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MOM K RE. 



drew all tlie sj>ectators from another company at 

 l.yoiiN. Till that time, all the French pieces had 

 brt-n t'nll of improbable intrigues. The art of 

 n-piv^ming diaracter and manners on the comic 

 stage was reserved for Moliere. This art, the germ 

 of which is seen in the Etourdi, united with va- 

 riety of incident, kept the attention of the specta- 

 tors awake, and concealed the faults of the piece. 

 The Etourdi was acted with equal applause in Bezi- 

 eres. Here the prince of Conti, who had known 

 Moliere at school, hat! just assembled the estates of 

 Languedoc. He received the poet as a friend, and 

 intrusted him with the charge of amusing the town 

 and the assembly. Le Dipit Amourcux, and Lcs 

 Precieitses Ridicules were brought forward on the 

 theatre of Bezieres.and were admired. In the Depit 

 Amoureux, the incidents are better arranged than in 

 the Etourdi. In the actions of the personages, a 

 genuine comic vein is exhibited, and their language 

 displays much spirit and humour ; but the plot is too 

 complicated, and the denouement not sufficiently pro- 

 bable. The plot in the Precieuses Ridicules is more 

 simple. A delicate satire on the prevailing affectation 

 of the character of bel esprit and of a romantic style, 

 on the pedantry of learned females, and affectation in 

 language, thoughts, and dress, is the object of this 

 comedy. It produced a general reform when it was 

 brought forward in Paris. The spectators laughed, 

 recognised themselves, and clapped. Louis XIV. 

 was so well pleased with the performances of Moliere's 

 company, that he made it his own company, and gave 

 its director a pension of 1000 francs. The Cocu Ima- 

 ginaire appeared in 1660. This piece also contains 

 a fund of sportive humour, and keeps the spectators 

 continually amused. Censure was not silent on its 

 appearance, but was not listened to. Don Garde de 

 Navarre, in imitation of the Spanish, was criticised 

 with more justice. It is a cold attempt at a more 

 elevated style. The Ecole des Marts, the idea of 

 which is drawn from the Brothers of Terence, con- 

 tains a simple and entertaining plot, and a natural de- 

 nouement. The theatre still resounded with the 

 applause with which this piece was received, when, 

 Les Fac/ieujc, projected, executed, and committed to 

 memory by the actors, within a fortnight, was 

 performed at Vaux, at the residence of Fouquet, 

 intendant of finances, in the presence of the king and 

 court. This comedy is almost destitute of plot, but 

 the intention was to interest the spectators by the 

 multiplicity of characters, the truth of the portraits, 

 and by the elegance of the language. It is said that 

 the king, on going away from the first performance, 

 happening to see the count Soyecourt, a tiresome 

 narrator of his exploits in the chase, said to Moliere, 

 " There is an original that you have not copied." 

 In twenty-four hours, the scene of the hunter was 

 inserted; and, as Moliere was not acquainted with 

 the terms of the chase, lie requested Soyecourt him- 

 self to explain them to him. The Ecole des Femmes 

 (1662) met with critics, who, overlooking the art 

 which prevails in the management of the inferior per- 

 sonages, and in the natural and quick transition from 

 one surprise to another, animadverted upon some 

 negligences of style. Moliere answered them by his 

 spirited Critique de I' Ecole ties Femmes. The Im- 

 promptu de Versailles was a reprisal, occasioned by 

 an attack of Boursault, who had written a piece 

 against him, entitled Le Portrait du Pcintre. The 

 court was very much pleased, in 1664, with La 

 Princesse d'Elide, a comic ballet, prepared for an 

 entertainment given by the king. Paris, which saw 

 this ballet without the splendour which had embel- 

 lished it at Versailles, received it less favourably. 

 .Another ballet, Le Mariage force , is drawn from Ka- 

 bHais. Don Juan, oit le Festin de Pierre, excited 



much reprehension by the impiety of some of the 

 expressions placed in the mouth of the profligate 

 hero. Moliere retrenched the objectionable parts in 

 the second representation. L 'Amour Mi-decin is 

 one of the over-hasty works, which are not to be 

 strictly criticised. It was written, studied, and re- 

 presented within five days. In this piece, Moliere, 

 for the first time, attacks the physicians, which, it 

 is said, he was induced to do by the fact that an 

 ignorant and avaricious practitioner cheated him by 

 overcharges. His great piece, Le Misanthrope, was 

 but moderately well received at first, but, in the 

 sequel, was justly considered as one of the finest pro- 

 ductions of modern comedy. It must, nevertheless, 

 be allowed that it has been more admired in the 

 closet than it has pleased on the stage the reason, 

 Voltaire believes to be, because the plot is delicate 

 and ingenious, rather than lively and interesting ; 

 because the dialogue, with all its beauty, does not 

 always seem necessary, and therefore retards the 

 action; and because the denouement, though skilfully 

 introduced, leaves the spectator unexcited. He adds 

 that the Misanthrope is a more delicate and a finer 

 satire than those of Horace and Boileau, and at least 

 equally well written, but that there are more inter- 

 esting comedies, and that the Tartuffe, for example, 

 unites the same beauties of style with a much more 

 lively interest. In 1665, appeared the Medecin mal- 

 gre Lui, a farce full of humour. Le Sicilwn, ou 

 I 'Amour Peintre, is a short piece which pleases by 

 its grace and gallantry. But his reputation was car- 

 ried to its highest summit when the Tartuffe appear- 

 ed. Weak minds and pretended saints cried out 

 against the author; but the piece was played and 

 applauded, after it had been kept back for years by 

 the clamour. In this, hypocrisy is fully unveiled ; 

 the characters are equally various and true ; the dia- 

 logue is elegant and natural ; the denouement alone 

 is unsatisfactory. An impious and obscene farce, 

 entitled Scaramouche, having been represented at 

 court, the king said to the great Conde, as he was 

 leaving the theatre in his company, " 1 should like to 

 know why the people, who are so much scandalized 

 at Moliere, say nothing about Scaramouche." " The 

 reason is," replied the prince, " that Scaramouche 

 ridicules only God and religion, about which these 

 people care nothing, while Moliere's piece ridicules 

 themselves." In 1668, Moliere published his Amphy- 

 trion, a free imitation of Plautus. W ith the excep- 

 tion of a tedious scene between Jupiter and Alcmene 

 nothing can be more humorous. UAvnre (the 

 Miser), an imitation of the Euclio of Plautus, is, in 

 the leading character, a little overdone ; but the 

 multitude is only to be struck by strong traits. Rous- 

 seau censured this piece, because the paternal author- 

 ity is undervalued in it. George Dandin, on le Mari 

 confondu; Monsieur de Pourceaugnac ; Les Fourbe- 

 ries de Scapin, are rather amusing than instructive. 

 Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, though mixed with so:ne 

 buffooneries, is highly comic, and full of power. 

 Moliere bestowed more care on his Femmes Savant es, 

 a witty satire on affected taste and pedantic learning, 

 which at that time prevailed in the Hotel de Ilam- 

 bouillct. The incidents are not all well connected; 

 but the subject, dry as it may be in itself, is exhibited 

 in a truly comic form. The development is ad- 

 mirable, and has been a hundred times imitated. 

 The same is true of the Malade imaginnire, in which 

 the quackery and pedantry of the physicians of the 

 times are fully delineated. With this piece the 

 author concluded his career. He was indisposed 

 when it was performed. His wife and Baron urged 

 him not to play: "What," he replied, "will 

 all the poor workmen do? I could not forgive myself 

 1 for neglecting, a single day, to give them bread." 



