Le Médecin Malgré Lui

by Molière

Un mari bat sa femme qui se venge en faisant de lui un médecin des plus inattendus. Il découvre bientôt que ce métier pourrait bien être le meilleur du monde... Cette pièce est une des plus célèbres de Molière pour son art achevé de la farce et du comique de situation. Si elle nous fait toujours autant rire, elle sait aussi nous toucher et nous émouvoir.

Genres: Classics, Plays, Theatre, France, French Literature, Fiction, Drama

95 pages, Paperback

First published August 6, 1666

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

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Read in Spanish] -- [Reseña en español más abajo]

A theatre play that gave me more than I expected. Even though it is not one of my favourite books, I didn't expect to enjoy it that much, since it is not my favourite kind of literature (theatre).
The story is short but good. It's very funny, but behind it there is a very strong message to the French high class from the 20th century. Molière was a very important writer in his time, and he still is today. He had an active life in sense of the amount of plays he wrote and he always had issues with the "uptown" ones, since he brought up topics that were not very convenient to talk about: such us honestly making a living, religion, appearances, among others.
I was gladly surprised. Maybe I underrated the book and the writer, that I'm glad I was proved wrong. From a serious problem, he made it a comedy and in that way he could strongly deliver his message.

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Una obra de teatro que me entregó más de lo que me esperaba. Si bien no es uno de mis libros favoritos, pensé que lo iba a disfrutar menos, ya que no es mi género literario favorito (teatro).
La historia es corta pero buena. Es muy graciosa, pero detrás de ésta hay un mensaje muy potente a la clase alta de la Francia clásica del siglo XVII. Molière era un autor muy importante en su época, y aún lo es hoy en día. Tuvo una vida activa en sentido de cantidad de obras y siempre tuvo problemas con "los de arriba", ya que hablaba de temas que, para la época, era mejor evitarlos: como el ganarse la vida honestamente, la religión, las apariencias, entre otros.
Me sorprendió gratamente. Quizás subestimé el libro y al autor, que felizmente, me demostraron lo contrario. De un problema serio, lo hizo comedia y de esa forma pudo entregar su mensaje fuertemente.

[Jesús De la Jara · Rating 4 out of 5]

EL MÉDICO A PALOS de Molière

"Viste de manera extravagante, finge a veces ignorancia, guarda para sí su ciencia, y de lo que más huye es de emplear el gran talento que Dios le ha dado para la Medicina."

Sabía de la obra pero no tenía idea cierta sobre su contenido y lo primero que me causó asombro es que el título es literalmente real. Por otra parte soy muy malo para calificar comedias debido a que siempre prefiero las tragedias y como no me suelen gustar tanto pues creo que hasta ahora nunca he puesto 5 estrellas a una comedia. Debo decir, sin embargo, que ésta es una de las comedias mejores que he leído de Molière a quien cada vez más admiro a medida que leo más de él.
Sganarelle es un humilde leñador que trata a su esposa Martina de forma vulgar e incluso a golpes por lo que ésta urdirá una trampa en venganza diciendo a quien quiera oírla que es un gran y extraordinario médico que es tan excéntrico que a veces es necesario apalearlo para que confiese su gran arte. Pues en casa del noble Don Gerónimo su hija Lucile de repente ha sufrido de la pérdida de su voz luego que su padre la obligue a casarse con un viejo aristócrata que aportará prestigio a su familia con el casamiento. Lucas y Valerio dos criados de Gerónimo quienes creen lo que escuchan de Martina van a buscar que el gran médico los ayude. Claro, Sganarelle pronto tendrá que enfrentarse a esa realidad y usando para ello algunas bravatas, Molière ensaya de burlarse de la "sapiencia" de los médicos de su época quienes al parecer tienen el trabajo muy fácil y con algunas frases de latín por aquí y por allá atarantan a toda la sociedad.

[Enrique · Rating 2 out of 5]

Comedia de enredo demasiado sencilla para mi gusto (no quiero calificarla de simple).

Por medio de la acción que se va desarrollando, se trata por todos los medios de llegar a la moraleja final, a la conclusión que desde el inicio nos quiere llevar el autor. De tal forma es así que leyendo las cuatro últimas líneas de esta comedia ya se habría entendido hacia donde nos va llevando Moliere desde el comienzo con esa trama un tanto “irreal”.
 
A pesar de lo poco creíble del planteamiento (que casi siempre propone el propio género de la comedia de enredo, aquí un poco más) debo reconocer que en algún momento me ha sacado una risa con las ocurrencias mundanas de algún personaje.

[Oziel Bispo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um simples cortador de lenha forçosamente se passando por um médico. .Agora imaginem o que pode acontecer. ...peça curta mais bem engraçada.

[Jason K. Barker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primero he decir que me estoy adentrando más en este tipo de literatura (clasica) y dentro de este encontramos un subgénero; el teatro, y si bien me cuesta reseñar porque no es lo que suelo leer, puedo decir que la historia es corta y por momentos divertida imaginando el contexto social de la época por aya del siglo XVII y en la cuál (como en muchos otros casos) se da una crítica a la clase social Francesa.
Aquí volvemos a encontrarnos con una obra o un autor que causó ciertas incomodidades por tratar temas que incomodaban a la alta sociedad, los cuales prefería hacer caso omiso dado que las apariencias eran más importantes. En este particular resalta el que de una situación sería, lo convirtieran en una comedia, es de imaginarse que eso solía ocurrir a menudo algo que en la actualidad no ha cambiado y que también se hace con los diversos realitys shows y comedias actuales.

El autor (Molière) era un personaje importante para su época y hoy en día sigue siéndolo, con esta obra nos da una narración fluida y cómica acerca de un leñador que golpea a su mujer y está a su vez toma venganza diciendo que su esposo es un gran médico.
Cómo podemos ver a lo largo de tres actos, está es una puesta en escena donde la venganza, la burla, el sarcasmo, el machismo, el matrimonio obligado, y el romance se conjugan, dando una gran sátira a la profesión médica.
Me quedo con esta gran frase: "Así va el mundo. Muchos adquieren opinión de doctos, no por lo que efectivamente saben, sino por el concepto que forma de ellos la ignorancia de los demás."
Es en resumen una obra entretenida ideal para pasar un buen rato.

[₊ ˚ ale ࿓ ♡ ⋆｡˚ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this play in 3 languages: French, English and Spanish, in that exact order.

I guess that in a theater, this play would be funny and cool, but reading it as such, it was boring for me. Tho, I laughed when the dude was "speaking" in Latin, lmao. It amazes me that I understood like 75% in French, and then had to translate many words to English so that I could understand them in Spanish because lol, my brain works really hard and in strange ways, yikes.

Anyhow, 2.5 stars for the guy kicking his wife, ew.

[Regina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This was fun! It actually made me laugh a few times.

[Huda Aweys · Rating 2 out of 5]

مسرحية كوميدية لطيفة جدا :))) ، عجبتني مشاكسات الحطاب مع زوجته و حواراتهم
و قليلا من الحكم الساخرة التي اجراها موليير على لسان اشخاصه .. عن العمل و الحياة و الزواج
:))

[Aya Ibrahim · Rating 3 out of 5]

مسرحية كوميدية لطيفة جداً

[David Sarkies · Rating 4 out of 5]

A poor gentleman is forced to be a quack
28 May 2013

This play is quite a farcical piece of work and I suspect it is making fun of many of the quacks that were running around Europe at the time promising miracle cures (though nothing much has changed with the exception that miracle cures are now peddled by massive pharmaceutical companies over television). The main character, Sganarelle, is a pretty obnoxious person and his family dump him in the pot by telling people that he is this wonderful doctor and forcing him to play along with them (despite knowing nothing about medicine). Obviously a rather farcical affair ensures which results in him almost being executed for trying to cure a servant by setting him up with a nobleman's daughter.
The introduction talks about how this is supposed to be making fun of those people running around France calling themselves doctors, though we should be aware that medicine in those days was still quite primitive. In fact, the people that were the true doctors tended to be burnt at the stake for witchcraft (which is what I suspect most witches were at the time - women living in the woods and using herbs to cure ailments). This was still during the time when diseases were cured by applying leeches and performing exorcisms.
Despite the huge advancements made in medical science over the centuries we still face much of that today. In fact there are doctors out there that actually have legitimate degrees hanging on their walls that are pretty much as bad as the doctor in this play (how many people remember Dr Nick Riviera from The Simpsons?). Even then, there is also a plethora of other less traditional medical practitioners out there that perform treatment in ways that just baffle the mind. When I was in Hong Kong recently I went a visited a few places offering foot massages. Now, a number of people thought that these places were fronts for brothels. In fact they are not (you have to actively search for the brothels in Hong Kong because they tend not to be obvious, though if you see a sign in an alley with a list of women with prices on them, then you can be assured that that is one of them, though you may discover that they are actually a decoy and the actual brothel is somewhere else, but I'm not talking about brothels, I am talking about dodgy doctors) but rather they practice what is known as reflexology, which is the theory that by massaging the feet you can cure all sorts of ailments. If you have a look on the walls in these places you will see large charts of the feet, and each part of the feet corresponds to a part of the body.
Here in Australia you actually get a bunch of doctors that live off of insurance companies. Basically you don't go and see these doctors if there is actually something wrong with you, you simply go and see them if you have a compensable injury (or even if you don't have one, but simply want to scam money out of an insurance company) or if you need a sick certificate for Monday morning (or any other day you simply don't want to go to work). Some of these doctors become really brazen in their 'opinion' simply because they, and their lawyers, know that most insurance companies don't actually want to take plaintiffs to court because they generally lose, and lose big.
I personally don't want to go down the road of attacking the less scientifically proven practitioners because, well, I don't think science can prove as much as we thing that it can prove. I have mentioned the pharmaceutical industry and to be honest with you I have some doubts about some of the rubbish that seems to come out of those places. Okay, here in Australia there are strict laws governing what pharmaceutical companies can advertise (and they cannot advertise prescription drugs) however that is not the case in the United States, where Big Pharma uses the advertising media to convince people to ask the doctor to prescribe them their drug. The thing is that the average bloke on the street actually does not know what drug is good for a condition and which one isn't, so why are they asking the doctor for a specific drug. Personally, though, I am glad I'm not a pharmaceutical salesperson (the legitimate type that is, though I'm not the illegitimate type either).

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Doctor in Spite of Himself is one of Moliere's quicker plays, but also just about as funny and scathing as the rest of his plays. He attacks medical professions and so-called "quacks" in this work by presenting a wood-cutter who is mistaken for a doctor. Hilarity ensues, as would be expected from the great satirist.

I admit that this is not the strongest of Moliere's plays in comparison to works like Tartuffe, but it's still a fun romp and definitely worth a look. It also really shows his attitude on the medical field of the time, which is worthwhile to realize from a historical point of view.

[María Carpio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molière y su Sganarelle, casi alter ego, podría decirse (siempre lo representaba él mismo y es una especie de vocero y encarnación de su crítica social). Esta vez como un leñador convertido en médico a palos, literalmente, por una venganza de su mujer a la que apalea previamente. Es una lástima que sea difícil de conseguir una traducción de la versión original, ya que la que he encontrado es la versión de Moratín que está acortada y corregida para adaptarla al público español de principios del siglo XIX. Incluso el personaje de Sganarelle está disminuido (no está su monólogo con moraleja) y hasta su nombre está cambiado. En esta versión se llama Bartolo. Por lo demás, el humor de Molière es sobresaliente y está por encima de las correcciones (las de la adaptación y las políticas). Los vestigios de la Comedia del arte siempre presentes.

[Hagar · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Traître, insolent, trompeur, lâche, coquin, pendard, gueux, belître, fripon, maraud, voleur". C'est fou mais la dernière fois que j'ai prononcé cette série d'injures, je devais avoir dans les 13 ans, en plein cours de français, je m'en rappelle comme si c'était hier. C'est la seule réplique qui me revient pour l'instant, on devait présenter une amie et moi le premier acte de la pièce, je jouais le rôle de Martine, la femme rancunière de Sganarelle qui fera tout pour venger les coups que ce dernier lui assena. J'adore cette pièce de théâtre, c'est ma préférée avec l'avare et les fourberies de Scapin.

[Camila Riquelme Jaque · Rating 3 out of 5]

Con este libro he redescubierto mi amor por las obras de teatro 😊 me ha gustado bastante.
Cortito y rápido de leer 😙

[Yegane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt like I’m reading the importance of being Ernest by Oscar Wilde. Loved it.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought my copy a half-century ago on the banks of the Seine, 5 Quai Montebello, late July, last three volumes for dix francs, maybe $2 at the time. (Remember, US quarters had real silver at the time.) We saw one Molière play at Comedie Francaise, and I read it in this edition—perhaps L’ecole des Femmes.

We in the US are now accustomed to intervention in abusive relations, so the first two scenes may surprise us. The play opens with Sganarelle, a wood-cutter, and his wife Martine arguing over who should be grateful the other married him/er. She says he does nothing all day but gamble and drink, while she has to care for four small children who beg for food. Her hubby says, “Well, whip them.” The couple insult each other, and he threatens her with a baton, a stick he’s got in his work. He’s as good as his word, and she calls him a drunk, Sac à vin. Handy to be a drinker when he’s received as a physician; he prescribes cordials with dust mixed in, gold being the most expensive, and seen as a great cure. He continues to test his alcohol cordials. This brings to mind our most common TV ads, for Big Pharma. (Much easier to sell in alcohol infusions, in the 17C.)
As the couple are fighting, enter their neighbor, M. Robert, who chastises the husband for beating his wife. Unexpectedly, Martine claims “I want him to hit me” and, “Is it any of your business?” She calls him impertinent, to hinder the right of husbands to beat their wives. M. Robert asks pardon for his intrusion, and leaves.

Of course, Martine really resents the beatings, and plans revenge. Overhearing that the great family needs a physician, she volunteers her husband as one, explaining he’s in the woods as a collector of herbal remedies or “simples” (168). (Compare John Muir collecting plants in the South after the Civil War, spared by some Confederate troops still fighting like the Japanese years after WWII ended). Martine says he’s a mad genius, will not admit he’s a physician unless they beat him—and he likes to wear the green and yellow clothes associated with commedia dell’arte comedy. Also, he is funny, which helps in healing. He’s healed people on their deathbed, with a little dram of something.
After he admits he’s a doctor, to end the beating, he shows his advanced knowledge with his schoolboy Latin and invented Latin words, but also with his up-to-date medicine, particularly pulse. Avicenna wrote a book on pulse, which I read in Latin at the Brown Library, though Ibn Sina wrote in Arabic. He linked it to the lungs; we know it arises from the heart, which Gabriel Harvey discovered in the late 16th C, just decades before Sganarelle diagnoses a perfectly healthy young man, "Voila un pouls qui est fort mauvais "(190). Earlier he had said the ill, mute daughter resulted from her father’s poor pulse (185).

The gentleman Geronte objects to only one thing in the fake doctor’s analysis of his bodily health, with the humors or “vapeurs” arising from the liver to the brain. Geronte thinks “ the heart is on the left side, the liver on the right”(188). Sganarelle, “Yes, that’s what they used to think, but we have discovered something totally new.”
In Act III, Sganarelle admits to Leandre that he’s not really a doctor, but he confides, “It’s a good profession.” Everybody wanted him to be a physician, so he finally said he was one: to Leandre, he says, “You wouldn’t believe how widespread the error was,” though under the US prez, we do believe error, and the belief in lies, widespread.
One great advantage of being a physician, No Complaints!—at least, none from those you kill, “jamais on n’en voit se plaindre du médecin qui l’a tuè”(193).
Leandre and Lucinde had planned to run away and marry, as advised by the fake doctor, but there’s a change in plans. No spoiler alert.
Much amusement in this play, including quite bit of dialect, several dialect names for God, “par ma figué,” and for common words like bère for “father,” often the Nurse or Nanny’s accent.

[Angelica Juarez Gonzalez · Rating 3 out of 5]

El médico a palos fue una total sorpresa —y un ende un gran descubrimiento. Y por descubriendo no quiero decir como la última novela (en este caso obra) literaria de la época porque ya tiene sus buenos años (data de ser publicada por primera vez en 1666 bajo el nombre de Le Médecin malgré lui cuyo autor es Jean-Baptiste Poquelin y en los registros aparece como Molière) ES el descubrimiento (resultado?) de tener tiempo libre, estar enferma, querer leer algo fresco, coger lo primero a la mano y pasar un buen momento. Todo esto fue un alivio, y sin muchas pretensiones.

Es divertido, sus personajes y sucesos lo son. Ya me imagine viéndola en escena EL MEDICO A PALOS qué, literal y figurativamente, se convierte en precisamente eso, ¡Y todo como parte de la venganza de su esposa! Otras escenas: la paliza de Bartolo por parte de Lucas y Ginés y la de Don Jerónimo por parte de Bartolo (¡Omg, que aquí si reí bastante!), el coqueteo inofensivo de Bartolo con Andrea y los celos de Lucas. (cuanto sueño yo. Si, lo sé) y pasando un momento aún más hilarante.

”LEANDRO.—Así va el mundo. Muchos adquieren opinión de doctos, no por lo que efectivamente saben, sino por el concepto que forma de ellos la ignorancia de los demás.”

[Mark Pool · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was a senior in high school, I took a course called World Literature. Some of the books I read in that class were some of the best books I’ve ever read in my life. We read this play aloud and had fun with it.

[Rihab · Rating 2 out of 5]

لو قرأ موليير الترجمة لكان اعتزل الكتابة
إن قلت ان ترجمة سيئة لن اوفيها حقها
لم ارى سببا لاستعمل العديد من اللهجات مع الفصحى
تغيير الاسماء لاسماء عربية لماذا؟
ما الهدف و ما المقصود بالتغيير
قالوا انك امام مسرحية كوميدية وجدت نفسي امام كارثة باتم معنى الكلمة

[irene ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una farsa bastante más entretenida de lo que esperaba en un principio. Me sacó varias sonrisas por lo absurdo de las situaciones y por cómo Sganarelle admite su condición de médico.

[Marisol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Primera obra que leo de Moliere, claramente comedia de absurdos, ágil, llena de situaciones cómicas pero sobre todo situaciones de enredo.

Me ha parecido muy sencilla, la terminé de leer, sin encontrar cosas que sobresalieran, lo mejor es la frase final, un tema muy vigente en nuestros días, no es más exitoso el que más sabe, el que más trabaja, sino el que representa mejor el papel de saber, es decir puede existir un doctor que diga que es buena tal medicina y nadie le pone atención, pero si lo dice un actor, un influencer o un supuesto gurú con demasiada simpatía y seguidores seguro que es cierto, y miles le harán caso.

Moliere conocía la psique humana, y está obra da un pequeño destello de ese conocimiento.

[Niuosha · Rating 3 out of 5]

ژرونت:(اسگانارل چوبی برداشته و ژرونت را می زند)آخ!آخ!آخ!
اسگانال:حالا پزشک هستید.مدارک پزشکی من هم همین بود .

[Stefano Caserta · Rating 4 out of 5]

("Il Medico Forzato") Esilarante.

[Mariano Cascio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Como suele suceder en la gran mayoría de las obras de Molière, el gran manejo de la ironía en conjunto con la crítica sociológica, forman la gran base para el desarrollo de la obra. Extremadamente divertida (por momentos uno se encuentra con episodios repentinos de risa que parecen no tener fin), la redacción impecable pero por momentos sentí que carecía de cierta emoción. Tranquilamente puede deberse a que los picos de euforia eran muy altos y luego resulta complicado equipararlos.
Me entretuvo, pasé un buen rato y las piezas encajan adecuadamente (al estilo Molière).

[Verónica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ha tenido su gracia. 2,5 ⭐

[Luis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me cuesta admitirlo, pero fue genuinamente divertido leer este libro, un ingles super fácil de entender y personajes que de verdad son graciosos. Fue un lectura que, aparte de que me servirá para mi goodreads goal, fue entretenida.

[genesis ☀️&#x1f4da; · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mehh..

Al menos me sirve en mi Reading challenge y se lee súper rápido.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short but very hilarious and entertaining read. This is a classic work of comedy and deception with a healthy suspicion of the medical profession thrown in, not dissimilar to views expressed elsewhere by Russian masters like Tolstoy and Chekhov (who was himself a doctor) -- perhaps, reflecting in some ways the fact that many medical professionals passed on questionable "know-how" merely for monetary gain (not dissimilar, unfortunately, to many doctors today). This work also channeled for me some of Foucault's reflections on expertise. This woodcutting fool, Sganarelle, through his wife's cunning, is presented as a learned though eccentric doctor. Excusing his bizarre ways and medical ignorance in favor of his short-lived though well-constructed reputation as a master of miracles, his service is not only sought, but his ignorance is revered as wisdom (very reminiscent of the character of Chance in Being There, the simple gardener who is soon a well-reputed political pundit). It may not represent Molière's best writing, but I find it one of his most humorous plays.

[Kiumars Azimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

از کارهای جذاب و لذت بخش مولیر است. مقدمه مفصل و دقیقی درباره زندگی مولیر دارد که بخاطر جذابیت و فرازونشیب های زندگی مولیر بسیار خواندنیست. اما در ترجمه ضعف ها و اشتباهات فاحش پیدا میشود. بهتر بود با کمک یک ویراستار این مشکلات رفع میشد

[Kikoi · Rating 4 out of 5]

مسرحية ممتعة و مضحكة كما عودنا موليير في نكته الساخرة
أحببت فكرة الإنتقام تلك، حسناً تعلمنا أسلوب جديد للانتقام
و اكتشفنا علوم طب جديدة مع طبيب الحالات الميؤوسة منها
xDD