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Moliere
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin known by his stage name Molière was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world literature. His extant works include comedies, farces, tragicomedies, comédie-ballets, and more. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed at the Comédie-Française more often than those of any other playwright today. His influence is such that the French language is often referred to as the "language of Molière".
Born into a prosperous family and having studied at the Collège de Clermont (now Lycée Louis-le-Grand), Molière was well suited to begin a life in the theatre. Thirteen years as an itinerant actor helped him polish his comedic abilities while he began writing, combining Commedia dell'arte elements with the more refined French comedy.
Through the patronage of aristocrats including Philippe I, Duke of Orléans—the brother of Louis XIV—Molière procured a command performance before the King at the Louvre. Performing a classic play by Pierre Corneille and a farce of his own, The Doctor in Love, Molière was granted the use of salle du Petit-Bourbon near the Louvre, a spacious room appointed for theatrical performances. Later, he was granted the use of the theatre in the Palais-Royal. In both locations, Molière found success among Parisians with plays such as The Affected Ladies, The School for Husbands, and The School for Wives. This royal favour brought a royal pension to his troupe and the title Troupe du Roi ("The King's Troupe"). Molière continued as the official author of court entertainments.
Despite the adulation of the court and Parisians, Molière's satires attracted criticism from churchmen. For Tartuffe's impiety, the Catholic Church denounced this study of religious hypocrisy followed by the Parliament's ban, while Don Juan was withdrawn and never restaged by Molière. His hard work in so many theatrical capacities took its toll on his health and, by 1667, he was forced to take a break from the stage. In 1673, during a production of his final play, The Imaginary Invalid, Molière, who suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis, was seized by a coughing fit and a haemorrhage while playing the hypochondriac Argan. He finished the performance but collapsed again and died a few hours later.
Books by Moliere
The Miser
The Miser is a five-act comedy in prose by the French playwright Molière. It was first performed on September 9, 1668, in the theatre of the Palais-Royal in Paris.
The Imaginary Invalid
The Imaginary Invalid is a three-act comédie-ballet by the French playwright Molière. It was first performed in 1673 and was the last work he wrote. In an ironic twist of fate, Molière collapsed during his fourth performance as Argan on 17 February...
The Learned Women
Les Femmes savantes is a comedy by Molière in five acts, written in verse. A satire on academic pretension, female education, and préciosité (French for preciousness), it was one of his most popular comedies and the last of his great plays in verse....
The Misanthrope
The Misanthrope, or the Cantankerous Lover is a 17th-century comedy of manners in verse written by Molière. It was first performed on 4 June 1666 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris by the King's Players. The play satirizes the hypocrisies o...
Love is the Best Doctor
In the whimsical world of Molière's "Love is the Best Doctor," passion proves mightier than medicine, as hilarious mishaps and amorous entanglements take center stage, leaving readers in stitches and hearts aflutter. Step into a comedic wonderland i...
The Bores
"In a world full of bores, one man stands up to fight back." The Bores is a comedy by Molière that satirizes the different types of bores that one might encounter in society. The play follows the character of Philinte, who is fed up with being const...
The Blunderer, or The Counterplots
A young man's plans to marry the woman he loves are thwarted by his own clumsiness and the scheming of his rival. The Blunderer, or The Counterplots is a comedy of manners by Molière, one of the most famous playwrights of the French classical theate...
The Love-Tiff
A young couple's love is tested when a mysterious stranger arrives in town. Molière's The Love-Tiff is a delightful comedy about the ups and downs of love. The play follows the story of Valère and Angélique, a young couple who are deeply in love. Ho...
The Impostures of Scapin
Imagine a world where a cunning servant can outsmart his masters and get away with it. A world where disguises, lies, and schemes are all fair game. A world where love and laughter triumph in the end. The Impostures of Scapin by Molière is a hilario...
Psyche
In the realm of French literature, Molière stands as a towering figure, renowned for his witty comedies that satirized the follies and foibles of human nature. Among his masterpieces, Psyche, a captivating tale of love, enchantment, and self-discover...
Comtesse d'Escarbagnas
La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas est une comédie-ballet de Molière (musique de Charpentier et ballets de Beauchamp), commandée par Louis XIV pour le remariage de son frère avec la princesse palatine de Bavière, après son veuvage. Cette œuvre nous montre une...
Précieuses ridicules
Madelon et Cathos, deux jeunes provinciales, arrivent à Paris en quête d'amour et de jeux d'esprit. Gorgibus, père de Madelon et oncle de Cathos, décide de les marier à deux prétendants, La Grange et Du Croisy, mais ces dernières les ridiculiseront d...
Tartuffe
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature. Among Molière's best-known works is Tartuffe or The Hypocrite, written in...
Bourgeois Gentleman
The Bourgeois Gentleman of the title is a middle-class social climber, assured that by learning all the arts of a true and noble gentleman, he shall truly become one. This enables Moliere to satire both the pretentious middle class and the snobbish...
School for Husbands
In 1661 and 1662 Moliere presented the plays The School for Husbands (this one) and then The School for Wives. "The central situations of the two have much in common: the arbitrary and jealous lover to whom circumstances have given almost the authori...
School for Wives
In 1661 and 1662 Moliere presented the plays The School for Husbands and then The School for Wives (this one). "The central situations of the two have much in common: the arbitrary and jealous lover to whom circumstances have given almost the authori...
Impromptu of Versailles
The setup here is that Moliere and his troupe have been sent for by the King to come perform at Versailles. But instead of the piece they had prepared, the King has just asked for an entirely new piece - to be ready later that same day! So all the ac...
Misanthrope
Alceste, the misanthrope, hates everyone including himself. But unlike in many pure farces with their cliche stock characters, the characters here are much more well rounded, and who knows - Alceste might actually grow and change throughout the play...
Physician In Spite of Himself
The Physician In Spite of Himself … is written in a most unbounded spirit of mirth, the matrimonial breezes wafting a certain amount of refreshing coolness throughout it all. The way in which Sganarelle is dubbed, or rather drubbed a doctor, is highl...
George Dandin: or The Abashed Husband
"The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle having been ratified ... and peace being assured ... Louis XIV resolved to give a festival in his favorite gardens of Versailles. Moliere's comedy, George Dandin, formed the chief entertainment." The plot: A wife com...
Magnificent Lovers
"The King [Louis XIV], who will have nothing but what is magnificent in all he undertakes, wished to give his court an entertainment which should comprise all that the stage can furnish. To facilitate the execution of so vast an idea, and to link tog...
Monsieur De Pourceaugnac
'Monsieur de Pourceaugnac', acted on October 6, 1669, is nothing but a farce. But Molière excels in farce as well as in higher comedy, and 'Monsieur de Pourceaugnac' is one of the best of its kind. The attacks upon the doctors of the time are not exa...
Amphitryon
"The history of Amphitryon and Alcmene, or rather the myth of the birth of Hercules, is certainly very old, and is to be found in the literature of different nations." Under Moliere's touch, it becomes "One of the most charming and natural comedies c...
Don Garcia of Navarre, or the Jealous Prince
Nothing can be more unlike The Pretentious Young Ladies or Sganarelle than Molière's Don Garcia of Navarre. The Théâtre du Palais-Royal had opened on the 20th January, 1661, with The Love-Tiff and Sganarelle, but as the young wife of Louis XIV., Mari...
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