Voltaire
(1694-1778)
French philosopher, novelist, dramatist, and man of letters. Born Francois-Marie Arouet in Paris on November 21, 1694: Died Paris 30 May, 1778
Plays
- Oedipe (Oedipus). Tragedy, 5 acts, Published 1719. Produced Paris, Comédie-Française, November 11, 1718.
- Hérode et Mariamne (Herod and Mariamne). Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1725. Produced March 6, 1724.
- L'indiscret (The Indiscreet Man). Comedy, 1 act; verse. Published 1725. Produced Paris, Comédie-Française, August 8, 1725.
- La fête de Bélébat (Belebat's Feast).Divertissement, 1 act; verse. Written 1725.
- Brutus. Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1731. Produced December 11, 1730.
- Les originaux, ou Monsieur du Cap-Vert (The Eccentrics, or Monsieur du Cap-Vert). Tragedy, 3 acts. Written 1732. Published 1820.
- Eryphile. Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1779. Produced Paris, Comédie-Française, March 7, 1732.
- Zaïre (Zara). Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1733. Produced August 13, 1732.
- Samson. Opera, 5 acts. Written 1733. Published 1750.
- Tanis et Zelide, ou Les rois pasteurs (Tanis and Zelide, or The Shepherd Kings). Tragedy for music, 5 acts; verse. Written 1733.
- La mort de César (The Death of Caesar). Tragedy, 3 acts. Published 1735. Produced Hôtel de Sassenage, 1733; Paris, Comédie-Française, August 29, 1743.
- Adélaïde du Guesclin. Play. Produced Paris, Comédie-Française, January 18, 1734.
- Alzire (Les américains); (Alzire, or The Americans). Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1736. Produced Paris, Comédie-Française, January 27, 1736.
- Zulime. Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1761. Produced June 8, 1740.
- Pandore (Pandora). Opera, 5 acts. Written 1740. Published 1748. Music: first Roger, then Jean-Benjamin de la Borde.
- Le Fanatisme, ou Mahomet le prophète. (Mahomet the Prophet). Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1742. Produced Lille, spring, 1741; Paris, Comédie Française, August 9, 1742.
- Mérope. Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1744. Produced Paris, Comédie-Française, February 20, 1743.
- La princesse de Navarre (The Princess of Navarre). Comedy ballet, 3 acts; verse. Published 1745. Produced Versailles, February 23, 1745. Music: Jean-Philippe Rameau.
- Le temple de la gloire (The Temple of Glory). Comedy ballet, 5 acts; verse. Published 1745. Produced Versailles, November 27, 1745. Music: Rameau.
- La prude (The Prude). Comedy, 5 acts; verse. Written 1740. Published 1747. Produced Théâtre du Chateau de Sceaux, December 13, 1747. Based on William Wycherley's The Plain Dealer (1676).
- Sémiramis. Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1749. Produced Paris, Comédie-Française, August 29, 1748.
- Nanine, ou Le préjugé vaincu (Nanine, or Prejudice Vanquished). Comedy, 3 acts; verse. Published 1749. Produced June 16, 1749.
- La femme qui a raison (The Woman in the Right). Comedy, 3 acts; verse. Published 1760. Produced 1749.
- Oreste (Orestes). Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1750. Produced Paris, Comédie-Française, January 12, 1750.
- Rome sauvée, ou Catilina (Rome Preserved, or Catiline). Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1752. Produced Sceaux, June 8, 1750; Paris, Comédie-Française, February 24, 1752.
- L'orphelin de la Chine (The Chinese Orphan). Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1755. Produced Paris, Comédie-Française, August 20, 1755.
- Socrate (Socrates). Drama, 3 acts. Published 1759.
- Le café, ou L'écossaise (The Café, or The Scotswoman). Comedy, 5 acts. Published 1760. Produced Paris, Comédie-Française, July 26, 1760.
- Tancrède (Tancred). Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1761. Produced Paris, Comédie-Française, September 3, 1760.
- Don Pedre, roi de Castille (Don Pedro, King of Castile). Play. Written ca. 1761. Published 1775.
- Le droit du seigneur (L'ecueil du sage); (First-night Rights (The Wise Man's Danger)). Comedy, 3 acts; verse. Published 1763. Produced Paris, Comédie-Française, January 18, 1762.
- Saul (Saul). Drama, 5 acts. Published 1763.
- Olympie (Olympia). Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1763. Produced Paris, Comédie-Française, March 17, 1764.
- Jules-Cesar (Julius Caesar). Tragedy, 3 acts. Published 1764. Translation based on William Shakespeare's play of the same name (1599/1600).
- Dans cette vie tout est verité et tout mensonge (In This Life All Is True and All False). Comedy, 3 acts. Published 1764.
- Octave et le jeune Pompée (Le triumvirat); (Octavius and Young Pompey (The Triumvirate)). Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1767. Produced Paris, Comédie-Française, July 6, 1764.
- Les scythes (The Scythians). Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1767. Produced Paris, Comédie-Française, March 26, 1767.
- Chariot, ou La comtesse de Givry (Chariot, or The Countess of Givry). Drama, 3 acts; verse. Published 1767. Produced Ferney, September, 1767; Paris, Comédie-Italienne, June 4, 1782.
- Le dépositaire (The Trustee). Play. Written 1769. Published 1772.
- Les guèbres (La tolérance); (The Fire Worshipers (Tolerance)). Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1769.
- Sophonisbe (Sophonisba). Tragedy. Published 1770. Produced Paris, Comédie-Française, January 15, 1774. Revision of Jean Mairet's play of the same name.
- Les Pélopides (Atrée et Thyeste); (The Pelopidae (Atreus and Thyestes)). Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1772.
- Les lois de Minos (Astérie); (The Laws of Minos). Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1773.
- Irène (Irene). Play. Published 1779. Produced Paris, Comédie-Française, March 16, 1778.
- Agathocle (Agathocles). Tragedy, 5 acts. Produced May 31, 1779.
- Le duc d'Alençon, ou Les frères ennemis (The Duke of Alençon). Tragedy, 3 acts. Published 1821.
- Le comte de Bourgoufle, ou Les agréments du droit d'aînesse (Count Bourgoufle, or The Pleasures of the Rights of an Elder Son). Comedy. Published 1826.
- Amélie, or Le duc de Foix (Amelia, or The Duke of Foix). Play.
- L'échange, ou Quand est-ce que l'on me marie? (The Exchange, or When Am Ito Be Married?). Comedy, 3 acts.
- L'enfant prodigue (The Prodigal Son). Comedy, 5 acts; verse.
- L'envieux (The Envious Man). Comedy, 3 acts; verse.
- Le baron d'Otrante (The Baron of Otranto). Opera bouffe, 3 acts; verse.
- Les deux tonneaux (The Two Barrels). Opera comique, 3 acts; verse.
- L'hôte et l'hôtesse (The Host and Hostess). Divertissement, 1 act; verse.
CRITICISM
French
- G. Baretti, Discours sur Shakespeare et sur M. de Voltaire, London, 1777
- T. Duvernet, La vie de Voltaire, Geneva, 1786; Marquis de Condorcet, Vie de Voltaire, 2 vols., Paris, 1791;
- E.-M.-J. Lepan, Vie politique, litteraire et morale de Voltaire, 2d ed., Paris, 1819;
- G. Desnoiresterres, Voltaire et la societe francaise au XVIIIe siecle, 2d ed., 8 vols., Paris, 1871-1876;
- E. Champion, Voltaire: Etudes critiques, Paris, 1921;
- H. Celarie, M. de Voltaire: Sa famine et ses amis, Paris, 1928;
- A. Maurois, Voltaire, Paris, 1935;
- A. Bellessort, Essai sur Voltaire, Paris, 1938; J. Charpentier, Voltaire, Paris, 1938; A. Maurel, Voltaire, Paris, 1943;
- L. Francis, La vie privee de Voltaire, Paris, 1948;
- B. Gilles, Voltaire, Paris, 1952.
English
- L. Chaudon, Historical and Critical Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Voltaire, London, 1786;
- Marquis de Condorcet, The Life of Voltaire, 2 vols., Philadelphia, 1792;
- F. Espinasse, Life and Times of Francois Marie Arouet, Calling Himself Voltaire, 3 vols., London, 1866;
- E. B. Hanley, Voltaire, Edinburgh, 1877;
- J. Parton, Life of Voltaire, 2 vols., Boston, 1881;
- T. R. Lounsbury, Shakespeare and Voltaire, London and New York, 1902;
- J. Morley, Voltaire, London, 1872, New York, 1903;
- S. G. Tallentyre, The Life of Voltaire, 2 vols., London, 1905;
- R. Aldington, Voltaire, London, 1925;
- C. B. Chase, The Young Voltaire, New York, 1926;
- G. Brandes, Voltaire, tr. by O. Kruger and P. Butler, 2 vols., New York, 1930;
- A. Maurois, Voltaire, tr. by H. Miles, London, 1932;
- H. N. Brailsford, Voltaire, New York and London, 1935;
- A. Noyes, Voltaire, New York, 1936;
- T. W. Russell, Voltaire, Dryden and Heroic Tragedy, New York, 1946;
- A. Meyer, Voltaire: Man of Justice, New York, 1945, London, 1952;
- P. Gay, Voltaire's Politics: The Poet as Realist, Princeton, N.J., 1959.