Judith

by Jean Giraudoux, Christopher Fry (Translator)

Under siege by the armies of the giant barbarian, Holofernes, the Judean city is about to capitulate—and the people, and prophets, call out to the lovely, virginal Judith as their last hope of salvation. Their belief is that only she can gain audience with Holofernes and, when his attention is diverted by her charms, slay him. At first Judith refuses to believe that God has chosen her for this task, but when she learns that the army has defected, and the men of her people are resigned to defeat, she resolves to go, even refusing the help of Susannah, a prostitute who looks like her and who begs to undertake the mission in her place. At the camp of Holofernes, Judith is at first taunted by an aide who masquerades as his commander, but then the true Holofernes appears—and he proves to be not a barbarian at all, but a man among men to whom Judith finds herself surrendering without restraintAn often forgotten classic, Giraudoux boldly does for Judith what Oscar Wilde did for another biblical figure, Salome, years later. Presented in a new, easily portable acting edition, no young actor or stage aficionado should be found without this on their shelf.

Genres: Plays, French Literature, Classics, Fiction

60 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 1963

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

[هدى يحيى · Rating 5 out of 5]

جوديث هي إحدى أمتع المسرحيات القصيرة التي قرأتها في حياتي
للمسرحي الفرنسي الغني عن التعريف
جان جيرودو
والذي عرفني عليه صديق المراهقة أنيس منصور

يقدم جيرودو في مسرحيته الوحيدة التي يصنفها كمآساة
ما يقدمه في مسرحه الذي يتناول الأساطير والقصص اللاهوتية والمثيولوجيا برؤى جديدة

وجيرودو عموما يقدم شخصيات نسائية قوية في مسرحه

ولا يختلف الأمر هنا
لن تستطيع إلا أن تقع في حب جوديث القاتلة
لأنها ستجذبك إليها كالسحر
سحر عبارات جيرودو الفاتنة

[Czarny Pies · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a brilliant reworking of the book of Judith which is in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox bibles but not in any Protestant bible. Nebuchadnezzar has sent his general Holopherne to conquer Israel. Holopherne besieges the Jewish city of Bethulia. The Bethulians are about to surrender when the beautiful widow Judith decides to take matters in hand. She goes to the military camp of Holopherne where she charms him. When Holopherne later gets drunk and passes out, Judith cuts off his head with a scimitar. Without their leader Holopherne's army flees in panic and Israel is saved.

Giraudoux transforms the widow Judith into a young virgin. Giraudoux's Judith is contemptuous of the Bethulian soldiers for having been defeated by Holopherne's army. She has no intention of getting involved in any plot to save Bethulia. However, a prophet loudly proclaims that she is God's choice to be the saviour of the city. Distrusting the prophet, Judith insists that no sign has come from God. The community of Bethulia pressures her into attempting to assassinate Holopherne. A prostitute Susanna volunteers take her place but the plucky Judith decides to assume her destiny and departs with a dagger.
Once in Holopherne's tent Judith meets a man pretending to be Holopherne who tries to rape her. Holopherne arrives and gallantly saves her. Giraudoux's Judith falls madly in love with Holopherne. Unlike her biblical counterpart, she sleeps with. However, because but their love is human and hence imperfect, she kills Holopherne. The Jews then convince Judith to remain silent on her love for Holopherne and not to challenge the official story of the community whereby she killed Holopherne out of hate.
There are a great many fascinating details and interesting characters in Giraudoux's play which is great fun to read. Despite the flagrant blasphemy, I am still giving Giraudoux's version of the story four stars.

[Kitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Young girls are created for the giants, marvelous or terrible, whichever it may be, but they are given to men. That is what destroys their lives."

And if that is woman kind's tragedy, then Judith's is that she is created for Holofernes but is instead given over to man kind, by divine order, to become a saint in this unexpectedly tender and surprisingly sexy love story that unfolds in the retelling of an old deuterocanonical tale. My only gripe with this is the conversation that goes on at the end between Judith and the angel. I suppose at the time it made sense to go with something that was a bit more reactionary, but going back and reading it now just makes God seem like a supreme jerk. Also, the idea of the angels Gabriel and Micheal functioning as a pseudo mouth and vagina to preserve Judith just seems . . . off putting. To put it mildly.

Still, even that bit of squick at the end didn't hamper my enjoyment of this, and from now on I can honestly say I'll make it a point to keep an eye out for more of his works. So grab onto your chastity belt and see if you can't pick up a copy at the local thrift store ladies. Recommended!

[Khaled Al-Bahnsawy · Rating 4 out of 5]

جوديث العذراء الإسرائيلية أجمل فتيات اسرائيل يقدمها حاخاماتها لقائد الاشوريين كهبة سائغه
لم يكفيهم خسة هذا العرض بل زعموا ان الله من أوحى لهم بذلك وجعلوا من الفسق معجزه
بنى اسرائيل من يستبيحون كل شيء في سبيل مطامعهم حتى الدين والشرف
في رواية مقتبسه عن أحد فصول التوراة يبرع الفرنسي جان جيرودو في كشف حقيقة وزيف بنو اسرائيل
تحديث 2018 الحقيقة الى تأكدت منها ان كل رجال دين ما يطلق الديانات الابراهيمية كده مش بس حاخامات اليهود