MOI.H--.IIK. 



that provtaee for Grvnob, where they pUyeU efcrhsf 1 

 They Una ww to HOMO, MM! buJly to P.ris. wh 

 was wtrodue*! to the king. I.U XIV., before whom 



r played u.. tnfedy rf KkxwW^ 



ta Ik. feard-BeTer Uw old Louvn. M 



I 



hi* 



st a tbeatn 

 Molion felt that la 



trajtedy his oaospeay was inferior to that of the Hotel de ItouncoKne, 

 and therefore, when lie play wse ended, he came for* ard aad obeervrd, 

 that they won but fciat copies of excellent originals, and hoped that 

 the kiosr would allow them to play one of the liulo comic pieces which 

 had hora racceesful la Use province*. The king granted the request, 

 aad the piece, which wae oao of those early work* of Molien which 

 have tot been collected, was played with success. The king wiahed 

 r to remain at Pars*, gave them the title of 'Troupe de 

 id allowed them to play, alternately with the Italian 

 the tbeatn railed Lo Petit Bourbon. In 1000 they 

 niaoved to tho Palais KoyaL 



IB 1618 Moliere's carry pieces of 'L'fUourdl' and 'Le DdpH 

 Amoureux,' which had betn acted with such success in the province*, 

 were played with great applause at Paris ; and in 1669 waa produced 

 hit celebrated ' Preoieutes Kidiculs.,' which waa so successful that the 

 price* if admission wen trebled on the second day of performance, 

 aad the piece notwithstanding had a four months' run. With this 

 comedy the fame of Molien may be said to hep in : the modern reader 

 may find in it only aa ordinary farce, but the Parisian public perceived 

 that the author was a bold and strong portray er of prevailing characters 

 and manner*. It is written in prose, and the design is to ridicule 

 those Udies, called ' Precieuse*,' who indulged in an affected way of 

 talking peculiar to the time. In 1600 Molion produced 'Le Cocu 

 Imaginaira ' with groat success, though it was not so popular as its 

 predecessor*. It i ingeniously constructed, but it is not so much an 

 exhibition of character aa the ' Precieosca.' ' Don Qaroie de Navarre,' 

 brought out by Molien in 1661, was unsuccessful, and injured his 

 reputation. It is called an heroic comedy, and ia a weak, heavy pro- 

 duction, scarcely readable. His fame was again raised by the ' ficole 

 do* Maria,' which waa produced in the same year with great success. 

 The character' of the two principal personages in this piece resemble 

 thoee of the brothers in the ' Adelphi ' of Terence. An excellent piece 

 followed in the same yesr, called 'Les Facheux,' which perhaps exhibits 

 Moliere s peculiar talent more than any of bis plays. That talent con- 

 sisted ia the portraying of character ; and in proportion as there is 

 on or lees of character to draw, does Moliere become strong or weak. 

 The object of ' Les Facheux ' was to exhibit every species of disagree 

 able ptnon hi one thort drama, and, though the plot is nothing, the 

 different character* of the ' bores ' of the period, such as a man who 

 talks of nothing but hunting, a composer, a card-player, a duellist, &c., 

 pas* in quick succession, and present a most happy phai.tasmagoric 

 I uturr of the time*. In 1662 appeared the 'fioole des Femmes,' which 

 bad no very gnat succcts in Paris, although the principal character, 

 Agnos, I* the original frm hich Wycherly baa taken his Mrs. 1'iuch- 

 wuTe, in the ' Country Wife,' subsequently altered by Oarrick into the 

 'Country Otri.' Molien was so indignant at the slight success of 

 that piece, that he wrote another, called ' La Critique de I'tcole des 

 PeauDce,' ia which be held up ite opponent* to public derision. One 

 of the character*, a ridiculous marquis, is supposed to represent the 

 Due de Feuillade. Tbi* ' Critique,' which was played in 1063, was 

 very successful. A little piece entitled ' L'luipromptu de Versailles,' 

 we* produced the same year, which consists merely of a satirical con- 

 venation among the comedian*. It is preceded by a ' Kemerciemcnt,' 

 or | oem of thank* to the king, who had, in the year of ite production, 

 granted Molten a pension of 1000 livres. He wss grratly esteemed 

 at court, wbrn be held the office which bad been filled by his father; 

 aad the king Is said on one occasion to have eat with him at tho same 

 table to shame some of hi* officer* who treated him with haughty 

 cookers. Moliere's happiness would have been greater bad ha not 

 about U.U time married Armaude liejart, then about seventeen, whose 

 lively aad coquettish deposition kept him in all the agoniea of jealousy. 

 To relieve hiandf from domestic disquietude he pursued his labours 

 with additional ardour, aad wrote 'L* Mariage Force' and I. a 

 Prinesuee d'fcud*,' which wore produced in HOI, and 'Le Festin de 

 .' produced in 1666. Of those the fiist is a men farce, which 



ihibita however klvlien'* aftitode to skeUh rhsraoter hi the two 

 littU parte of the peripatetic and sceptical philosopher*; the second 

 ia oae of tbete heavy uixtuns of serious comedy and ballet which, 

 however effective they might have been with splendid decorations, 

 do not aow repay a reader 'the trouble of perusing them ; and the 

 third ia aa ill-constructed piece, with a spark of humour hen and 

 then, ebtrly remarkable for being one of the numerous versions of 

 the stoty of DOB Juan,' which ia the subject of Moxart'a opera, and 

 for certain eeosurra bestowed upon it by the Sieur de Kochemont, 

 who oocsidored it impious. In 166i the king engsgrd Motion's 

 eonpaiiy for hat own service, granting them a pension of 7000 livres, 

 Bad tfcey took the Uti. of the Troupe du Hoi.' A little piece, called 



L'Aa>ow Mcdeein,' followed up the attack on the medical profession 

 which Motion bad modenUllr commenced la the ' Pectin de Pierre.' 



Hi* natlloat comedy ' Le Misanthrope' was produced in 1666, and 

 is reckoned among hi* cbef-d'onivres. U abounds in character and 

 . views of society. In the same yew appeared 'Le Medeoin 

 lui,' * humorous attack on the puyeicUns, well known to the 



MOLltRS. K> 



ITMlhli by Heldiae.* version, eatiUed 'The Mock Doctor.' With 

 respect to the dste of the celebrated comedy ' Le Tartuffo,' then U a 

 little difficulty. In oollwrUon* of Moliere's works it is placed at some 

 distance after the Misanthrope,' and ia dated 1607 ; but some line* in 

 tho ' Misanthrope' appear to allude to a book which the bigots of the 

 day, ofleoded by the ' TartunV published as Motion's, in order to 

 injure, hi* reputation. Tbo discrepancy has been accounted for by 

 stating that the first three act* of ' Le Tartufle ' were played in 1661, 

 but that the entire piece was not acted till 1607. However this may 

 be, on ite very first production the more bigoted part of the com- 

 munity won ranged ; aad inch earnest applications wen made to the 

 kin*, that he ordered tho piece to be withdrawn. The representation!) 

 of Moliere induced the king to revoke this order, but Molitre -lid not 

 Consider it prudent to perform it at once. About the same period ho 

 produced three insignificant little pieces, ' MeUoerto' (a men fragment), 

 Pastorale Comique,' and ' Le Sicilien ;' and in 1068 appeared his 

 ' Amphitryon.' a clever version of the ' Amphitryon ' of Plautus, altered 

 by the addition of a wife to Soia, and the substitution of a prophecy 

 of the birth of Hercules for his actual birth. Tbo admirable comedy 

 oi 'L'Avsro' was brought out in the same year, but played at first 

 with little success, owing, it is said, to its having been written in 

 prose, which the audience did not think calculated for pieces of five 

 act*. It is one of Motion's very beet pi' ces ; nothing am be better 

 than the character of the miacr (who is supposed to be imitated from 

 the Kucllo of Plautus's ' Aulularia'), and we cannot rvfrain from 

 admiration at the boundless ingenuity displayed by the author in 

 placing him in every possible situation adapted to draw him forth. 

 If ' Les Facheux ' is the prototype of those pieces where tho greatest 

 variety of characters is introduced in succession, ' L'Avare ' is, on the 

 other hand, the prototype of tho'e which an chiefly occupied in the 

 exhibition of one character in all its phases. The piece was rendered 

 by Fielding as ' The Miser.' Having produced in the same year a suc- 

 cessful piece, ' George Dandiu,' which is a droll little farce, 31 

 ventured on a second representation of ' Le TartunV The theatro 

 was crowded to excess, and the piece" was just about to begin, when n 

 prohibitory order arrived from parties who held authority during the 

 absence of the king, who waa in Klaudcr*. The actors, not having the 

 king's permission in writing, returned the spectators their money, and 

 extinguished the lights. Moliere instantly despatched two of his 

 actors to the king, to solicit his protection; and on tlu-ir return with 

 an order in their favour, the piece was played without iuteirupiion. 

 Of the merit of this celebrated comedy, so well-known to the English 

 public by the imitation called ' The Hypocrite,' there is no doubt ; but 

 whether religious imposture is or is not a fit subject for ridicule on 

 the stage, is a question we leave open to the opinion and feelings of 

 our readers. ' Monsieur de Porceaugnar,' a farce representing the 

 awkwardness of a pompous country-gentleman in a largo metropolis, 

 and containing an incidental satire against the physicians, was 

 represented in lii'J'J with great success, and the famous ' lv 

 Uuutilhomni",' brought out in tho following year, was < 

 fortunate. This, although in five acts, is a farce of the most extrava- 

 gant kind, and being, as it is called, a comodie-ballet, the author has 

 allowed it at the close to run almost into a pantomiuc. In construc- 

 tion it is exceedingly loose, and this is tho case with all Moliere s 

 pieces that go by the name of 'oomodie-ballet;' so easy is it to avoid 

 difficult unravelling* by the introduction of dances. Several of the 

 pieces named above belong to this class, although they have not been 

 so specified. In spite of its extravagance the ' bourgeois Oeutilhomme' 

 is a favourite piece, and allusions are perhaps more frequently made 

 to it than to any other play of Moliorc's. The pompous ignorance of 

 the principal character and the pretensions of his sever.il fashionable 

 masters are extnmely laughable ; but as far as construction goes, it is 

 a men succession of farcical incident*. 



In 1072 Moliere produced his ' Femmes Savantes,' one of his best 

 comedim, in which the learned ladies and witlings of the time are 

 admirably satirised. Its success however was at first not very great, 

 the subject being rather too dry and recondite for the public ;"t 

 Hefore the production of this piece he had assisted in composing a 

 ' trngi<die-!>allet ' on the subject of Cupid and Psycho, and had brought 

 out two inferior pieces, ' La Cointeese d'Kscorbagnus,' and ' Les Four- 

 beries de Scapiu.' 



In the yesr 1672 Moliere became reconciled to his wife, with whom 

 he had long been at variance, and at the same time quitted a. milk 

 diet, to which he had restricted himself on account of a complaint 

 in the chest, for animal food. This increased his complaint, but ho 

 worked hard at the composition of ' Le Malade Imaginairo,' which 

 was produced in 1673, and is one of his most entertaining pieces, and 

 his severest attack on the physii-ians. On the third day of the repre- 

 sentation of his comedy Moliere felt the pain in his chest much 

 increased, and his wife, mid Baron the actor, endeavoured to dissuade 

 him from playing. Their efforts wera vain, and while acting the part 

 of ' Argan,' a convulsion seized him, which he endeavoured to conceal 

 by a laugh. A* soon as the piece was over he entered Uaron's box, 

 who remarked that he appeared worse than ordinary. His hands wi-ro 

 cold, and Uaron accompanied him home. Soon after his srtivnl lip 

 began to spit blood, which at length flowed from his mouth in such 

 abundance as to suffocate him. The date of hi* death is the 17th of 

 February 1673. The rites of sepulture wen at firet refused to 



