Molière

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Molière
SpouseArmande Béjart
PartnerMadeleine Béjart
ChildrenLouis (1664–1664)
Marie Madeleine (1665–1723)
Pierre (1672–1672)
Signature

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (French pronunciation:

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.[4] His influence is such that the French language is often referred to as the "language of Molière".[5]

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.[6]

Through the patronage of aristocrats including

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.[7]

Despite the adulation of the court and Parisians, Molière's satires attracted criticism from other circles. For Tartuffe's impiety, the Catholic Church in France denounced this study of religious hypocrisy, which was followed by a ban by the Parlement, while Dom Juan was withdrawn and never restaged by Molière.[8] His hard work in so many theatrical capacities took its toll on his health and, by 1667, he was forced to take a break from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.[7]

Life

Molière as Caesar in The Death of Pompey by Pierre Corneille, portrait by Nicolas Mignard

Molière was born in Paris shortly before his christening as Jean Poquelin on 15 January 1622. Known as Jean-Baptiste, he was the first son of Jean Poquelin and Marie Cressé, who had married on 27 April 1621.

Collège de Clermont, where he completed his studies in a strict academic environment and got a first taste of life on the stage.[14]

In 1631, his father Jean Poquelin purchased from the court of Louis XIII the posts of "valet de chambre ordinaire et tapissier du Roi" ("valet of the King's chamber and keeper of carpets and upholstery"). His son assumed the same posts in 1641.[15] The title required only three months' work and an initial cost of 1,200 livres; the title paid 300 livres a year and provided a number of lucrative contracts. Molière also studied as a provincial lawyer some time around 1642, probably in Orléans, but it is not documented that he ever qualified. So far he had followed his father's plans, which had served him well; he had mingled with nobility at the Collège de Clermont and seemed destined for a career in office.

In June 1643, when Molière was 21, he decided to abandon his social class and pursue a career on the stage. Taking leave of his father, he joined the actress Madeleine Béjart, with whom he had crossed paths before, and founded the Illustre Théâtre with 630 livres. They were later joined by Madeleine's brother and sister.

Illustration after Pierre Brissart for the printed text of L'Étourdi ou les Contretemps

The theatre troupe went bankrupt in 1645. Molière had become head of the troupe, due in part, perhaps, to his acting prowess and his legal training. However, the troupe had acquired large debts, mostly for the rent of the theatre (a court for

Midi near Le Vigan
. It was likely that he changed his name to spare his father the shame of having an actor in the family (actors, although no longer vilified by the state under Louis XIV, were still not allowed to be buried in sacred ground).

After his imprisonment, he and Madeleine began a theatrical circuit of the provinces with a new

Armand, Prince of Conti, the governor of Languedoc, who became his patron, and named his company after him. This friendship later ended when Armand, having contracted syphilis
from a courtesan, turned toward religion and joined Molière's enemies in the Parti des Dévots and the Compagnie de Saint Sacrement.

In

Mademoiselle Du Parc, known as Marquise, joined the company. Marquise was courted, in vain, by Pierre Corneille and later became the lover of Jean Racine. Racine offered Molière his tragedy Théagène et Chariclée (one of the early works he wrote after he had abandoned his theology studies), but Molière would not perform it, though he encouraged Racine to pursue his artistic career. It is said that soon thereafter Molière became angry with Racine when he was told that he had secretly presented his tragedy to the company of the Hôtel de Bourgogne
as well.

Return to Paris

Molière was forced to reach Paris in stages, staying outside for a few weeks in order to promote himself with society gentlemen and allow his reputation to feed in to Paris. Molière reached Paris in 1658 and performed in front of the King at the

The Affected Young Ladies
) took place at the Petit-Bourbon on 18 November 1659.

Les Précieuses Ridicules was the first of Molière's many attempts to satirize certain societal mannerisms and affectations then common in France. It is widely accepted that the plot was based on Samuel Chappuzeau's Le Cercle des Femmes of 1656. He primarily mocks the Académie Française, a group created by Richelieu under a royal patent to establish the rules of the fledgling French theatre. The Académie preached unity of time, action, and styles of verse. Molière is often associated with the claim that comedy castigat ridendo mores or "criticises customs through humour" (a phrase in fact coined by his contemporary Jean de Santeuil and sometimes mistaken for a classical Latin proverb).[16]

Height of fame

Despite his own preference for tragedy, which he had tried to further with the Illustre Théâtre, Molière became famous for his farces, which were generally in one act and performed after the tragedy. Some of these farces were only partly written, and were played in the style of Commedia dell'arte with improvisation over a canovaccio (a vague plot outline). He began to write full, five-act comedies in verse (L'Étourdi (Lyon, 1654) and Le dépit amoureux (Béziers, 1656)), which although immersed in the gags of contemporary Italian troupes, were successful as part of Madeleine Béjart and Molière's plans to win aristocratic patronage and, ultimately, move the troupe to a position in a Paris theater-venue.[17] Later Molière concentrated on writing musical comedies, in which the drama is interrupted by songs and/or dances, but for years the fundamentals of numerous comedy-traditions would remain strong, especially Italian (e.g. the semi-improvisatory style that in the 1750s writers started calling commedia dell'arte), Spanish, and French plays, all also drawing on classical models (e.g. Plautus and Terence), especially the trope of the clever slave/servant.[18][19]

Les précieuses ridicules won Molière the attention and the criticism of many, but it was not a popular success. He then asked Fiorillo to teach him the techniques of Commedia dell'arte. His 1660 play Sganarelle, ou Le Cocu imaginaire (The Imaginary Cuckold) seems to be a tribute both to Commedia dell'arte and to his teacher. Its theme of marital relationships dramatizes Molière's pessimistic views on the falsity inherent in human relationships. This view is also evident in his later works and was a source of inspiration for many later authors, including (in a different field and with different effect) Luigi Pirandello. It describes a kind of round dance where two couples believe that each of their partners has been betrayed by the other's and is the first in Molière's "Jealousy series", which includes Dom Garcie de Navarre, L'École des maris and L'École des femmes.

First volume of a 1739 translation into English of all of Molière's plays, printed by John Watts.

In 1660 the Petit-Bourbon was demolished to make way for the eastern expansion of the Louvre, but Molière's company was allowed to move into the abandoned theatre in the east wing of the Palais-Royal. After a period of refurbishment they opened there on 20 January 1661. In order to please his patron, Monsieur, who was so enthralled with entertainment and art that he was soon excluded from state affairs, Molière wrote and played Dom Garcie de Navarre ou Le Prince jaloux (The Jealous Prince, 4 February 1661), a heroic comedy derived from a work of Cicognini's. Two other comedies of the same year were the successful L'École des maris (The School for Husbands) and Les Fâcheux (The Bores), subtitled Comédie faite pour les divertissements du Roi (a comedy for the King's amusements) because it was performed during a series of parties that Nicolas Fouquet gave in honor of the sovereign. These entertainments led Jean-Baptiste Colbert to demand the arrest of Fouquet for wasting public money, and he was condemned to life imprisonment.[20]

On 20 February 1662, Molière married

Donneau de Visé, Edmé Boursault, and Montfleury
.

However, more serious opposition was brewing, focusing on Molière's politics and his personal life. A so-called parti des Dévots arose in French high society, who protested against Molière's excessive "

Jansenists and some traditional authors. However, the king expressed support for the author, granting him a pension and agreeing to be the godfather of Molière's first son. Boileau
also supported him through statements that he included in his Art poétique.

Molière's friendship with Jean-Baptiste Lully influenced him towards writing his Le Mariage forcé and La Princesse d'Élide (subtitled as Comédie galante mêlée de musique et d'entrées de ballet), written for royal "divertissements" at the Palace of Versailles.

Tartuffe, ou L'Imposteur was also performed at Versailles, in 1664, and created the greatest scandal of Molière's artistic career. Its depiction of the hypocrisy of the dominant classes was taken as an outrage and violently contested. It also aroused the wrath of the Jansenists and the play was banned.

Molière was always careful not to attack the institution of monarchy. He earned a position as one of the king's favourites and enjoyed his protection from the attacks of the court. The king allegedly suggested that Molière suspend performances of Tartuffe, and the author rapidly wrote Dom Juan ou le Festin de Pierre to replace it. It was a strange work, derived from a work by Tirso de Molina and rendered in a prose that still seems modern today. It describes the story of an atheist who becomes a religious hypocrite and, for this, is punished by God. This work too was quickly suspended. The king, demonstrating his protection once again, became the new official sponsor of Molière's troupe.

With music by Lully, Molière presented L'Amour médecin (Love Doctor or Medical Love). Subtitles on this occasion reported that the work was given "par ordre du Roi" (by order of the king) and this work was received much more warmly than its predecessors.

Louis XIV invites Molière to share his supper—an unfounded Romantic anecdote, illustrated in 1863 painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme

In 1666,

Le médecin malgré lui (The Doctor Despite Himself), a satire against the official sciences. This was a success despite a moral treatise by the Prince of Conti, criticizing the theatre in general and Molière in particular. In several of his plays, Molière depicted the physicians of his day as pompous individuals who speak (poor) Latin to impress others with false erudition, and know only clysters and bleedings
as (ineffective) remedies.

After the Mélicerte and the Pastorale comique, he tried again to perform a revised Tartuffe in 1667, this time with the name of Panulphe or L'Imposteur. As soon as the King left Paris for a tour, Lamoignon and the archbishop banned the play. The King finally imposed respect for Tartuffe a few years later, after he had gained more power over the clergy.

Molière, now ill, wrote less. Le Sicilien ou L'Amour peintre was written for festivities at the

Amphitryon, inspired both by Plautus' work of the same name and Jean Rotrou's successful reconfiguration of the drama. With some conjecture, Molière's play can be seen to allude to the love affairs of Louis XIV, then king of France. George Dandin, ou Le mari confondu (The Confounded Husband) was little appreciated, but success returned with L'Avare (The Miser
), now very well known.

With Lully he again used music for Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, for Les Amants magnifiques, and finally for Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (The Middle Class Gentleman), another of his masterpieces. It is claimed to be particularly directed against Colbert, the minister who had condemned his old patron Fouquet. The collaboration with Lully ended with a tragédie et ballet, Psyché, written in collaboration with Pierre Corneille and Philippe Quinault.

In 1672, Madeleine Béjart died, and Molière suffered from this loss and from the worsening of his own illness. Nevertheless, he wrote a successful

Les Fourberies de Scapin
("Scapin's Deceits"), a farce and a comedy in five acts. His following play, La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas, is considered one of his lesser works.

Les Femmes savantes (

The Learned Ladies) of 1672 is considered another of Molière's masterpieces. It was born from the termination of the legal use of music in theatre, since Lully had patented the opera
in France (and taken most of the best available singers for his own performances), so Molière had to go back to his traditional genre. It was a great success, and it led to his last work (see below), which is still held in high esteem.

In his 14 years in Paris, Molière singlehandedly wrote 31 of the 85 plays performed on his stage.

Les Comédies-Ballets

In 1661, Molière introduced the

Paris Opéra lasted 15 years. Under his command, ballet and opera rightly became professional arts unto themselves.[23] The comédies-ballets closely integrated dance with music and the action of the play and the style of continuity distinctly separated these performances from the court ballets of the time;[24] additionally, the comédies-ballets demanded that both the dancers and the actors play an important role in advancing the story. Similar to the court ballets, both professionally trained dancers and courtiers socialized together at the comédies-ballets - Louis XIV even played the part of an Egyptian in Molière's Le Mariage forcé (1664) and also appeared as Neptune and Apollo in his retirement performance of Les Amants magnifiques (1670).[24]

Death

Molière's tomb at the Père Lachaise Cemetery. La Fontaine's is visible just beyond.

Molière suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis, possibly contracted when he was imprisoned for debt as a young man. The circumstances of Molière's death, on 17 February 1673,

Le Malade imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid). Molière insisted on completing his performance. Afterwards he collapsed again with another, larger haemorrhage before being taken home, where he died a few hours later, without receiving the last rites
because two priests refused to visit him while a third arrived too late. The superstition that green brings bad luck to actors is said to originate from the colour of the clothing he was wearing at the time of his death.

Under French law at the time, actors were not allowed to be buried in the sacred ground of a cemetery. However, Molière's widow, Armande, asked the King if her spouse could be granted a normal funeral at night. The King agreed and Molière's body was buried in the part of the cemetery reserved for unbaptised infants.

In 1792, his remains were brought to the museum of French monuments, and in 1817, transferred to Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, close to those of La Fontaine.

Reception of his works

Molière statue on the Fontaine Molière, corner of Rue de Richelieu and Rue Molière in Paris

Though conventional thinkers, religious leaders and medical professionals in Molière's time criticised his work, their ideas did not really diminish his widespread success with the public. Other playwrights and companies began to emulate his dramatic style in England and in France. Molière's works continued to garner positive feedback in 18th-century England, but they were not so warmly welcomed in France at this time. However, during the French Restoration of the 19th century, Molière's comedies became popular with both the French public and the critics. Romanticists admired his plays for the unconventional individualism they portrayed. 20th-century scholars have carried on this interest in Molière and his plays and have continued to study a wide array of issues relating to this playwright. Many critics now are shifting their attention from the philosophical, religious and moral implications in his comedies to the study of his comic technique.[26]

Molière's works were translated into English prose by John Ozell in 1714,[27] but the first complete version in English, by Baker and Miller in 1739, remained "influential" and was long reprinted.[28] The first to offer full translations of Molière's verse plays such as Tartuffe into English verse was Curtis Hidden Page, who produced blank verse versions of three of the plays in his 1908 translation.[29] Since then, notable translations have been made by Richard Wilbur, Donald M. Frame, and many others.

In his memoir A Terrible Liar, actor Hume Cronyn writes that, in 1962, celebrated actor Laurence Olivier criticized Molière. According to Cronyn, he mentioned to Olivier that he (Cronyn) was about to play the title role in The Miser, and that Olivier then responded "Molière? Funny as a baby's open grave." Cronyn comments on the incident: "You may imagine how that made me feel. Fortunately, he was dead wrong."[30]

Author Martha Bellinger points out that:

[Molière] has been accused of not having a consistent, organic style, of using faulty grammar, of mixing his metaphors, and of using unnecessary words for the purpose of filling out his lines. All these things are occasionally true, but they are trifles in comparison to the wealth of character he portrayed, to his brilliancy of wit, and to the resourcefulness of his technique. He was wary of sensibility or pathos; but in place of pathos he had "melancholy — a puissant and searching melancholy, which strangely sustains his inexhaustible mirth and his triumphant gaiety".[31]

Influence on French culture

Molière is considered the creator of modern French comedy. Many words or phrases introduced in Molière's plays are still used in current French:

Portrayals of Molière

Molière plays a small part in

The Vicomte of Bragelonne, in which he is seen taking inspiration from the muskeeter Porthos
for his central character in Le Bourgeois gentilhomme.

Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov wrote a semi-fictitious biography-tribute to Molière, titled Life of Mr. de Molière. It was written in 1932–1933 and first published 1962.

The French 1978 film simply titled Molière directed by Ariane Mnouchkine and starring Philippe Caubère presents his complete biography. It was in competition for the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1978.

He is portrayed among other writers in The Blasphemers' Banquet (1989).

The 2000 film

Le Roi Danse (The King Dances), in which Molière is played by Tchéky Karyo, shows his collaborations with Jean-Baptiste Lully
, as well as his illness and on-stage death.

The 2007 French film Molière was more loosely based on the life of Molière, starring Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini and Ludivine Sagnier.

David Hirson's play La Bête, written in the style of Molière, includes the character Elomire as an anagrammatic parody of him.

The 2023 musical Molière, l'Opéra Urbain, directed by Bruno Berberes and staged at the Dôme de Paris from November 11, 2023 to February 18, 2024, is a retelling of the life of Molière using a blend of historical costuming with contemporary artistic styles in staging and musical genres. [32]

List of major works

References

  1. .
  2. .
  3. ^ "Molière". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  4. ^ Hartnoll, p. 554. "Author of some of the finest comedies in the history of the theater", and Roy, p. 756. "...one of the theatre's greatest comic artists".
  5. ^ Randall, Colin (24 October 2004). "France looks to the law to save the language of Molière" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  6. ^ Roy, p. 756.
  7. ^ a b Roy, p. 756–757.
  8. .
  9. ^ Gaines 2002, p. 383 (birthdate); Scott 2000, p. 14 (names).
  10. ^ Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft (1840). Lives of the Most Eminent French Writers. Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard. p. 116. lives of the most eminent french writers.
  11. .
  12. ^ Marie Cressé died on 11 May 1632 (Gaines 2002, p. xi).
  13. ^ Scott 2000, p. 16.
  14. ^ O'Malley, John W. (2014). The Jesuits; a history from Ignatius to the present. London: Sheed and Ward. p. 30.
  15. .
  16. ^ Martin Barnham. "The Cambridge Guide to Theater." Cambridge Univ. Pr., 1995, p. 472.
  17. ^ On L'Étourdi and his theatrical accomplishments in this and other early plays, see e.g. Stephen C. Bold, “‘Ce Noeud Subtil’: Molière’s Invention of Comedy from L’Étourdi to ‘'Les Fourberies de Scapin ", " The Romanic Review 88/1(1997): 67-85; David Maskell, Moliere's L'Etourdi: Signs of Things to Come", French Studies 46/1 (1992): 13-25; and Philip A. Wadsworth, "Scappino & Mascarille," in Molière and the Comedy of Intellect (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1962), 1-7.
  18. ^ Jacob Soll, The Information Master: Jean-Baptiste Colbert's Secret State Intelligence System (Ann Arbor: Univ. of MI Press, 2009), 43-52.
  19. ^ .
  20. .
  21. .
  22. ^ .
  23. ^ "Molière - French dramatist". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  24. Enotes.com
    .
  25. G.P. Putnam's Sons
    . p. 43. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  26. . Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  27. G.P. Putnam's Sons
    . p. 31. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  28. . Retrieved 1 November 2009.
  29. Henry Holt & Company
    . pp. 178–81. Retrieved November 27, 2007 – via Theatredatabase.com.
  30. ^ De Sortiraparis, Julie (November 17, 2023). "Molière l'opéra urbain, the extraordinary musical comedy about Molière at the Dôme de Paris". Sortiraparis.com. Retrieved Tuesday, December 12, 2023.
  31. ^ "The Imaginary Invalid". The Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 25 February 2019.

Bibliography

External links