Research Catalog

Title

The Crommelynck mystery : the life and work of a Belgian playwright / Alain Piette and Bert Cardullo.

Author

Piette, Alain.

Publication

Selinsgrove [Pa.] : Susquehanna University Press ; London : Associated University Presses, 1997.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Cardullo, Bert.

Description

150 pages : illustrations; 25 cm

Summary

"In this book, the authors examine the works of Fernand Crommelynck (1886-1970), whose international reputation was established in 1922, when his most important and most popular play, The Magnanimous Cuckold, was presented in Moscow. Torn between the extremes of laughter and sorrow, frequently violent and visionary, Crommelynck's work is typically Flemish (though written in French), not least in its preoccupation with sin. Pain is always present in his plays, the pain felt by characters living in a world where happiness is destroyed by irrationalism, self-deception, and obsession." "Crommelynck's plays humorously show us how human behavior can be dominated by extreme expressions of emotion or desire. The mixture of buffoonery and tragedy characteristic of his theater extends also to his prose style, which presents the most outrageous or gross situations in a language of beautifully sensuous imagery." "From the repertoire of Crommelynck's plays, the following six have attracted the greatest amount of attention: The Sculptor of Masks, in which the life and work of a maritally unfaithful but gifted artist are not tolerated by the general community; Golden Guts, in which a miser decides that the best way to retain his fortune is to ingest it, even if this action leads to his death; Carine, or The Young Woman who Was Crazy about Her Soul, in which the purist attitudes of a young woman lead to disastrous consequences; A Small-Hearted Woman, in which the tortuous constraints of excessive virtue imprison an entire household; Hot and Cold, or Mr. Dom's Idea, in which the outrage and humiliation of adultery on the part of both spouses are succeeded by an obsession with the idea if not the reality of love; and, of course, The Magnanimous Cuckold, in which the idealization of love leads to ridicule and estrangement."--BOOK JACKET.

Subject

• Crommelynck, Fernand, 1886-1970
• Crommelynck, Fernand, 1886-1970
• Crommelynck, Fernand

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN

• 1575910039
• 9781575910031

LCCN

96038049

OCLC

• ocm36051168
• 36051168
• SCSB-9423158

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library