Η Κόμησσα του Σκαρμπανιά

by Molière, Μολιέρος, Αντώνης Σακελλαρίου (Translator)

A story on a provincial woman who boasts of having learned good manners in Paris.

One of Molière's best one-act plays, The Countess of Escarbagnas blends broad farce and pointed wit to express his never-ending delight in human foibles. But Molière is more than just the "master of the laugh," for behind the comic gestures of these matchless rogues, tight-fisted masters, possessive lovers and elegant ladies lurk fears, insecurities and their consequences.

Genres: Classics, Comedy, Fiction, Plays, France, 17th Century

76 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1643

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

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

When reading, it serves one to be cognisant of the circumstances in which this would have been performed; the scenes serving as vignettes between pieces of music, danced to by the cast and sometimes the audience. It is difficult to transport oneself to a C17th ballroom, but in such a location, an evening of socialising and dancing, interleaved with a light and amusing satire on one's peer group, could be a delight.

[Kasper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inessential, there is a little breaking of the 4th wall at the end that is kind of funny though.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

به نظرم باید مواظب رفتارمون باشیم، یه جایی، یه روزی آسیب میبینیم
از عواقب رفتارهای اشتباهمون.

[Perry Whitford · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was funny then, but it is funny now?

The Countess is a snobby provincial who sees herself as a 'person of quality' because she has been to Paris, even though she only stayed in hotels and not at the houses of any aristocrats. She has two lovers, a councillor and a tax collector, though her friend Julia, fully aware of how puffed-she is, kids the Countess that her own lover has a fancy for her.

Julia considers this pretence to be 'a very amusing comedy', which no doubt the late-17th century Parisian court did too though it was lost on me. A couple of foolish servants and a few dreadful puns were the extent of the jollity on show, e.g.

'I come before good company to say that I break with you, and that I, the receiver of taxes, will no more be taxed on your account.'

I guess the comic characters would have gained most of the laughs from their ridiculous appearance and a good deal of whatever the contemporary versions of facial mugging happened to be.

Mercifully it's very short.

[Jennell McHugh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very short play of a bitchy beautiful Countess and her inadequate provincial suitors. Some funny lines about the vanity of people and Parisians.