The Double Widowing

Dufresny, Charles Rivière, 1657-1724Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 54K words
Chapters: 6

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Double Widowing by Charles Rivière DufresnyAuthor: Dufresny, Charles Rivière, 1657-1724,Language: English, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Feb 1, 2004

Editor's review

This work is a comedy by the French playwright Dufresny; the title itself points to the absurd situation of a "double widowhood," unfolding around marriage, identity, and intrigue, with the mistaken identities and reversals typical of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century French comedy. As a public-domain e-book, its value lies first in accessibility: readers can encounter, at no cost, an author who is not the most famous but was active within the tradition of French classical comedy, and observe how the stage of the time handled remarriage, property, and women's circumstances through farce. Readers should not expect a modern novel but rather a script for study or reading aloud: dialogue drives the plot, character types are vivid, and the humor depends on situational contrast. It suits readers interested in French classical drama, the history of European comedy, or early modern views of marriage, and also serves as supplementary material for drama students. As an English translation without modern notes, newcomers need some patience with period vocabulary and stage conventions.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in French classical comedy and European theater history
Drama students needing script samples from non-canonical playwrights
Scholars of literature and history studying early modern views of marriage, remarriage, and property
Those wanting free public-domain English scripts for reading aloud or adaptation

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting the continuous narrative and psychological depth of a modern novel
Beginners with limited English who need extensive annotation
General readers interested only in famous classics and unwilling to explore lesser-known plays

Reading tips

Read a plot summary first to clarify the characters and the "double widowhood" premise.
Read it as a script, section by section, noting misunderstandings and mistaken identities in the dialogue.
Skip unfamiliar period vocabulary and return after finishing a scene, avoiding word-by-word stalls.
For research, take notes comparing the stock character types of French classical comedy.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a novel or a play?

Given the playwright Dufresny's profession and the title's situation, it is a dramatic work; read it by scenes and dialogue rather than expecting the continuous narrative of a novel.

Can I read it if my English is weak?

It is an English translation without modern notes, so period vocabulary and stage conventions may hinder you. Those with limited English should first consult a Chinese plot summary or start with an annotated drama anthology.

Why read a lesser-known comedy?

Its value lies in showing how French classical comedy handled marriage and property issues in popular form, offering a contrast to canonical works and insight into the stage conventions and audience tastes of the time.

Comments

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About the author

Dufresny, Charles Rivière, 1657-1724 Author

Dufresny, Charles Rivière (1657–1724) was a French comic playwright, though public information about his life and education is limited. The library holds four of his works—The Double Widowing, The Village Coquette Or, The Supposed Lottery, The Spirit of Contradiction, and The Forfeiture—all of which are plays. His comedies often take marriage, property, and mistaken identity as their themes, with plots revolving around inheritance, remarriage, and emotional conflict; his characters are frequently caught in contradictions and schemes. The plays are lively in language and neatly structured, with a light comic tone. On this Chinese book site they are often classified under inspirational growth, perhaps because of their observation of human relationships and character weaknesses. Overall, he is known for stage comedy, using misunderstanding and reversal to reveal human nature, and he holds a place in the tradition of French classical comedy.