Pixérécourt: Four Melodramas

Translated and Edited by Daniel Gerould and Marvin Carlson

This volume contains four of Pixérécourt's most important melodramas: The Ruins of Babylon, or Jafar and Zaida; The Dog of Montargis, or The Forest of Bondy;

Christopher Columbus, or the Discovery of the New World; and Alice, or The Scottish Gravediggers. Also included is Charles Nodier 's introduction to the 1843 Collected Edition of Pixérécourt's plays and two theoretical essays by the playwright, "Melodrama," and "Final Reflections on Melodrama."

“Pixérécourt furnished the Theatre of Marvels with its most stunning effects, and brought the classic situations of fairground comedy up-to-date. He determined the structure of a popular theatre which was to last through the 19th century… Pixérécourt determined that scenery, music, dance, lighting and the very movements of his actors should no longer be left to chance but made integral parts of his plays.”
-Hannah Winter, The Theatre of Marvels