The Devil & the Good Lord and Two Other Plays

by Jean-Paul Sartre

The Devil and the Good Lord is Sartre's most ambitious work for the theater. Outstripping in scope and magnitude his previous plays, this dramatic epic, which calls for a cast of over ninety and takes some four hours to perform, is a synthesis of the basic tenets of Sartre's philosophy. It is based on the Peasants' Revolt in fourteenth-century Germany, a period that he considers closer to the modern epoch than any other; and through the actions of his protagonist, Goetz, the bastard son of a noble, Sartre demonstrates man's inability to achieve the absolute either through good or evil.In Kean Sartre has done more than rewrite the play by Alexandre Dumas père, (which was in turn an adaptation of an 1836 play by Théaulon, inspired by the career of the English actor Edmund Kean). Sartre has re-created the drama, and in his version the original flamboyance of character and situation embodies as well as a serious moral issue. Fast-paced and witty, his Kean is at the same time a thoughtful and subtle play about the question of emotional sincerity.Nekrassov, a political satire in the form of a farce, is a lampoon of anti-communist journalism in France. Revolving around a master swindler who impersonates a famous escapee from Soviet terror, the play abounds in comic situations and bristles with topical allusions. Sartre is not only having fun here reducing to an absurdity the extreme anti-communist position, but Nekrassov is further evidence of his versatility and theatrical craftsmanship.

Genres: Plays, French Literature, Fiction, France, Drama, Philosophy, Theatre

438 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1960

About the author

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th-century French philosophy and Marxism. Sartre was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology). His work has influenced sociology, critical theory, post-colonial theory, and literary studies. He was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature despite attempting to refuse it, saying that he always declined official honors and that "a writer should not allow himself to be turned into an institution."
Sartre held an open relationship with prominent feminist and fellow existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir. Together, Sartre and de Beauvoir challenged the cultural and social assumptions and expectations of their upbringings, which they considered bourgeois, in both lifestyles and thought. The conflict between oppressive, spiritually destructive conformity (mauvaise foi, literally, 'bad faith') and an "authentic" way of "being" became the dominant theme of Sartre's early work, a theme embodied in his principal philosophical work Being and Nothingness (L'Être et le Néant, 1943). Sartre's introduction to his philosophy is his work Existentialism Is a Humanism (L'existentialisme est un humanisme, 1946), originally presented as a lecture.

Reviews

[E H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most biting and honest plays I have ever read. How true it is that we all feel God or The Ultimate Good is fighting on our side...or is He or She or It? Is God fighting on our side, on all sides, or on no side? Will we ever solve this puzzle? No. Is it a puzzle or a mental construct? A need to always be fighting on the team that wins? The battles in this play, which are based on each side's view that God is supporting their cause, are much like the 'battles' we face on a large and small scale. We have an innate need to link our actions and outcomes to righteousness and good. Great play. Extremely funny. Also, a bit humiliating. We are ants on an anthill running in all directions, convinced the one who owns the ant farm has deep interest in the here-and-there of the ants when he or she is really a mere spectator who intervenes when necessary but seems to prefer watching and being entertained.

[Tentatively, Convenience · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lardy! Another one I read more than 30 yrs ago. When I was in high school we read Camus' "The Stranger". It didn't do much for me but my fellow students compared me to the main character. We were told it was an example of "Existentialism". I don't recall ever getting a coherent explanation of what that meant, however. I'm not so sure the teachers knew. Maybe after high school I decided to read more Existentialist writing to try to find out. I read a fair amt of Sartre &.. it STILL didn't do much for me. I found it rather dull. So dull, in fact, that after reading maybe 7 bks by Camus & Sartre I'm not particularly anxious to ever read another one. Can't say I didn't give it a chance. I imagine it's strong intellectual fare, wch is what I often like, but, somehow.., too stodgy.. or something. Dunno.

[Nick Black]

Acquired on Alibris, 2008-05-20, Knopf 1960 hardcover/library binding via Kansas City Public Library after reading the Sartre essay in Clive James' Cultural Amnesia. Looking forward to this!

[Ehsan Ghiasi · Rating 5 out of 5]

چوخ گوزل بیر کیتاب <3

[andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/3 plays had the word “imposter”

[Bushra Kassouma · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining and thought-provoking read.