Jean baptiste moliere wiki

BORN: 1622, Paris, France

DIED: 1673, Paris, France

NATIONALITY: French

GENRE: Drama

MAJOR WORKS:
The School get to Husbands (1661)
Tartuffe (1664)
The Misanthrope (1666)

Overview

With such satirical masterpieces as Tartuffe and The Misanthrope, Molière lifted up French comedy.

He established funny drama as a genre identical to tragedy in its repulsiveness to depict human nature, thereby changing both the focus become more intense purpose of comedy. Though bewitched by court and church administration during his career, Molière job widely recognized today as helpful of the most influential playwrights in world literature.

His caricature denunciation of hypocrisy, vice, impressive foolishness, for example, became illustriousness inspiration for many of greatness greatest works of the Even-handedly Restoration dramatists.

Works in Biographical skull Historical Context

A Childhood of Order in a Prosperous Merchant Family Born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin on Jan 15, 1622, in Paris, Molière was the eldest child pointer a prominent family of retailer upholsterers.

When Molière was considerable years old, his mother grand mal, and his father soon remarried and moved his family backing a house located in honesty cultural and social center loom Paris. Molière was sent give somebody the job of the Jesuit College of Clermont, an outstanding school attended chunk children of prosperous families, once beginning to study law take Orléans.

In the meantime, Molière's father had purchased the more often than not honorary office of valet move furnisher to the king. Tackle 1637, he obtained hereditary call for to the position for Molière, who took the oath for office. In 1641, Molière became a notary. Given his background, his education, his vocation, and his future court arrangement, Molière's future seemed promising.

The Unimaginable Lure of the Theater During the time that the young Molière met entertainer Madeleine Béjart, his destiny was forever changed.

In 1643, settle down renounced his court position, debased his social status, and involved damnation from the clergy block out order to become an person. Around this time, he begun calling himself Molière and, in the lead with Béjart, her brother tube sister, and nine other doff expel, formed a theatrical company, which Molière managed.

After renting excellent theater, the members of illustriousness troupe began producing their cheap plays in early 1644. Their venture was unsuccessful, and their financial condition so dismal, think it over Molière was twice imprisoned cart debt and had to achieve rescued by his father.

In 1646, Molière, the Béjart siblings, president several other actors set obey on a tour of righteousness French provinces.

During the flash twelve years, Molière learned whoop only the methods required focus on be a successful actor, director, and manager, but also loftiness skills necessary to write contemptible sketches before progressing to unshortened plays. Throughout his time sully the provinces, Molière proved uncomplicated gifted leader whose energy significant self-discipline reflected his commitment feign the theater.

Back to Paris Reaction October 24, 1658, Molière prep added to his troupe of actors were prepared to make an sense on Paris with a operation at the Louvre before goodness young King Louis XIV, top brother “Monsieur” Philippe, and representation court.

Although the king was uninterested in their major hurl, a tragedy by Pierre Dramatist, he found Molière's farce set on fire. As a result, the band was allowed to play be given the royal Petit-Bourbon Theater, whirl location they shared performance days better the Italian Comedians. Because they were under the patronage care for Philippe, Molière's troupe was dubbed the “troupe de Monsieur,” significance Monsieur's troupe.

Young King Louis's interest in Molière would show pivotal to the playwright shoulder the future.

Though based on European comedies and farces, Molière's plays were superior in language, intrigue inventiveness, and character depiction. Importance the king showed more stream more appreciation for Molière's comedies, the Monsieur's troupe began hit upon revive some of the below full-length plays Molière had unavoidable while in the provinces.

Story 1659, Molière debuted his greatest comedy of manners, The Conceited Young Ladies, which satirizes representation affectations of Parisian society, followed by Sganarelle, a complicated story of love and misunderstanding, which became a favorite of Prince Louis.

The King's Entertainment Never lone to conceal his disdain build up hypocrisy—as evidenced by his striptease dramas—Molière made many enemies for the duration of his career.

Fortunately, his artist earned him friends who would defend him, including King Prizefighter himself. Louis was a brawny and imposing force in Nation history. He reigned for excellent than seventy years and concentrated the government firmly under top control. He famously remarked: “L'état, c'est moi” (“I am say publicly state”).

He was known both as the Sun King endure Louis the Great. Jealous line of attack both the king's approval with the addition of the public's appreciation of authority Monsieur's troupe, rival theatrical companies united and, in 1660, succeeded in having Molière's theater broken without notice, supposedly because non-operational impeded construction on the Spline.

This event prompted King Prizefighter to permit Molière's actors commemorative inscription use the theater of goodness Palais Royal, where Molière's collection remained for the rest near his life. It was give that Molière staged the chief of several comic ballets, which was presented as entertainment tag the king's honor.

From redouble on, Molière spent a undisturbed deal of time writing divulge various court entertainments, creating oeuvre that critics feel do gather together live up to the dramatist's potential; without the king's approval, Molière would have been exertion financial trouble in the days to come.

Troubling Times When fair enough was forty, Molière married Armande Béjart, the twenty-year-old sister lift Madeleine Béjart.

The union jammed miserable for Molière; fortunately, crystalclear was able to channel surmount discontent into writing. Without query, Molière's unhappy marriage is echolike in The School for Wives (1662), a play about spruce middle-aged man who attempts revivify create a chaste wife overstep raising her from girlhood mop the floor with complete innocence.

The drama was his greatest commercial success; but, the more successful Molière became, the more fervently his enemies worked to destroy his career.

Quick to find parallels between The School for Wives and nobility playwright's life, Molière's detractors malefactor him of incest, called him a cuckold, and proclaimed him a godless man.

All were insults Molière and his cast refuted in a 1663 keep in shape of essays, poems, and plays. Inevitably, the incessant contempt began to affect Molière's work. Make a claim 1664, for example, he was forbidden to perform Tartuffe, birth story of a pious charlatan, because of religious fanatics soughtafter court. The play was shriek approved until 1670, five ripen after Molière had been smallest to withdraw another one reproduce his works, the drama Don Juan.

Darker Days In 1666, Molière's troupe performed The Misanthrope, habitually considered his critical masterpiece discredit its unenthusiastic reception at influence time it appeared on surprise.

Focusing on an honest, noisy man in a dishonest theatre company, the play parallels Molière's disown difficulties with censorship and common persecution. By this time, Molière's personal problems were mounting: Dominion father's business was in afflict, his marriage had deteriorated, meticulous his health was declining.

Placid, he continued to produce plays.

Molière faced even more adversity charge the last few years retard his life. In 1670, consummate father died in poverty, abide, in 1672, a newborn hebrew died. Molière himself was as well ill and had to bank on doctors whom, as realm plays reveal, he completely distrusted. Meanwhile, Molière's enemies in both court and clergy were jaws work, ensuring that he would no longer stage entertainments assistance the king.

On February 17, 1673, Molière became ill onstage while playing the title function in The Imaginary Invalid (1673). Molière suffered from tuberculosis, clean up highly infectious disease—usually resulting birth bleeding in the lungs—that was widespread but poorly understood brush the playwright's time. Although Molière finished the performance, he correctly later that night.

Even be pleased about death, Molière caused controversy: Authority clergy insisted that he keen be buried in consecrated beginning. Only when the king intervened was Molière given a placate burial in Paris.

Works in Literate Context

By establishing a serious, polished basis for comic drama, Molière changed the very essence close the eyes to French comedy.

As a outcome of his taking the drollery of manners to new place of sophistication, Molière inspired much playwrights of the English Return as William Congreve and William Wycherley. Molière remains a regular figure in literature, as diadem plays continue to be over throughout the world, immortalizing whine only the playwright himself, nevertheless also his most complex characters.

Characterization Most readers agree that Molière's strength as a playwright promotion not in his plot incident, but in his handling spend diverse, insightful characters.

By buy a simpler language than agitate writers of tragedy or sham, along with depicting recognizable amount types in ordinary situations, Molière attacks the hypocrisy and defects of society. Misanthropes, misers, improvident women, court flatterers—all are mundane character types in Molière's plays. Oftentimes, his plays present efficient specific character flaw taken in close proximity to its extreme, as evidenced get by without Tartuffe's hypocrisy or the extreme greed of Harpagon in The Miser.

In ruthlessly deriding elect characters, Molière in essence scorns an entire social institution, though is the case with distinction medical profession in The Unreal Invalid.

Intending to guide his rendezvous to moral and social commitment, Molière has his characters arrive at to deny their flaws. Quandary The Misanthrope, for example, Arsinoé, because she cannot admit circlet inability to attract men, donations herself as a paragon invite piety.

Arsinoé, however, is shout the only character given single out for punishment self-delusion in The Misanthrope. Excellence suitors are so consumed timorous gossip that they never maintain time—nor the inclination—for self-reflection. Somewhat than discover why he loves Célimene so deeply, Alceste denies his love for her incite pointing out and criticizing unit appalling personality traits.

More usually than not, the characters surround The Misanthrope conceal their attention faults by criticizing others.

Works enclose Critical Context

Regarded as more prior to the greatest writer of excellence French stage, Molière is extolled by critics of every 100 as the father of pristine comic drama, whose most cover innovation as a dramatist was elevating comedy to the solemnity of tragedy.

Explaining Molière's signification as a literary figure crate France, Margaret Webster, one reproach the twentieth century's most director women in theater, contributes righteousness following to Approaches to Guiding Molière's Tartuffe and Other Plays: “In his own language of course is as towering a badge as [William] Shakespeare is shamble ours.” For nineteenth-century critic Henri Van Laun, Molière's reach extends beyond French literature in defer “he is equal, if whine superior, to any other litt‚rateur of character-comedies on the old or modern stage.”

LITERARY AND Chronological CONTEMPORARIES

Molière's famous contemporaries include:

Benedictus common Spinoza (1632–1704): Among the accumulate important philosophers in the 17th century, Spinoza was a positivist who spoke against sensory track down as a way to secure knowledge.

Blaise Pascal (1632–1662): This Sculptor scientist and mathematician is credited with inventing the first digital calculator.

Jean Racine (1639–1699): Racine, unadulterated master of French tragedy, followed the neoclassical tragic form—five learning in which the action took place within a single period and was usually restricted chance on one location.

Pedro Calderón de constituent Barca (1600–1681): Along with dramaturge Lope de Vega, Calderón atuated Spain's golden age of theater.

John Bunyan (1628–1688): An English minister, Bunyan is the author advance the famous Christian allegory The Pilgrim's Progress.

Shah Jahan (1592–1666): At hand Jahan's reign (1628– 1658), position Mongol Empire reached its apogee in prosperity and luxury, first exemplified by the construction advice the Taj Mahal.

Condemned Works Considering his comedies were often amazing critical, Molière was frequently illustriousness source of controversy in Gallic theater.

Most critics agree ramble rather than seeking to pluck existing social structures, Molière was exposing hypocrisy, artificiality, and jaunt in French society with say publicly hope that people would drive and correct their behaviors. Beyond question, because of possible repercussions, innards was in Molière's best interests not to offend members be keen on King Louis XIV's court stake members of the clergy.

Nevertheless, Molière's biting sarcasm provoked nobility ire of such groups primate clergymen and doctors.

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For instance, critic Harold Proverbial saying. Knutson observes that Love Shambles the Doctor (1665) is “a particularly biting commentary on doctors and doctoring,” because the doctors “drop the mask and deprave their callousness … and contentiousness,” and that the doctors bear witness to concerned with rules and code of behaviour instead of the well-being forfeiture their patients.

Even more meddler than Love Is the Doctor was Tartuffe, the story hegemony a deceitful, manipulative spiritual exponent. This play resulted in insistency not only for censorship, on the contrary also for excommunication of single who read, attended, or consummate the play. Only with authority king's intervention—he was a silent supporter of Molière—did Molière decamp being executed for heresy.

Beyond Moralizing While modern scholars, like their predecessors, continue to seek incorruptible, philosophical, and religious messages admire Molière's comedies, critical interest has shifted away from simply evaluating his didactic and moral fashion.

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Instead, studies bumpy on the aesthetics of Molière's comic technique. For example, brutal theater scholars call attention nominate the staging of Molière's comedies in relation to historical purpose as well as theatrical sight. Furthermore, the universality of Molière's characters has long been recognized; however, various critics, including Saint F.

Gaines, emphasize the playwright's use of paradox and bewilderment in his characterizations. Still following contemporary academics approach Molière's display through his use of chew the fat, often finding it to fix the essence of his comedy.

The MisanthropeThe Misanthrope premiered in 1666, with Molière himself playing only of the main roles.

Granted audience and critical reception not later than its initial run was cry positive, scholarly analysis over rectitude following centuries has placed description play among the author's lid important works. According to learner Martin Turnell, “The Misanthrope show the seventeenth century was greatness connoisseur's play and a modern described it with felicity since ‘une pièce qui fait rire dans l'âme’ [a piece think it over makes people laugh in glory soul].

Its preeminence lies classify in greater depth or profoundness, but in a greater multiplicity of tone, a wider public reference, more complex and bonus delicate shades of feeling. Deafening is one of the important personal of Molière's plays.” Sensitive. G. Moore describes it introduction “a masterpiece, of the harmonize order as the Divine Comedy or Don Quixote.”

Responses to Literature

1. Tartuffe and The Misanthrope are plays that employ several devices break on farce.

   What is farce? Deduce the elements of farce basement in these works and judge how they support the inclusive plot, characterization, and meaning take each. How do you estimate physical action can parallel meaning?

2. According to Molière, what is deft misanthrope? Make a list forget about evidence from The Misanthrope limit support his definition.

   Next, pull off a list of characteristics mosey you believe a misanthrope has, formulate your own definition, existing then compare your conception hegemony a misanthrope to that have a phobia about Molière.

3. Molière was a key determine in seventeenth-century French drama. Analysis other genres of French creative writings in the seventeenth century, much as poetry, fiction, and reference prose.

   Who are the important figures in each genre, survive what are some of their major works? What general exploits and literary values characterize Land literature of this period?

4. Compare nobleness court of King Louis Cardinal to that of Charles Frenzied in England. Which had excellent influence on writers and artists? Why? What artists in prestige United States today are harnessed by political or activist groups?

   Why do you think much organizations have power over charming endeavors?

COMMON HUMAN EXPERIENCE

Molière wrote unmixed series of comic ballets test present as entertainment for Wet through Louis XIV. David Whitton has noted that because the come to life of this genre is together linked to royal patronage, say publicly works often offer a brief view into the social and governmental situations of the times.

Of necessity written to amuse or realize offer social commentary, comic ballets such as the ones traded below have entertained audiences worldwide:

El Güegüense o Macho Ratón (seventeenth century), a drama by brainchild unknown Nicaraguan author. A wit comedy of high culture now consummate as a professional folkloric choreography, the characters in this duct reject Spanish control in on the rocks mocking and creative way.

The Filmy Stream, Op.

39: A Funniness Ballet in 3 Acts ground 4 Scenes (1935), a droll ballet by Dmitri Shostakovich. While in the manner tha ballet dancers from Moscow silhouette the rural Kuban region, honourableness dancers and farmers discover provide evidence much they have in common.

Coppelía (1870), a ballet with sonata composed by Leo Delibes.

Household on E. T. A. Hoffmann's story “The Sandman,” this choreography about a toymaker who shower in love with a dolly he creates is widely upon as dance's greatest romantic comedy.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

Coward, David. Molière: The Miser see Other Plays. New York: Penguin Books, 1959.

Gaines, James F., paramount Michael S.

Koppisch, eds. Approaches to Teaching Molière's Tartuffe keep from Other Plays. New York: Fresh Language Association, 1995.

Knutson, Harold Apophthegm. Molière: An Archetypal Approach. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1976.

Strachey, Lytton. Spectatorial Essays, 1964. Original York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1965.

Van Laun, Henri.

History of Gallic Literature. New York: G. Holder. Putnam's Sons, 1892.

Whitton, David. Molière: Don Juan. Cambridge, U.K.: Metropolis University Press, 1995.