Research Catalog
Woe from wit : a verse comedy in four acts
- Title
- Woe from wit : a verse comedy in four acts / Alexander Griboedov ; translated by Betsy Hulick.
- Author
- Griboyedov, Aleksandr Sergeyevich, 1795-1829
- Publication
- New York : Columbia University Press, [2020]
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| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person. | Text | Use in library | JFD 21-1835 | Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315 |
Details
- Additional Authors
- Hulick, Betsy
- Description
- xl, 152 pages; 22 cm.
- Summary
- "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, 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"--
- Series Statement
- Russian library (Columbia University. Press)
- Uniform Title
- Gore ot uma. English
- Russian library (Columbia University. Press)
- Alternative Title
- Gore ot uma.
- Subject
- Griboyedov, Aleksandr Sergeyevich, 1795-1829. > Translations into English
- Gore ot uma (Griboyedov, Aleksandr Sergeyevich)
- 1800-1899
- Man-woman relationships > Russia > Drama
- Social classes > Russia > Drama
- Russian drama (Comedy) > 19th century > Translations into English
- Man-woman relationships
- Russian drama (Comedy)
- Social classes
- Russia
- Genre/Form
- Drama.
- Translations.
- Note
- "Published with the support of Read Russia, Inc., and the Institute of Literary Translation, Russia."
- Contents
- Introduction / by Angela Brintlinger -- Translator's Note -- Woe from wit.
- Call Number
- JFD 21-1835
- ISBN
- 9780231189781
- 0231189788
- 9780231189798
- 0231189796
- LCCN
- 2019020284
- OCLC
- 1099833189
- Author
- Griboyedov, Aleksandr Sergeyevich, 1795-1829, author.
- Title
- Woe from wit : a verse comedy in four acts / Alexander Griboedov ; translated by Betsy Hulick.
- Publisher
- New York : Columbia University Press, [2020]
- Type of Content
- text
- Type of Medium
- unmediated
- Type of Carrier
- volume
- Series
- Russian library (Columbia University. Press)Russian library (Columbia University. Press)
- Chronological Term
- 1800-1899
- Added Author
- Hulick, Betsy, translator.
- Other Form:
- Online version: Griboyedov, Aleksandr Sergeyevich, 1795-1829. Gore ot uma. English. Woe from wit. New York : Columbia University Press, [2020]. 9780231548519 (DLC) 2019981490
- Research Call Number
- JFD 21-1835