Three Plays: Volume 2 [Siegfried, Amphitryon 38, Electra]

by Jean Giraudoux, Phyllis La Farge (Translator), Peter H. Judd (Translator)

French drama: Three Plays: Siegfried, Amphitryon 38, Electra.

Genres: Plays

247 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1964

About the author

Greek mythology or Biblical stories base dramas, such as Electra (1937), of French writer Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux, who also wrote several novels. He fathered Jean-Pierre Giraudoux.

People consider this French novelist, essayist, diplomat. and playwright among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II. They note his work for its stylistic elegance and poetic fantasy. The relationship between man and woman or some unattainable ideal in some cases dominates themes of Giraudoux .

Léger Giraudoux, father of Jean Giraudoux, worked for the ministry of transport. Giraudoux studied at the Lycée Lakanal in Sceaux and upon graduation traveled extensively in Europe. After his return to France in 1910, he accepted a position with the ministry of foreign affairs.
With the outbreak of World War I, he served with distinction and in 1915 became the first writer ever to be awarded the wartime Legion of Honour.

He married in 1918 and in the subsequent inter-war period produced the majority of his writing. He first achieved literary success through his novels, notably Siegfried et le Limousin (1922) and Eglantine (1927). An ongoing collaboration with actor and theater director Louis Jouvet, beginning in 1928 with Jouvet's radical streamlining of Siegfried for the stage, stimulated his writing. But it is through his plays that gained him international renown. He became well known in the English-speaking world largely because of the award-winning adaptations of his plays by Christopher Fry (The Trojan War Will Not Take Place) and Maurice Valency (The Madwoman of Chaillot, Ondine, The Enchanted, The Apollo of Bellac).

Giraudoux served as a juror with Florence Meyer Blumenthal in awarding the Prix Blumenthal, a grant given between 1919 and 1954 to painters, sculptors, decorators, engravers, writers, and musicians.

He is buried in the Cimetière de Passy in Paris.

His son, Jean-Pierre Giraudoux, was also a writer.

Reviews

[Connor Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

There seems to be an unidentifiable quality to all of Giraudoux's plays- one that I can't name but also wouldn't want to read these texts without. Giraudoux combines subtle humor with seriousness in a way that makes his words become profound. I'm not sure if this was the intent, or if it is a result of the English translation, but I simply cannot get enough of Giraudoux's plays. I read this book through twice, the first time to take some notes, the second time to read back over the text and my notes and ponder all. This book was, to me, not quite as good as Volume 1, but this is likely because "Ondine" is my favorite play of all time and trumps any other play. The combination of emotion/themes of these three plays was very cool. "Siegfried" was quite serious in tone, but had playful moments. The individual play, I had to read three times to feel like I fully captured most of the idea presented. I'm always impressed when character development of a character in a play becomes my main focus of attention for the play, and "Siegfried" did just that. "Amphityron 38" was somewhat of a romance, but not of the usual variety. There were many funny bits that I enjoyed, and I loved a lot of the ideas Giraudoux presents about identity, loyalty, and love. "Electra" was also phenomenal. The character Electra had me engrossed in the play since her first entrance and kept me entranced until her exit. These plays attached to my psyche on several different levels, and that is why I enjoyed reading them so much that I had read them a few times. Wonderful writing from a wonderful playwright, I will always adore the plays of the most loved (by me, and perhaps many others?) Jean Giraudoux.

[Vanessa Gal · Rating 5 out of 5]

“(Electra): M-am născut din noaptea lui de somn adânc, din slăbiciunea lui de nouă luni, din consolările ce și le-a luat de la alte femei, în timp ce mama mă purta, din zâmbetul de tată, care răsări după nașterea mea. Urăsc tot ceea ce nașterea mea are de la mama. Mă străduiam să cred c-o uram pe mama pentru că te-a lăsat să cazi când edai copil, și pe Egist pentru că îți furase tronul.
ÎI URĂSC CU O URĂ CARE NU-MI APARȚINE.”

“(Electra:): În seara nunții îl iubeai?
(Clitemnestra): Vrei să mă auzi spunând că nașterea ta nu datorează nimic iubirii, că ai fost zămislită la rece? Fii satisfăcută. Nici măcar nu m-ai durut la naștere, erai mică și tăcută. Țineai buzele strânse cu încăpățânare, de teamă ca primul tău cuvânt să nu fie numele mamei tale. Nici tu, nici eu n-am plâns în ziua aceea. Nici tu, nici eu n-am plâns vreodată împreună.”

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Electra *** – Giraudoux uses Euripides version Electra as his basis. As his model, Aegisthus and Clytemnestra are presented more positively, more humanely.

Like Giraudoux’s other plays, this starts with a light tone with the comical gardener, judge and beggar. There is a wry sense to everything the characters say. But unlike his other plays, the play gets much darker and the ending is weighed down by an excess of argument and speechifying rather than action or character development.

I think there’s something deeper to parse from this, but the characters and plot don’t compel me to go back and do the work necessary.