The plays collected in this volume illustrate Moliere’s broad range of comic devices, from satire and farce to slapstick and wordplay. In Tartuffe and The Doctor Despite Himself, Moliere mocks those taken in by a religious hypocrite and a bogus physician, while Such Foolish Affected Ladies and Those Learned Ladies ridicule the excessive refinement of the Parisian smart set. And in The Misanthrope and The Would-Be Gentleman, Moliere warns us of the dangers of obsession and intolerance. Exposing duplicity, snobbery and hypocrisy, his plays are masterly studies in the absurdities of human nature.John Wood’s and David Coward translation preserves the humour of the original French. In his introduction, David Coward discusses changing views of the plays over the centuries. This edition includes a chronology, bibliography and notes.