The Imaginary Cuckold

by Molière, Richard Wilbur

Dramatists Play Service 1993 softcover 38 pages.

Genres: Plays, Classics, Drama, France, French Literature, Humor, 17th Century

38 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1660

About the author

Sophisticated comedies of French playwright Molière, pen name of Jean Baptiste Poquelin, include Tartuffe (1664), The Misanthrope (1666), and The Bourgeois Gentleman (1670).

French literary figures, including Molière and Jean de la Fontaine, gathered at Auteuil, a favorite place.

People know and consider Molière, stage of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also an actor of the greatest masters in western literature. People best know l'Ecole des femmes (The School for Wives), l'Avare ou l'École du mensonge (The Miser), and le Malade imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid) among dramas of Molière.

From a prosperous family, Molière studied at the Jesuit Clermont college (now lycée Louis-le-Grand) and well suited to begin a life in the theater. While 13 years as an itinerant actor helped to polish his abilities, he also began to combine the more refined elements with ccommedia dell'arte.

Through the patronage of the brother of Louis XIV and a few aristocrats, Molière procured a command performance before the king at the Louvre. Molière performed a classic of [authore:Pierre Corneille] and le Docteur amoureux (The Doctor in Love), a farce of his own; people granted him the use of Salle du Petit-Bourbon, a spacious room, appointed for theater at the Louvre. Later, people granted the use of the Palais-Royal to Molière. In both locations, he found success among the Parisians with les Précieuses ridicules (The Affected Ladies), l'École des maris</i> (<i>The School for Husbands</i>), and <i>[book:l'École des femmes (The School for Wives). This royal favor brought a pension and the title "Troupe du Roi" (the troupe of the king). Molière continued as the official author of court entertainments.

Molière received the adulation of the court and Parisians, but from moralists and the Church, his satires attracted criticisms. From the Church, his attack on religious hypocrisy roundly received condemnations, while people banned performance of Don Juan . From the stage, hard work of Molière in so many theatrical capacities began to take its toll on his health and forced him to take a break before 1667.

From pulmonary tuberculosis, Molière suffered. In 1673 during his final production of le Malade imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid), a coughing fit and a haemorrhage seized him as Argan, the hypochondriac. He finished the performance but collapsed again quickly and died a few hours later. In time in Paris, Molière completely reformed.

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Also more familiarly translated as The Imaginary Cuckhold (which is to say various people in this play who think their spouses are being unfaithful).

“Appearances can deceive the keenest mind. Remember my example, and be wise: When things look simple, don't believe your eyes”--Moliere

Gorgibus wants daughter Célie to marry rich Valère, but she loves Lélie and he loves her. When Célie faints in the street, Sganarelle revives her and he picks up a portrait of Lélie that Célie had been carrying. So: Sganarelle's wife thinks that Sganerelle and Célie are lovers; Sganarelle believes that Lélie and his wife are lovers; Célie believes that Lélie and Sganarelle's wife are lovers; and Lélie believes that Célie has secretly married Sganarelle!

But all works out in the way of romantic comedy when they find (spoiler alert) that Valère had secretly married someone else, paving the way for Lélie and Célie to marry (they were fated for love, with those matching names!) and time for various relationship reboots. Yay, happily ever after!

This is a one-act farcical comedy that was very popular in Moliere’s day and that I saw performed once. Richard Wilbur’s masterful translation and the LA Theater Works production company featuring Brian Bedford makes it clear that we need more Moliere in this world.

[Bogdan Andrei · Rating 2 out of 5]

Molière schițează aici problema căsătoriei, care va căpăta o mare dezvoltare în piesele următoare. Sganarel este un soț gelos ce își bănuiește soția de infidelitate după ce o găsește având asupra sa un portret al unui tânăr pe nume Leliu: „Ah! fierb, și mutra asta grozav mă mai inspiră…”. La rândul ei, soția lui Sganarel este tulburată după ce își surprinde bărbatul luând în brațe și ajutând pe o tânără fată, Celia, care leșinase. În urma acestor întâmplări se iscă tot felul de discuții între cei doi. La final soții își dau seama de încurcătură și se împacă. Piesa s-a jucat pentru prima oară la 28 mai 1660, pe scena teatrului de la «Petit-Bourbon».

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*
Fast moving one act comedy in which 2 couples become entangled in misunderstandings and jealousy - each of the 4 suspecting his (or her) lover of being unfaithful. Fun but a bit predictable.

This is the second play in the digital audiobook of "The Moliére Collection" produced by L.A. Theater Works. The cast in this one was very good (but I skipped the discussion with actor Brian Bedford at the end).

[Andre Piucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Et quant à moi, je trouve, ayant tout compassé
Qu'il vaut mieux être encor cocu que trépassé.
Quel mal cela fait-il? La jambe en devient-elle
Plus tortue, après tout, et la taille moins belle?
Peste soit qui premier trouva l'invention
De s'affliger l'esprit de cette vision,
Et d'attacher l'honneur de l'homme le plus sage
Aux choses que peut faire une femme volage!
Puisqu'on tient, à bon droit, tout crime personnel,
Que fait là notre honneur pour être criminel?
Des actions d'autrui l'on nous donne le blâme:
Si nos femmes sans nous ont un commerce infâme,
Il faut que tout le mal tombe sur notre dos:
Elles font la sottise, et nous sommes les sots.
C'est un vilain abus, et les gens de police
Nous devroient bien régler une telle injustice.
N'avons-nous pas assez des autres accidens
Qui nous viennent happer en dépit de nos dents?
Les querelles, procès, faim, soif et maladies,
Troublent-ils pas assez le repos de la vie,
Sans s'aller, de surcroît, aviser sottement
De se faire un chagrin qui n'a nul fondement?
Moquons-nous de cela, méprisons les alarmes,
Et mettons sous nos pieds les soupirs et les larmes.
Si ma femme a failli, qu'elle pleure bien fort;
Mais pourquoi, moi, pleurer, puisque je n'ai point tort.
En tout cas, ce qui peut m'ôter ma fâcherie,
C'est que je ne suis pas seul de ma confrérie.
Voir cajoler sa femme et n'en témoigner rien
Se pratique aujourd'hui par force gens de bien.
N'allons donc point chercher à faire une querelle
Pour un affront qui n'est que pure bagatelle.
L'on m'appellera sot, de ne me venger pas,
Mais je le serois fort, de courir au trépas.”

[l’ivresse rhapsodie. · Rating 5 out of 5]

« A-t-on mieux cru jamais être cocu que moi.
Vous voyez qu'en ce fait la plus forte apparence
Peut jeter dans l'esprit une fausse créance :
De cet exemple-ci, ressouvenez-vous bien,
Et quand vous verriez tout, ne croyez jamais rien. »

Ahahaha, la jalousie excessive des personnages est hilarante. Dommage que ce soit court. Mais enfin, la citation de fin fait tout le job.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgibus is trying to force his daughter Célie to marry the wealthy Valère, but she is in love with Lélie and he with her. Célie faints in the street, and Sganarelle, who is passing by, attempts to revive her. In the process she loses her miniature portrait of Lélie which ends up in the hands of Sganarelle and his wife. This results in a series of assumptions: Sganarelle's wife believes that he and Célie are lovers; Sganarelle believes that Lélie and his wife are lovers; Célie believes that Lélie and Sganarelle's wife are lovers; and Lélie believes that Célie has secretly married Sganarelle. Célie's governess helps sort out the confusion and in the final scene Villebrequin arrives with the surprise news that four months ago his son Valère had secretly married someone else. Célie and Lélie are now free to marry. In the final lines of the play Sganarelle addresses the audience: "You have seen how the strongest evidence can still plant a false belief in the mind. Remember well this example, and even when you see everything, never believe anything."

This is one of Moliere's shorter plays and in his time was one of the most popular.

[Dennis Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Imaginary Cuckold is about as good as the Bungler. It has marks of age, while remaining at times amusing. I had a genuine chuckle or two, though there are some things that are meant to be funny that instead become frustrating. At the same time, this is shorter, and gets resolved through a more believable grand confrontation than secret families being revealed. The solution is of course, the common sense that a supporting character provides as she provides some clarity to the dispute. The story is essentially that two lovers and a married couple become suspicious and convinced that the other is cheating on them with another. The moral proclaimed at the end is high handed, and a little obvious - appearances can be deceiving.

Score?

81/100 | B-

[Souad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Je viens de le lire en ligne comme je ne peux pas acheter en version papier ( confinement de m..)
L'histoire n'est pas attachante surtout qu'elle ne se compose que d'un seul acte et 25 scènes
Vous pouvez la terminer en moins d'une heure comme mon cas là
Comme résumé je dis que sganarelle est un homme marié qui croisé un jour avec le portait d'un homme dans ses mains puis l'accuse de adultere alors que cette dernière l'a juste trouver par terre .
Célie qui l'a fait tombé en s'est evanouissant
, Un malentendu entre les lelie l'amant de Cécile qui croit que sganarelle est le futur marié de son amour Célie quand il trouve chez lui son portait , sganarelle la arracher à sa femme.
La suivante explique tout ce amalgame et les choses retourne à la normale .
Lelie alors épouse Célie .

[Selim Ben Said · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this comedy of manners, Molière satirizes marital jealousy by representing the misunderstandings within couples which sometimes would lead to suspicions of betrayal. Under this comedic layer, the author also tackles the issue of forced marriages which was prevalent in his time (i.e. Gorgibus forcing his daughter to marry the wealthy Valère, while she is in love with Lélie). The character of Sganarelle is introduced for the 2nd time and supersedes Mascarille in sophistication and ingenuity.

[Daniel R. Pinto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Une pièce assez amusante et bien écrite, mais Molière développera les mêmes sujets avec plus de génie dans d’autres oeuvres, comme Tartuffe (l’autorité du père qui impose son choix de mari à sa fille célibataire), ou L’École des femmes (la peur d’être cocu). En tous cas, on perd rarement son temps en compagnie de Molière, et les quiproquos en série ne manquent pas d’amuser.

[Mashika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, sweet, simple. This play is one act so a lot of the story is sort of stuffed. The characters aren't too deep but Sganarelle shines before anyone else. I feel like a lot of media could be adapted from this play. Overall this is a good foundation.

[Saphi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a French Theater class and was forced to read this and... look it's boring. Like really? This was the best of the best from Molière? He has better works, this one is probably what I would call one of his worst ones. Just avoid it, it's not really worth it.

[Maddy Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cracked me up. Honestly, I love it.

[mengwe · Rating 4 out of 5]

what in the comedy of errors is this 😭 jkjk i lowkey liked ittttt it was funny

[Cendikiawan Suryaatmadja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Translation By: Richard Wilbur

[Mickaël Serre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miscommunication trope old as hell omg

[Abi . · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5
C’est sympa mais rien de fou

[Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a comedy of errors! So much fun and brilliantly performed. Another great translation by Richard Wilbur.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mildly humorous comedy of errors. Once again, this reminded me of some of William Shakespeare's comedies, but I found this one to be somewhat funnier. It was very short, but I think the length suited the material. Part of what drives me crazy about Shakespeare's comedies is that they are too lengthy for how obviously ridiculous the situation is in which the characters find themselves. Molière doesn't mess around in this play. He gets his characters properly confused with humorous results, and then he has one of them take a deep breath and say, "you know, clearly we're all a little mucked up, what say we talk rationally and see if we can't get ourselves sorted out." It's neat, it's clean, it's funny. It works for me.

[بسام عبد العزيز · Rating 1 out of 5]

ألا يوجد لدي موليير أي موضوع آخر سوى العلاقات العاطفية لكي يتحدث عنه؟!!!!
لقد أصبح موضوعا مستهلكا و مبتذلا بدرجة لا يمكن وصفها!!!
المسرحية تحاول أن تكون فكاهية لكنها تفشل تماما في رسم ابتسامة واحدة على وجهي.. بل أنها تصيبيني بملل لانهائي يجعلني أحاول الانتهاء من الكتاب في أسرع وقت ممكن!
ما المسرحية؟
امرأة تظن أن زوجها يخونها.. و زوجها يظن أنها تخونه..
أما الشاب الذي يظن زوجها أنها تخونه معه فهو يحب فتاة و يظن انها تخونه مع الزوج المذكور مسبقا..
في حين أن الفتاة التي تحب الشاب تظن أن الشاب يخونها!

هو فيه ايه؟!!!!!!!!!!!
ما هذا الابتذال الشديد؟!! ما كل تلك العلاقات المعوقة و الشاذة؟!!! للدرجة التي تجعل الزوج يقول في احدى المشاهد أنه سيخبر كل الناس أن زوجته تخونه و أنه أصبح رجلا بقرون!!!!!!!!!!!!
هو سؤالي الوحيد .. كيف يقول الناس أن موليير كان هزليا؟!!!!!! يبدو أن الناس كانت وقتها تمتلك حس دعابة مرتفع حقا للدرجة التي تجعلهم يضحكون على مثل هذا الهراء!

[Duckie · Rating 3 out of 5]

No idea what happened in this. Ah, le français que je parle, c'est terrible. Quel dommage!

[Dorottya · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

This was a sweet little play and I like it how it tells us not to judge a situation right away. I thought, though, that overall, the story was too simple and predictable.

[Ladislav · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pohodové čítanie

[Lauretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook. Richard wilbur did the translation and it was superb.