Anouilh, Jean (zhäN änwē`yə), 1910–87, French dramatist. Anouilh's many popular plays range from tragedy to sophisticated comedy. His first play, L'hermine, was published in 1932. During the Nazi regime he wrote plays about resistance to oppression in terms of subjects from classical mythology; Antigone (1944, tr. 1946) is the most celebrated of these. Several of his later plays have contemporary and historical settings. Anouilh's works frequently contrast the worlds of romantic dreams and harsh reality. He has also written film scripts, one of which, Little Molière (1959) was successfully produced as a play. His later plays include The Waltz of the Toreadors (1952, tr. 1957), Poor Bitos (1958, tr. 1964), The Lark (1953, tr. 1955), Becket (1959, tr. 1960), The Rehearsal (1963), Dear Antoine (1969, tr. 1971), and The Navel (1981).

Bibliography

See studies by J. Harvey (1964), E. O. Marsh (1968), M. Archer (1971), B. A. Lenski (1973), H. G. McIntyre (1981), and C. N. Smith (1985).

Anouilh, Jean (-Marie-Lucien-Pierre)

(born June 23, 1910, Bordeaux, France—died Oct. 3, 1987, Lausanne, Switz.) French playwright. After studying law, he wrote his first play, The Ermine (1932), followed by the successful Traveler Without Luggage (1937). He is best remembered for Antigone (1944), The Lark (1953), and Becket (1959), in which he used techniques such as the play within the play, flashbacks and flash-forwards, and the exchange of roles. A skillful exponent of the well-made play, he rejected naturalism and realism in favour of a return to theatricalism.