La Soeur

First published in 1645, this one of the most successful comedies by Jean Rotrou.

It is an adaptation, long unidentified, of an Italian comedy, "La Sorella" (c 1584) by Giambattista Della Porta.

Sometimes it remains close to the original text and at other times it is bold in eliminating superfluous material and in imparting a convincingly French flavour to the dialogue.

The introduction to this new edition assesses the originality of Rotrou's adaptation.

The notes are devoted mainly to linguistic questions and to the many exotic allusions found in the text.

This series of French texts is sponsored by the Department of French, University of Exeter.

These editions are works of the past which are important because of their literary and historic value, but which have not been readily accessible to scholars.

Each text is accompanied by an introduction, select bibliography and essential notes, all in French.