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Four Comedies: The Misanthrope, Tartuffe, The Learned Ladies, The School for Wives
English (translation)
Original French
Original French
- GenresPlays
637 pages, Hardcover
First published March 24, 1982
11 people want to read
About the author
Molière
4,630 books1,508 followersSophisticated 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 5, 2014
4½ stars. This book has two 5-star plays, one 4-star, and one 3-star play. Tartuffe and The Misanthrope are the top two (although I think I have a slight preferance for Tartuffe). The Learned Ladies only rated 3 stars from me because I didn't care for Molière's point that women shouldn't be educated (however, the romantic plot was as fun as usual!). I enjoyed The School for Wives which was on the same theme as his School for Husbands - the farcial elements of jealousy.
Richard Wilbur has done a perfectly marvelous job in translating these plays & I would strongly recommend his translations - much more enjoyable than the prose translations of Tartuffe and The Misanthrope which I read last year.
Richard Wilbur has done a perfectly marvelous job in translating these plays & I would strongly recommend his translations - much more enjoyable than the prose translations of Tartuffe and The Misanthrope which I read last year.
January 17, 2019
Here are my thoughts as I re-read the plays:
The Misanthrope ***** – What makes this savage satire of Parisian society so memorable are the characters. In a few words, Moliere brings them to life and makes them three dimensional. They don’t have the depth of a King Lear, but they are vivid and moving. And their interaction is splendidly done and the play is full of memorable scenes such as Alcestes’ critique of Oronte’s verse (1.2 & 4.1), and Arsinoe’s and Celimene’s mutual put down (3.5). This is great theatre.
The key to the play is Celimene. She is the centerpiece, more so than Alceste. If she is not perfectly formed, if she does not neatly balance the coquette with the lover, the play falls apart and is unbelievable. As unimaginable as it seems for Alceste to love Celimene, the Moliere’s portrait makes it believable. Her tantrum when Alceste finds the note is wonderful and reminds me of the unorthodox love of Shakespeare’s Cleopatra. (Though Cleopatra’s love is heartfelt.)
This is must read/see. I’ll leave with this wonderful quote from Alceste about Oronte’s poetry:
“I’ll gladly praise his wardrobe, I’ll endorse
His dancing, or the way he sits a horse;
But, gentlemen, I cannot praise his rhyme.
In fact, it ought to be a capital crime
For one so sadly unendowed
To write a sonnet and read the thing aloud.” (4.1 p. 103) (10/17)
Tartuffe **** – Though not as brilliant as The Misanthrope, Tartuffe is a wonderful work. It built on the tradition of Plautus and laid the groundwork for the centuries of seat-squirming situation comedy that has followed.
Though subtitled The Hypocrite, I really think Tartuffe is more the con man. A hypocrite has core beliefs that he undermines willingly or unwillingly in his deeds or words. Tartuffe has no such principles to undermine. He is completely amoral. There is nothing to undermine.
The ending, of course, is completely ridiculous and a total cop out. And this is not helped by that eye-roll-inducing ego-massaging butt-kissing of the King. I guess a playwright does what a playwright must.
This translation by Richard Wilbur is not quite as good as his translation of The Misanthrope. (But that is brilliantly done and it would be hard to match it.) It’s hard to tell if the fault is with the translation or the original play. Tartuffe is in some ways a darker play with a serious thread woven through it. To me, it felt at times like the rime either unintentionally undercut the seriousness, or the seriousness unintentionally undercut the rime. It is a difficult tone that might have been more successfully achieved if the rime were employee more strategically, and less completely.
But this is a classic and for good reason. It is a highly enjoyable work. (01/19)
The Misanthrope ***** – What makes this savage satire of Parisian society so memorable are the characters. In a few words, Moliere brings them to life and makes them three dimensional. They don’t have the depth of a King Lear, but they are vivid and moving. And their interaction is splendidly done and the play is full of memorable scenes such as Alcestes’ critique of Oronte’s verse (1.2 & 4.1), and Arsinoe’s and Celimene’s mutual put down (3.5). This is great theatre.
The key to the play is Celimene. She is the centerpiece, more so than Alceste. If she is not perfectly formed, if she does not neatly balance the coquette with the lover, the play falls apart and is unbelievable. As unimaginable as it seems for Alceste to love Celimene, the Moliere’s portrait makes it believable. Her tantrum when Alceste finds the note is wonderful and reminds me of the unorthodox love of Shakespeare’s Cleopatra. (Though Cleopatra’s love is heartfelt.)
This is must read/see. I’ll leave with this wonderful quote from Alceste about Oronte’s poetry:
“I’ll gladly praise his wardrobe, I’ll endorse
His dancing, or the way he sits a horse;
But, gentlemen, I cannot praise his rhyme.
In fact, it ought to be a capital crime
For one so sadly unendowed
To write a sonnet and read the thing aloud.” (4.1 p. 103) (10/17)
Tartuffe **** – Though not as brilliant as The Misanthrope, Tartuffe is a wonderful work. It built on the tradition of Plautus and laid the groundwork for the centuries of seat-squirming situation comedy that has followed.
Though subtitled The Hypocrite, I really think Tartuffe is more the con man. A hypocrite has core beliefs that he undermines willingly or unwillingly in his deeds or words. Tartuffe has no such principles to undermine. He is completely amoral. There is nothing to undermine.
The ending, of course, is completely ridiculous and a total cop out. And this is not helped by that eye-roll-inducing ego-massaging butt-kissing of the King. I guess a playwright does what a playwright must.
This translation by Richard Wilbur is not quite as good as his translation of The Misanthrope. (But that is brilliantly done and it would be hard to match it.) It’s hard to tell if the fault is with the translation or the original play. Tartuffe is in some ways a darker play with a serious thread woven through it. To me, it felt at times like the rime either unintentionally undercut the seriousness, or the seriousness unintentionally undercut the rime. It is a difficult tone that might have been more successfully achieved if the rime were employee more strategically, and less completely.
But this is a classic and for good reason. It is a highly enjoyable work. (01/19)
June 21, 2010
I was happy the whiny ass main characters didn't get rewarded for ridiculousness in the end.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews