unstoppable. Saccard, last encountered in The Kill (La Curée) in Zola's Rougon-Macquart series, is a complex figure whose story intricately intertwines the worlds of politics, finance, and the press. The repercussions of his dealings on all levels of society resonate disturbingly with the financial scandals of more recent times. This is the first new translation for more than a hundred years, and the first unabridged translation in English. The edition includes a wide-ranging introduction and useful historical notes. - Back cover.

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Gerry McCarthy

"In this volume, Gerry McCarthy examines the practice and method of possible the greatest actor-dramatist in the Western tradition. From the rough farces of Moliere's days on the road to the creation of the diverse and spectacular court entertainments on his return to Paris, McCarthy sheds new light on the dramatic intelligence and theatrical understanding of Moliere's writing for the actor." "Drawing on Moliere's own brief discussions of performance and the contemporary evidence of his practice, this is a crucial addition to the debate on style and method in classical acting and on the staging of classical plays on the contemporary stage."--Jacket.

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Pierre Moulin, Pierre Le Vec, and Linda Dannenberg

From an elegant wine-producer's estate near Saint-Remy to a raggedly beautiful ranch deep in the Camargue to a Renaissance mas in the foothills of the Alps, Pierre Deux's French Country offers a guided tour of the splendors of Provence. Here is a vivid evocation of the Provencal landscape, houses, crafts, and style of living.