Historical dictionary of French theater / Edward Forman.

"The term French theater evokes most immediately the glories of the classical period and the peculiarities of the Theater of the Absurd. It has given us the works of Corneille, Racine, and Moliere. The Romantic era included Alexander Dumas and the surrealist works of Alfred Jarry, then the Theater of the Absurd erupted in rationalistic France with Samuel Beckett, Eugene lonesco, and Jean-Paul Sartre." "This Historical Dictionary of French Theater examines the history of the French theater through a chronology, introduction, bibliography, and more than 400 cross-referenced dictionary entries on authors, trends, genres, concepts, and literary and historical developments that played a central role in its evolution."--BOOK JACKET.