A review by jasonfurman
Moliere's Don Juan: Comedy in Five Acts, 1665 by Molière

5.0

Sadly, with Don Juan, I believe that I have now read all of Richard Wilbur's translations of French drama. Then again, I had thought that years ago and they recently started republishing ones I hadn't read. So maybe I will be pleasantly surprised by some more translations.

Sadly also, this is the only Wilbur translation that has any false notes, specifically the dialogue of the rustic peasants in Act II sounds anachronistic and tinny, with phrases like "Hell's bells." Clearly an artistic choice on Wilbur's part but not one that worked for me.

But, of course, Don Juan is spectacular. It is in prose, like other versions of Don Juan a strange combination of comedy, romance, tragedy, moral fable, and other genres. The prose has the same grace as Wilbur's versions of Moliere's rhyming verse. And Don Juan's depiction is complex and multi-faceted.