Jean Anouilh

Jean Anouilh (1910-1987), French playwright, born in Bordeaux. During the German occupation of France in World War II, he wrote Antigone (1942; trans. 1946), an adaptation of the Greek legend of the daughter of Oedipus. His early plays are essentially pessimistic in tone, with suicide a frequent theme. His later plays are less sardonic and reflect a highly developed skill in dramatic construction and dialogue. Among his plays are L'Invitation au Château (1947), which was presented in New York in 1950 as Ring 'Round the Moon; The Waltz of the Toreadors (1951; trans. 1956), which was selected the best foreign play of 1956-1957 by the New York Drama Critics' Circle and produced as a film in 1962; L'Alouette (1953; The Lark, 1955); Becket (1960), produced as a film in 1964; Dear Antoine or The Love that Failed (1969; trans. 1971); and Ornifle (1970; trans. 1970).