Jean-Baptiste Moliere

Biography

MOLIRE (POquelin) Jean-Baptiste (1622−1673), French poet and actor, creator of classic comedy.

Born January 13, 1622 in Paris; son of Jean Poquelin, court upholsterer and royal valet, and Marie, daughter of private upholsterer Louis Cresset. At the age of ten he lost his mother. In 1631-1639 he studied at the Jesuit Clermont College, where, in addition to theological disciplines, they taught ancient literature and ancient languages; showed great interest in studies; translated into French the poem On the Nature of Things by the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius. In 1640 he studied legal sciences at the University of Orleans, and at the beginning of 1641 he passed the exam for the title of licentiate of law. In April-June 1642 he replaced his father as royal valet. On January 6, 1643 he refused the title of royal upholsterer. On June 30, 1643, he organized the “Brilliant Theater” together with the Bejart family; staged tragedies, tragicomedies, and pastorals; adopted the surname Molière. After a series of failures, the theater ceased to exist. With the remnants of the troupe he left for the provinces.

In 1645-1658 the troupe performed in the cities and castles of Normandy, Brittany, Poitou, Gascony and Languedoc. By 1650 Molière had become its recognized leader. Gradually, comedy performances took a leading place in her repertoire. In competition with Italian comedians, Moliere began to compose small plays (divertimentos) himself, adding elements of the Italian comedy of masks (commedia dell'arte) to the French medieval farce. Their success prompted him to turn to larger forms: in 1655 he created his first five-act comedy in verse, The Madcap, or Everything Is Out of Place (L "Etourdi, ou Les Contretemps); it was followed in 1656 by A Love Spat (Le Dpit amoureux).

By 1658, Moliere's troupe had become the most popular in the French province. Thanks to the patronage of the Duke of Orleans, brother of Louis XIV, she got the opportunity to perform on October 24, 1658 in front of the royal court with P. Corneille's tragedy Nicomede and Moliere's farce The Doctor in Love; Nicomedes was greeted coldly, but the Doctor in Love created a sensation, which decided the fate of the troupe: it was awarded the title of “The King's Brother Troupe” and was given the stage of the Maly Bourbon Theater. From that time on, Moliere finally abandoned tragic roles and began to play only comedic characters.

In 1659 he staged a one-act comedy in prose, Les Prcieuses ridicules, in which he ridiculed the unnaturalness and pomposity of the precision style cultivated in literature (a group of poets led by J. Chaplin) and secular salons (See also CLASSICISM). She had resounding success, but at the same time gave birth to many enemies in the world. From that day on, Moliere's life turned into a constant struggle with them. In 1660, the sitcom Sganarelle, or The Imaginary Cuckold (Sganarelle, ou le Cocu imaginaire), which treated the traditional theme of adultery, was performed with no less success. In the same year, the king provided the Molière troupe with the building of the Palais Royal theater.

The theatrical season on the new stage opened on February 4, 1661 with the play Don Garcia of Navarre, or the Jealous Prince (Dom Garcie de Navarre, ou le Prince jaloux), but its philosophical comedy was not accepted by the general public. In June, the School of Husbands (L" Ecole des maris) was successfully held, ridiculing paternal despotism and defending the principles of natural education; it marked the author's turn to the genre of comedy of manners; the features of high comedy were already discernible in it. The first truly classic comedy was the School of Wives (L "Ecole des femmes", staged in December 1662; she was distinguished by a deep psychological elaboration of the traditional theme of family and marriage. Moliere responded to accusations of plagiarism, weak plot and bad taste in 1663 with the comedies of the Critique of the School of Wives (La Critique de l'Ecole des femmes) and the Versailles Impromptu (L"Impromptu de Versailles), in which he cheerfully and evilly ironized his ill-wishers ( marquises, salon ladies, prestigious poets and actors of the Burgundian hotel). They did not disdain any means and even accused Moliere of incest (marriage with his own daughter, who became the support of Louis XIV); godfather his first son, put an end to the gossip. From 1664 he began to constantly participate in the organization of court festivities, writing and staging comedies and ballets: in January 1664, Forced Marriage (Le Mariage forc) was performed, in May - The Princess of Elide (La Princesse d'Elide) and Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite (Le Tartuffe, ou l'Hypocrite), a cruel parody of religious bigotry. A scandal broke out; the king banned the performance. They even demanded that the author be sent to the stake. In the spring of 1665, Don Juan, or the Stone Feast (Dom Juan, ou le Festin de pierre), which had a sharply anti-clerical character, was also banned. In 1666, Moliere staged the high comedy The Misanthrope (Le Misanthrope), which was indifferently received by the general public. He continued to compose comedies, ballets and pastoral plays for court festivities. On the stage of the Palais Royal with great success There were two comedies in the style of folk farces, where medical science and its servants were ridiculed - Love the Healer (L "Amour mdecin) and The Reluctant Doctor (Le Mdecin malgr lui). In August 1667, Moliere decided to present at the Palais Royal a softened version of Tartuffe under with a new name, The Deceiver (L "Imposteur), but immediately after the premiere it was banned by the Paris Parliament. In February 1668, the comedy Amphitryon was performed. Then came Georges Dandin, or The Fooled Husband (George Dandin, ou le Mari confondu), on the famous folk story about a cunning wife and a gullible husband (July 1668), and The Miser (L "Avare), in which the objects of ridicule were usury and the thirst for enrichment (September 1668). At the beginning of 1669, Moliere achieved the lifting of the ban on Tartuffe. In 1669-1671 he staged one after another, several comedies-ballets: Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, Brilliant Lovers (Amants magnifiques), Countess d'Escarbagnas (La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas) and the best of them - The Bourgeois Gentilhomme (Le Bourgeois gentilhomme), and also the tragedy-ballet Psyche (Psych), played in May 1671, caused the farcical comedy of Scapin's Tricks (Les Fourberies de Scapin). new round polemicists - the author was reproached for indulging plebeian tastes and for deviating from classicist rules. In March 1672, Moliere presented to the public the high comedy Learned Women (Les Femmes savantes), ridiculing the salon passion for science and philosophy and women's neglect of family responsibilities. 1672 turned out to be a difficult year for Moliere. Many of his friends and relatives passed away, his relationship with the king cooled; health has deteriorated significantly. In the winter of 1672−1673 he wrote his last comedy-ballet, Le Malade imaginaire, where he returned to the theme of charlatan doctors and gullible patients. On February 17, 1673, at her fourth performance, he suffered a stroke and died a few hours later. Church authorities refused to bury him according to Christian rites. Only after the king's intervention was Moliere's body buried on February 21 in St. Joseph's cemetery. In 1817, his remains were transferred to the Père Lachaise cemetery. Moliere left a rich legacy - more than 32 dramatic works, written in a variety of genres: farce, divertissement, comedy-ballet, pastoral, sitcom, comedy of manners, everyday comedy, high comedy, etc. He constantly experimented, created new forms and transformed old ones. His first experience as a playwright was a divertissement, combining medieval farce with Italian commedia dell'arte. Madcap and Love's Tiff became the first major (five acts) verse comedies with detailed intrigue, a large number of characters and varied plot points. Nevertheless, his connection with the folk (farcical) tradition was never interrupted: he not only introduced individual farcical elements into his big comedies (Tartuffe, Monsieur de Poursonnac, Philistine among the nobility), but also constantly returned to the farcical form in one-act and three-act comedies (Funny primps, Scapin's tricks, Forced marriage, Love-healer, Reluctant healer). Moliere tried to develop the genre of heroic comedy created by P. Corneille in Don Garcia, but abandoned it after the failure of this play. In the early 1660s, he created a new comedy genre - high comedy, which meets classicist rules: five-act structure, poetic form, unity of time, place and action, intrigue based on a clash of views, intellectual characters (The School for Wives, Tartuffe, Don Juan, Misanthrope , Stingy, Learned Women). Scientists women are considered an example of the classicist comedy genre, while Don Juan goes beyond the classicist rules - it is written in prose, in which all three unities are violated. The essential feature of high comedy was the tragic element, most clearly manifested in The Misanthrope, which is sometimes called tragicomedy and even tragedy. An important achievement of Moliere was the creation of a special form of comedy - comedy-ballet, where he combined the poetic word, music and dance. He gave a comic interpretation to ballet allegories, dramatized dance numbers and organically included them in the action of the play (The Unbearables, Forced Marriage, Princess of Elis, Tartuffe and many others). He is seen as the herald of French opera. Moliere's comedies touch on a wide range of problems of modern life: relations between fathers and children, education, marriage and family, the moral state of society (hypocrisy, greed, vanity, etc.), class, religion, culture, science (medicine, philosophy), etc. This complex of themes is resolved on Parisian material, with the exception of Countess d'Escarbagna, which takes place in the provinces. Moliere takes subjects not only from real life; he draws them from ancient (Plautus, Terence) and Renaissance Italian and Spanish drama (N. Barbieri, N. Secchi, T. de Molina), as well as from the French medieval folk tradition (fabliau, farces). Main feature Moliere's characters - independence, activity, the ability to arrange their own happiness and their destiny in the fight against the old and outdated. Each of them has his own beliefs, his own belief system, which he defends before his opponent; the figure of an opponent is obligatory for a classic comedy, because the action in it develops in the context of disputes and discussions. Another feature of Moliere's characters is their ambiguity. Many of them have not one, but several qualities (Alceste from The Misanthrope, Don Juan), or in the course of the action their characters become more complex or change (Agnès in the School of Wives, Argon in Tartuffe, Georges Dandin). But all the negative characters have one thing in common - violation of the measure. Measure is the main principle of classicist aesthetics. In Moliere's comedies it is identical common sense and naturalness (and therefore morality). Their bearers often turn out to be representatives of the people (the servant in Tartuffe, the plebeian wife of Jourdain in Meshchanin in the nobility). By showing the imperfection of people, Moliere implements the main principle of the comedy genre - to harmonize the world and human relationships through laughter. However, in Tartuffe, Don Juan, The Misanthrope (partly in The School for Wives and The Miser) he deviates from this principle. Evil triumphs in the Misanthrope; in Tartuffe and Don Juan, although its bearers are punished, it remains essentially undefeated, because it is too deeply rooted in people's lives. This is Moliere's deep realism. The work of Moliere, the great comedian, creator of classic comedy, had a huge influence not only on the dramatic art of France (Lesage, Beaumarchais), but also on the entire world drama (Sheridan, Goldoni, Lessing, etc.); in Russia his followers were Sumarokov, Knyazhnin, Kapnist, Krylov, Fonvizin, Griboyedov.

Moliere (Poquelin) Jean-Baptiste (1622-1673) is a world famous poet, author of a classic comedy. Moliere's birthplace is France, Paris. On January 13, 1622, Jean Poquelin, the royal valet, and Marie, the daughter of a private upholsterer, had a son, Jean-Baptiste. His mother died when he was ten years old.

Until 1639, the boy was a student at Clermont College. There he studied theology, ancient literature, and ancient languages. Jean-Baptiste was a diligent student. After college, he studied the basics of jurisprudence at the University of Orleans. In the summer of 1642, he worked instead of his father as a valet at court. In January of the following year he resigns from his position as an upholsterer, and in June, together with the Bejart family, he opens the Bistatel Theatre. The repertoire consisted of tragedies, tragicomedies and pastorals. Decides to change his name to the pseudonym Moliere. The theater turned out to be a failure, and the troupe soon fled. With the remaining participants, Moliere left for the wilderness.

During the period of tour (1645-1658) he traveled to the cities of Normandy, Poitou, Gascony, and Languedoc. Over time, Moliere became the director of the theater.

Over time, comedy productions occupy a major place in the repertoire. In 1658, Moliere's theater troupe was on everyone's lips. The Duke of Orleans contributed to the production of the tragedy Nicomedes and the farce The Doctor in Love, at court. Which, in fact, ensured the future of the actors. They are called the "King's Brother Troupe", and are given the stage of the Petit Bourbon. At this time, Moliere forever abandoned tragic roles. The success was not cloudless; the courtiers pestered Moliere with intrigue and gossip.

Life at court was vibrant, with constant celebrations and new plays. In total, Moliere left behind more than 32 dramatic works to the world heritage.

The year 1672 brought down Moliere, relations with the king did not work out, and many friends disappeared. At that time, he wrote the comedy The Imaginary Patient, which turns out to be fatal for the author. During its fourth performance, on February 17, 1673, Moliere becomes ill. He was not saved. The church refused to bury him according to Christian rites, but the king insisted, and on February 21 he was buried in St. Joseph's cemetery.

One of the most mysterious and eccentric personalities of the 17th century in France is Jean-Baptiste Moliere. His biography consists of complex and at the same time majestic stages in his career and creativity.

Family

Jean-Baptiste was born in 1622 into an aristocratic family, which was a continuation of a very ancient bourgeois family of drapers. At that time, this was considered quite profitable and respected. The father of the future comedian was an honorary adviser to the king and the creator of a specialized school for court children, which Moliere later began to attend. At this educational institution, Jean-Baptiste diligently studied Latin, which helped him easily understand and study all the works of famous Roman authors. It was Moliere who translated the poem “On the Nature of Things” by the ancient Roman philosopher Lucretius into his native French. Unfortunately, the manuscript with the translation was not distributed, and soon disappeared. Most likely, it burned down during a fire in Moliere's workshop.

By the will of his father, Jean-Baptiste received the then prestigious academic degree of licentiate in law. Moliere's life was complex and eventful.

early years

In his youth, Jean was an ardent admirer and representative of the then popular Epicureanism (one of the philosophical movements). Thanks to this interest, he made many useful contacts, because among the Epicureans of that time there were quite wealthy and influential people.

The career of a lawyer was not as important for Moliere, just like his father’s craft. That is why the young man chose a theatrical direction in his activities. Moliere's biography once again proves to us his desire for improvement and desire to reach world heights in

It is worth noting that initially Moliere was a theatrical pseudonym that Jean-Baptiste Poquelin chose to give himself full name sweetness. But gradually they began to call him by this name not only within the framework of theatrical activities, but also in Everyday life. A meeting with the then very famous French comedians Bejart turned Jean-Baptiste's life upside down, because he later became the director of the theater. At that time he was only 21 years old. The troupe included 10 aspiring actors, and Moliere's task was to improve the affairs of the theater and bring it to a more professional level. Unfortunately, other French theaters provided great competition to Jean-Baptiste, so the establishment was closed. After such a first failure in life, Jean Baptiste and his traveling troupe began to travel around provincial towns in the hope of gaining recognition at least there and earning money for further development and building his own building for performances.

Moliere performed in the provinces for about 14 years (the exact dates regarding this fact of his life, unfortunately, have not been preserved). By the way, at the same time there was a civil war in France, mass protests and confrontations of the people, so the endless travel was even more difficult for the troupe; Moliere’s official biography suggests that already at this period of his life he was serious about starting his own business.

In the provinces, Jean-Baptiste composed a large number of his own plays and theatrical scripts, because the troupe’s repertoire was quite boring and uninteresting. Few of the works from this period have survived. List of some plays:

"Barboulier's Jealousy" Moliere himself was very proud of this play. The works of the nomadic period received positive reviews from critics.

"Flying Doctor"

"The pedantic doctor."

"Three Doctors"

"Fake lump."

"Gorgibus in a bag."

Personal life

In 1622, Moliere officially tied the knot with his beloved Amanda Bejart. She was sister the same comedian Madeleine, whom Jean-Baptiste met at the beginning of his career and thanks to whose husband he began to manage a theater of ten people.

The age difference between Jean-Baptiste and Amanda was exactly 20 years. At the time of their marriage, he was 40 years old, and she was 20. The wedding was not publicized, so only the closest friends and family were invited to the celebration. By the way, the bride’s parents were not happy with their daughter’s choice and tried in every possible way to force her to break the engagement. However, she did not succumb to the persuasion of her relatives, and soon after the wedding she stopped communicating with her mother and father.

During her married life, Amanda gave birth to three children to her husband, but we can say that the couple was not happy in their union. Huge and different interests made themselves felt. Moliere's work during his marriage reflected mainly stories close to his own family situations.

Personal characteristics

Jean-Baptiste can be described as a rather extraordinary person. He was devoted to his work to the end, his whole life was endless theaters and performances. Unfortunately, most researchers of his biography still cannot come to an unambiguous decision about his personal portrait, because there is no data left, therefore, just as in the case of Shakespeare, they relied only on stories and legends passed on from mouth to mouth about this personality and, on their basis, tried to determine his character using psychological methods.

Also, by studying the many works of Jean-Baptiste, one can draw some conclusions about his life in general. For some reason, Moliere did everything to ensure that very little information remained about his personality. He destroyed a large number of his works, so over 50 of his plays and information about productions have not reached us. The characterization of Moliere, based on the words of his contemporaries, suggests that he was a revered person in France, whose opinion was listened to by the majority of court people and even several individuals from the royal family.

He was extremely freedom-loving, so he wrote a lot of works about personality, about how you need to rise above your consciousness and constantly rethink your values. It is worth noting that none of the works talk about freedom in a direct context, because such a step could be regarded at that time as a call for rebellion and civil war, which was constantly going on in medieval France.

Jean-Baptiste Moliere. Biography and creativity

Like the work of all writers and playwrights, Moliere’s path is divided into certain stages (they do not have a clear time frame, but they represent different directions and reflect a peculiar change of polarity in the playwright’s work).

During the Parisian period, Jean-Baptiste was popular with the king and the country's elite, thanks to which he received recognition. After a long wandering around the country, the troupe returns to Paris and performs at the Louvre Theater with a new repertoire. Now professionalism is obvious: the time spent and endless practice make themselves felt. The king himself was present at that performance of “The Doctor in Love,” and at the end of the performance he personally thanked the playwright. After this incident, a white streak began in the life of Jean Baptiste.

The next performance, “Funny Primroses,” also achieved huge success among the public and received very good reviews from critics. Moliere's plays were sold out at that time.

The second stage in the work of Jean-Baptiste is represented by the following works:

"Tartuffe". The storyline of the novel is aimed at ridiculing the clergy, who at that time enjoyed low popularity among the inhabitants of France due to constant extortions and complaints about the activities of some of the highest representatives of the church. The play was published in 1664 and was performed on the theater stage for five years. The play had a sharp satirical and somewhat comedic character.

"Don Juan". If in the previous play Jean-Baptiste negatively showed the theme of the church and ridiculed all its employees, then in this work he satirically reflected the laws of people's lives, their behavior and moral principles, which, in the author's opinion, were very far from ideal and brought only negativity to the world and debauchery. The theater toured almost all of Europe with this play. In some countries the show was so sold out that the performance was played two or three times. Jean-Baptiste Moliere made many useful contacts during this trip to Europe.

"Misanthrope". In this work, the author further ridiculed the medieval ways of life. This play is the most successful example of high comedy of the 17th century. Due to the too much seriousness and complexity of the plot, the production was not received by people in the same way as Jean Baptiste's past works. This forced the author to rethink some aspects of his creativity and theatrical activities, so he decided to take a break from staging plays and writing scripts.

Moliere Theater

The performances of the author's troupe, in which he also took part, almost always caused a flurry of emotions among the audience. The fame of his productions spread throughout Europe. The theater became in demand far beyond the borders of France. British connoisseurs of high theatrical art also became big fans of Moliere.

The Moliere Theater was distinguished by action-packed productions about modern human values. The acting has always been top notch. By the way, Jean-Baptiste himself never missed his roles; he did not refuse to perform even when he felt unwell and was sick. This speaks of a person’s great love for his work.

Author's characters

Jean-Baptiste Moliere presented many interesting personalities in his works. Let's look at the most popular and eccentric:

Sganarelle - this character was mentioned in a number of works and plays by the author. In the play "The Flying Doctor" he is the main character and was Valera's servant. Due to the success of the production and the work as a whole, Moliere decided to use of this hero and in his other works (for example, Sganarelle can be seen in “The Imaginary Cuckold”, “Don Juan”, “The Reluctant Doctor”, “The School for Husbands”) and other works of the early period of Jean Baptiste’s work.
Geronte is a hero who can be found in Moliere's comedies of the classic era. In plays it is a symbol of insanity and dementia of certain types of people.
Harpagon is an old man who is distinguished by such qualities as deceit and a passion for enrichment.

Comedy ballets

Moliere's biography indicates that this type of work belongs to the mature stage of creativity. Thanks to his strengthened connections with the court, Jean-Baptiste creates a new genre, which is intended to present new plays in the form of ballet. By the way, this innovation was a real success among the audience.

The first comedy-ballet was called “The Intolerables” and was written and presented to the general public in 1661.

about personality

There is an unconfirmed legend that Moliere's wife was actually his my own daughter, born as a result of a relationship with Madeleine Bejart. The whole story about Madeleine and Amanda being sisters was considered a lie by some people. However, this information has not been confirmed and is only one of the legends.

Another story says that Moliere was not actually the author of his works. He allegedly acted on behalf of This story was widely circulated. However, scientists claim that Moliere's biography does not contain such a fact.

Late stage of creativity

A few years after the failure of “The Misanthrope,” the author decides to return to work and adds the story “The Reluctant Doctor” to this play.

Jean Molière's biography states that during this period he ridiculed the bourgeoisie and the wealthy class. The plays also raised the issue of non-consensual marriage.

Interesting facts about Moliere's activities

Jean-Baptiste invented a new

He was one of the most controversial personalities in France of that period.

Moliere practically did not communicate with his family, preferring to travel around the world with concerts without their accompaniment.

Death and memorial monuments of Jean-Baptiste

Before the fourth performance of the play “The Imaginary Invalid” (1673), Moliere was ill, but decided to go on stage early. He played the role brilliantly, but a few hours after the performance his condition worsened and he suddenly died.

Moliere(real name - Jean Baptiste Poquelin) - an outstanding French comedian, theatrical figure, actor, reformer of performing arts, creator of classical comedy - born in Paris. It is known that he was baptized on January 15, 1622. His father was a royal upholsterer and valet, the family lived very prosperously. Since 1636, Jean Baptiste received his education at a prestigious educational institution - the Jesuit Clermont College; in 1639, upon graduation, he became a licentiate of rights, but he preferred the theater to the work of an artisan or lawyer.

In 1643, Moliere became the organizer of the “Brilliant Theatre”. The first documentary mention of his pseudonym dates back to January 1644. The troupe’s business, despite the name, was far from brilliant, due to debts in 1645. Moliere was even imprisoned twice, and the actors had to leave the capital to tour the provinces for twelve years. Due to problems with the repertoire of the Brilliant Theater, Jean Baptiste began to compose plays himself. This period of his biography served as an excellent school of life, turning him into an excellent director and actor, an experienced administrator, and prepared him for future great successes as a playwright.

The troupe, which returned to the capital in 1656, showed at the Royal Theater the play “The Doctor in Love” based on Moliere’s play to Louis XIV, who was delighted with it. After this, the troupe played until 1661 in the court theater Petit-Bourbon, provided by the monarch (subsequently, until the death of the comedian, its place of work was the Palais Royal Theater). The comedy "Funny Primroses", staged in 1659, became the first success among the general public.

After Moliere's position in Paris was established, a period of intense dramatic and directorial work began, which would last until his death. For a decade and a half (1658-1673), Moliere wrote plays that are considered the best in his creative heritage. The turning point was the comedies “School for Husbands” (1661) and “School for Wives” (1662), which demonstrate the author’s departure from farce and his turn to socio-psychological comedies of education.

Moliere's plays enjoyed overwhelming success among the public, with rare exceptions - when the works became the object of severe criticism of certain social groups that were hostile to the author. This was due to the fact that Moliere, who had previously almost never resorted to social satire, in his mature works created images of representatives of the upper strata of society, attacking their vices with all the power of his talent. In particular, after the appearance of Tartuffe in 1663, a loud scandal erupted in society. The influential Society of the Holy Sacrament banned the play. And only in 1669, when reconciliation came between Louis XIV and the Church, the comedy saw the light, and in the first year the performance was shown more than 60 times. The production of “Don Juan” in 1663 also caused a huge resonance, but due to the efforts of his enemies, Moliere’s creation was not staged again during his lifetime.

As his fame grew, he became closer to the court and increasingly staged plays specially dedicated to court holidays, turning them into grandiose shows. The playwright was the founder of a special theatrical genre - comedy-ballet.

In February 1673, Moliere's troupe staged The Imaginary Invalid, in which he played main role, despite the illness that tormented him (most likely he suffered from tuberculosis). Right at the performance, he lost consciousness and died on the night of February 17-18 without confession or repentance. The funeral according to religious canons took place only thanks to the petition of his widow to the monarch. To avoid a scandal, the outstanding playwright was buried at night.

Moliere is credited with creating the genre of classicist comedy. In the Comedy Française alone, based on the plays of Jean Baptiste Poquelin, more than thirty thousand performances were shown. Until now, his immortal comedies are “The Tradesman in the Nobility”, “The Miser”, “The Misanthrope”, “School for Wives”, “The Imaginary Invalid”, “The Tricks of Scapin” and many others. etc. - are included in the repertoire of various theaters around the world, without losing their relevance and causing applause.

Biography from Wikipedia

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin(French Jean-Baptiste Poquelin), theatrical pseudonym - Molière (French Molière; January 15, 1622, Paris - February 17, 1673, ibid.) - French comedian of the 17th century, creator of classical comedy, actor by profession and director of the theater, more famous like Moliere's troupe (Troupe de Molière, 1643-1680).

early years

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin came from an old bourgeois family, which for several centuries was engaged in the craft of upholsterers and drapers. Jean-Baptiste's mother, Marie Poquelin-Cressé (d. May 11, 1632), died of tuberculosis, his father, Jean Poquelin (1595-1669), was the court upholsterer and valet of Louis XIII and sent his son to the prestigious Jesuit school - Clermont College (now Lyceum of Louis the Great in Paris), where Jean-Baptiste thoroughly studied Latin, so he freely read Roman authors in the original and even, according to legend, translated Lucretius’s philosophical poem “On the Nature of Things” into French (translation lost). After graduating from college in 1639, Jean-Baptiste passed the exam in Orleans for the title of licentiate of rights.

The beginning of an acting career

The legal career attracted him no more than his father's craft, and Jean-Baptiste chose the profession of an actor, taking a stage name Moliere. After meeting the comedians Joseph and Madeleine Bejart, at the age of 21, Moliere became the head of the Brilliant Theater ( Illustre Theater), a new Parisian troupe of 10 actors, registered by the capital's notary on June 30, 1643. Having entered into fierce competition with the troupes of the Burgundy Hotel and the Marais, already popular in Paris, the “Brilliant Theater” lost in 1645. Moliere and his actor friends decide to seek their fortune in the provinces, joining a troupe of traveling comedians led by Dufresne.

Moliere's troupe in the provinces. First plays

Moliere's wanderings around the French province for 13 years (1645-1658) civil war(Fronds) enriched him with everyday and theatrical experience.

Since 1645, Moliere and his friends joined Dufresne, and in 1650 he headed the troupe. The repertoire hunger of Molière's troupe was the impetus for the beginning of his dramatic activity. Thus, the years of Moliere’s theatrical studies became the years of his author’s works. Many of the farcical scenarios he composed in the provinces have disappeared. Only the plays “Jealousy of Barboulier” have survived ( La jalousie du Barbouillé) and "The Flying Doctor" ( Le medécin volant), whose affiliation with Molière is not entirely reliable. The titles of a number of similar plays played by Molière in Paris after his return from the provinces are also known (“Gros-René the Schoolboy,” “The Pedant Doctor,” “Gorgibus in the Bag,” “Plan-Plan,” “Three Doctors,” “Cossackin”) , “The Feigned Lump”, “The Twig Knitter”), and these titles echo the situations of Moliere’s later farces (for example, “Gorgibus in the Sack” and “The Tricks of Scapin”, d. III, sc. II). These plays indicate that the tradition of ancient farce influenced the major comedies of his mature age.

The farcical repertoire performed by Molière's troupe under his direction and with his participation as an actor helped strengthen its reputation. It increased even more after Moliere composed two great comedies in verse - “Naughty, or Everything Is Out of Place” ( L'Étourdi ou les Contretemps, 1655) and "Love's Vexation" ( Le dépit amoureux, 1656), written in the Italian manner literary comedy. The main plot, which represents a free imitation of Italian authors, is layered here with borrowings from various old and new comedies, in accordance with the principle attributed to Moliere “to take his goodness wherever he finds it.” The interest of both plays lies in the development of comic situations and intrigue; the characters in them are still developed very superficially.

Molière's troupe gradually achieved success and fame, and in 1658, at the invitation of 18-year-old Monsieur, the king's younger brother, they returned to Paris.

Parisian period

In Paris, Moliere's troupe made its debut on October 24, 1658 at the Louvre Palace in the presence of Louis XIV. The lost farce “The Doctor in Love” was a huge success and decided the fate of the troupe: the king provided her with the Petit-Bourbon court theater, where she played until 1661, until she moved to the Palais Royal theater, where she remained until Moliere’s death. From the moment Moliere was installed in Paris, a period of his feverish dramatic work began, the intensity of which did not weaken until his death. During those 15 years from 1658 to 1673, Moliere created all his best plays, which, with few exceptions, provoked fierce attacks from social groups hostile to him.

Early farces

The Parisian period of Moliere's activity opens with the one-act comedy “Funny Primroses” (French: Les précieuses ridicules, 1659). In this first, completely original, play, Moliere made a bold attack against the pretentiousness and mannerism of speech, tone and manner that prevailed in aristocratic salons, which was greatly reflected in literature ( see Precision literature) and had a strong influence on young people (mainly their female part). The comedy hurt the most prominent simpers. Moliere's enemies achieved a two-week ban on the comedy, after which it was canceled with double success.

For all its great literary and social value, “Pimps” is a typical farce, reproducing all the traditional techniques of this genre. The same farcical element, which gave Moliere’s humor its area brightness and richness, also permeates Moliere’s next play “Sganarelle, or the Imaginary Cuckold” ( Sganarelle, ou Le cocu imaginaire, 1660). Here, the clever servant-rogue of the first comedies - Mascarille - is replaced by the stupid, ponderous Sganarelle, who was later introduced by Moliere into a number of his comedies.

Marriage

On January 23, 1662, Moliere signed a marriage contract with Armande Béjart, younger sister Madeleines. He is 40 years old, Armande is 20. Against all the decency of that time, only the closest ones were invited to the wedding. The wedding ceremony took place on February 20, 1662 in the Parisian church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois.

Parenting comedies

Comedy "School for Husbands" ( L'école des maris, 1661), which is closely related to the even more mature comedy that followed it, “The School for Wives” ( L'école des femmes, 1662), marks Moliere's turn from farce to the socio-psychological comedy of education. Here Moliere raises questions of love, marriage, attitudes towards women and family structure. The lack of monosyllabicity in the characters’ characters and actions makes “School for Husbands” and especially “School for Wives” the biggest step forward towards creating a comedy of characters that overcomes the primitive schematism of farce. At the same time, “School of Wives” is incomparably deeper and subtler than “School of Husbands,” which in relation to it is like a sketch, a light sketch.

Such satirically pointed comedies could not help but provoke fierce attacks from the playwright’s enemies. Moliere responded to them with a polemical play, “Critique of the School for Wives” ( La critique de "L'École des femmes", 1663). Defending himself from reproaches of gayness, he with great dignity set out here his credo of a comic poet (“to delve deeply into the funny side of human nature and amusingly depict on stage the shortcomings of society”) and ridiculed the superstitious admiration for the “rules” of Aristotle. This protest against the pedantic fetishization of “rules” reveals Moliere’s independent position in relation to French classicism, to which he nevertheless adhered in his dramatic practice.

Another manifestation of the same independence of Moliere is his attempt to prove that comedy is not only not lower, but even “higher” than tragedy, this main genre of classical poetry. In “Criticism of the “School for Wives””, through the mouth of Dorant, he criticizes the classical tragedy from the point of view of its inconsistency with its “nature” (sc. VII), that is, from the standpoint of realism. This criticism is directed against the theme of classical tragedy, against its orientation towards court and high society conventions.

Moliere parried new blows from his enemies in the play “Versailles Impromptu” ( L'impromptu de Versailles, 1663). Original in concept and construction (its action takes place on the stage of the theater), this comedy provides valuable information about Moliere’s work with actors and the further development of his views on the essence of theater and the tasks of comedy. Subjecting devastating criticism to his competitors - the actors of the Burgundy Hotel, rejecting their method of conventionally pompous tragic play, Moliere at the same time deflects the reproach that he brings certain people onto the stage. The main thing is that with hitherto unprecedented boldness he mocks the court shufflers-marquises, throwing famous phrase: “The current Marquis makes everyone laugh in the play; and just as ancient comedies always depict a simpleton servant who makes the audience laugh, in the same way we need a hilarious marquis who amuses the audience.”

Mature comedies. Comedy-ballets

Title=" Portrait of Moliere. 1656 brushes by Nicolas Mignard">!} Portrait of Moliere. 1656
brushes by Nicolas Mignard

From the battle that followed The School for Wives, Moliere emerged victorious. Along with the growth of his fame, his connections with the court also strengthened, at which he increasingly performed plays composed for court festivities and gave rise to a brilliant spectacle. Moliere creates here special genre“comedy-ballet”, combining ballet (a favorite type of court entertainment, in which the king himself and his entourage acted as performers) with comedy, giving plot motivation to individual dance “entrées” and framing them with comic scenes. Molière's first comedy-ballet was “The Insufferables” (Les fâcheux, 1661). It is devoid of intrigue and presents a series of disparate scenes strung together on a primitive plot core. Moliere found here so many apt satirical and everyday features to describe society dandies, gamblers, duelists, projectors and pedants that, with all its formlessness, the play is a step forward in the sense of preparing that comedy of manners, the creation of which was Moliere’s task (“The Insufferables” were staged before "Schools for Wives").

The success of “Insufferables” prompted Moliere to further develop the comedy-ballet genre. In “The Reluctant Marriage” (Le mariage force, 1664), Moliere raised the genre to great heights, achieving organic connection comedy (farcical) and ballet elements. In “The Princess of Elide” (La princesse d’Elide, 1664), Moliere took the opposite path, inserting clownish ballet interludes into a pseudo-antique lyrical-pastoral plot. This was the beginning of two types of comedy-ballet, which were further developed by Moliere. The first farcical-everyday type is represented by the plays “Love the Healer” (L’amour médécin, 1665), “The Sicilian, or Love the Painter” (Le Sicilien, ou L’amour peintre, 1666), “Monsieur de Poursonnac” (Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, 1669), “The Bourgeois Gentilhomme” (Le bourgeois gentilhomme, 1670), “The Countess d'Escarbagnas” (La comtesse d'Escarbagnas, 1671), “The Imaginary Ill” (Le malade imaginaire, 1673). Despite the enormous distance separating such a primitive farce as “The Sicilian,” which served only as a frame for the “Moorish” ballet, from such extensive social comedies as “The Bourgeois in the Nobility” and “The Imaginary Invalid,” we still have here development one type of comedy - ballet, growing out of an ancient farce and lying on the main line of Moliere's creativity. These plays differ from his other comedies only in the presence of ballet numbers, which do not at all reduce the idea of the play: Moliere makes almost no concessions to court tastes here. The situation is different in the comedies-ballets of the second, gallant-pastoral type, which include: “Mélicerte” (Mélicerte, 1666), “Comic Pastoral” (Pastorale comique, 1666), “Brilliant Lovers” (Les amants magnifiques, 1670), “Psyche” (Psyché, 1671 - written in collaboration with Corneille).

"Tartuffe"

(Le Tartuffe, 1664-1669). Directed against the clergy, in the first edition the comedy contained three acts and depicted a hypocrite priest. In this form, it was staged in Versailles at the festival “Enjoyments of the Magic Island” on May 12, 1664 under the title “Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite” ( Tartuffe, ou L'hypocrite) and caused discontent on the part of the religious organization “Society of the Holy Gifts” ( Société du Saint Sacrement). In the image of Tartuffe, the Society saw a satire on its members and achieved the banning of “Tartuffe”. Moliere defended his play in “Placet” addressed to the king, in which he directly wrote that “the originals achieved the prohibition of the copy.” But this request came to nothing. Then Moliere weakened the harsh parts, renamed Tartuffe Panyulf and took off his cassock. In a new form, the comedy had 5 acts and was entitled “The Deceiver” ( L'imposteur), was allowed to perform, but after the first performance on August 5, 1667, it was withdrawn again. Only a year and a half later, “Tartuffe” was finally presented in the 3rd final edition.

Although Tartuffe is not a clergyman in it, the latest edition is hardly softer than the original. By expanding the outlines of Tartuffe’s image, making him not only a bigot, a hypocrite and a libertine, but also a traitor, an informer and a slanderer, showing his connections with the court, police and court spheres, Moliere significantly strengthened the satirical edge of the comedy, turning it into a social pamphlet. The only light in the kingdom of obscurantism, tyranny and violence is the wise monarch, who cuts the knot of intrigue and provides, like a deus ex machina, a sudden happy ending to the comedy. But precisely because of its artificiality and implausibility, the successful outcome does not change anything in the essence of the comedy.

"Don Juan"

If in Tartuffe Moliere attacked religion and the church, then in Don Juan, or the Stone Feast ( Don Juan, ou Le festin de pierre, 1665) the object of his satire was the feudal nobility. Moliere based the play on the Spanish legend of Don Juan, an irresistible seducer of women who violates divine and human laws. He gave this wandering plot, which flew around almost all the stages of Europe, an original satirical development. The image of Don Juan, this beloved noble hero, who embodied all the predatory activity, ambition and lust for power of the feudal nobility in its heyday, Moliere endowed with the everyday traits of a French aristocrat of the 17th century - a titled libertine, a rapist and a “libertine”, unprincipled, hypocritical, arrogant and cynical. He makes Don Juan a denier of all the foundations on which a well-ordered society is based. Don Juan is deprived of filial feelings, he dreams of the death of his father, he mocks the bourgeois virtue, seduces and deceives women, beats the peasant who stood up for the bride, tyrannies the servant, does not pay debts and drives out creditors, blasphemes, lies and acts recklessly, competing with Tartuffe and surpassing him with his outright cynicism (cf. his conversation with Sganarelle - d. V, sc. II). Moliere puts his indignation towards the nobility, embodied in the image of Don Juan, into the mouths of his father, the old nobleman Don Luis, and Sganarelle’s servant, who each in their own way expose Don Juan’s depravity, uttering phrases foreshadowing Figaro’s tirades (for example. : "Origin without valor is worthless", “I would rather show respect to the son of a porter if he is an honest man than to the son of a crown bearer if he is as dissolute as you.” and so on.).

But the image of Don Juan is not woven from only negative traits. For all his depravity, Don Juan has great charm: he is brilliant, witty, brave, and Moliere, denouncing Don Juan as a bearer of vices, at the same time admires him and pays tribute to his knightly charm.

"Misanthrope"

If Moliere introduced into “Tartuffe” and “Don Juan” a number of tragic features that appear through the fabric of the comedic action, then in “The Misanthrope” ( Le Misanthrope, 1666) these features intensified so much that they almost completely pushed aside the comic element. A typical example of “high” comedy with an in-depth psychological analysis of the feelings and experiences of the characters, with a predominance of dialogue over external action, with a complete absence of a farcical element, with an excited, pathetic and sarcastic tone of the protagonist’s speeches, “The Misanthrope” stands apart in the work of Moliere.

Alceste is not only the image of a noble denouncer of social vices, looking for “truth” and not finding it: he is also less schematic than many previous characters. On the one hand, this is a positive hero, whose noble indignation evokes sympathy; on the other hand, he is not without negative traits: he is too unrestrained, tactless, lacks a sense of proportion and a sense of humor.

Portrait of Moliere. 1658
brushes by Pierre Mignard

Later plays

The overly deep and serious comedy “The Misanthrope” was coldly received by the audience, who were looking primarily for entertainment in the theater. To save the play, Moliere added to it the brilliant farce “The Reluctant Doctor” (French: Le médécin malgré lui, 1666). This trinket, which was a huge success and is still preserved in the repertoire, developed Moliere’s favorite theme of quack doctors and ignoramuses. It is curious that just in the most mature period of his work, when Moliere rose to the heights of socio-psychological comedy, he increasingly returned to a farce splashing with fun, devoid of serious satirical tasks. It was during these years that Moliere wrote such masterpieces of entertaining comedy-intrigue as Monsieur de Poursonnac and The Tricks of Scapin (French Les fourberies de Scapin, 1671). Moliere returned here to the primary source of his inspiration - to the ancient farce.

In literary circles, a somewhat disdainful attitude towards these crude plays has long been established. This attitude goes back to the legislator of classicism Boileau, who condemned Moliere for buffoonery and pandering to the coarse tastes of the crowd.

The main theme of this period is the ridicule of the bourgeoisie, who strive to imitate the aristocracy and become related to it. This theme is developed in “Georges Dandin” (French George Dandin, 1668) and in “The Bourgeois in the Nobility.” In the first comedy, which develops the popular “vagrant” plot in the form of pure farce, Moliere ridicules the rich “upstart” (French parvenu) from the peasants, who, out of stupid arrogance, married the daughter of a bankrupt baron, openly cheating on him with the marquis, making him look like a fool and finally forcing him to ask her for forgiveness. The same theme is developed even more acutely in “The Bourgeois in the Nobility,” one of Moliere’s most brilliant comedies-ballets, where he achieves virtuoso ease in constructing a dialogue that is close in its rhythm to a ballet dance (cf. Quartet of Lovers - No. III, sc. X). This comedy is the most evil satire on the bourgeoisie imitating the nobility that came from his pen.

In the famous comedy “The Miser” (L'avare, 1668), written under the influence of “Eggball” (French Aulularia) by Plautus, Moliere masterfully draws the repulsive image of the miser Harpagon (his name became a household name in France), whose passion for accumulation took on a pathological character and drowned out all human feelings.

Moliere also poses the problem of family and marriage in his penultimate comedy “Learned Women” (French Les femmes savantes, 1672), in which he returns to the theme of “Pimps”, but develops it much wider and deeper. The object of his satire here are female pedants who are fond of science and neglect family responsibilities.

The question of the disintegration of the bourgeois family was also raised in Moliere’s last comedy, “The Imaginary Invalid” (French: Le malade imaginaire, 1673). This time, the reason for the breakdown of the family is the mania of the head of the house, Argan, who imagines himself sick and is a toy in the hands of unscrupulous and ignorant doctors. Moliere's contempt for doctors ran through all his drama.

Last days of life and death

Written by the terminally ill Moliere, the comedy “The Imaginary Invalid” is one of his most fun and cheerful comedies. At its 4th performance on February 17, 1673, Moliere, who played the role of Argan, felt ill and did not finish the performance. He was carried home and died a few hours later. The Parisian Archbishop Harles de Chanvallon forbade the burial of an unrepentant sinner (actors on their deathbed had to repent) and lifted the ban only on the instructions of the king. The greatest playwright of France was buried at night, without rites, behind the fence of the cemetery where suicides were buried.

List of works

The first edition of Moliere's collected works was carried out by his friends Charles Varlet Lagrange and Vino in 1682.

Plays that have survived to this day

Barboulieu's Jealousy, farce (1653)
Flying Doctor, farce (1653)
Crazy, or Everything Is Out of Place, comedy in verse (1655)
Love's Annoyance, comedy (1656)
Funny cutesy girls, comedy (1659)
Sganarelle, or the Imaginary Cuckold, comedy (1660)
Don Garcia of Navarre, or the Jealous Prince, comedy (1661)
Husband school, comedy (1661)
Annoying, comedy (1661)
Wives school, comedy (1662)
Criticism of “School for Wives”, comedy (1663)
Versailles impromptu (1663)
Reluctant marriage, farce (1664)
Princess of Elis, gallant comedy (1664)
Tartuffe, or the Deceiver, comedy (1664)
Don Juan, or the Stone Feast, comedy (1665)
Love is a healer, comedy (1665)
Misanthrope, comedy (1666)
A reluctant doctor, comedy (1666)
Melicert, pastoral comedy (1666, unfinished)
Comic pastoral (1667)
The Sicilian, or Love the Painter, comedy (1667)
Amphitryon, comedy (1668)
Georges Dandin, or The Fooled Husband, comedy (1668)
Stingy, comedy (1668)
Monsieur de Poursogniac, comedy-ballet (1669)
Brilliant Lovers, comedy (1670)
Tradesman in the nobility, comedy-ballet (1670)
Psyche, tragedy-ballet (1671, in collaboration with Philippe Quinault and Pierre Corneille)
Scapin's tricks, farce comedy (1671)
Countess d'Escarbagna, comedy (1671)
Scientists women, comedy (1672)
Imaginary patient, a comedy with music and dancing (1673)

Unsurvived plays

Doctor in love, farce (1653)
Three rival doctors, farce (1653)
School teacher, farce (1653)
Kazakin, farce (1653)
Gorgibus in a bag, farce (1653)
Gobber, farce (1653)
Gros-Rene's Jealousy, farce (1663)
Gros-Rene schoolboy, farce (1664)

Other writings

Gratitude to the King, poetic dedication (1663)
Glory of the Val-de-Grâce Cathedral, poem (1669)
Various poems, including
- Verse from d'Assousi's song (1655)
- Poems for Mr. Beauchamp's ballet
- Sonnet to M. la Motte la Vaye on the death of his son (1664)
- Brotherhood of Slavery in the Name of Our Lady of Mercy, quatrains placed under an allegorical engraving in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mercy (1665)
- To the king for victory in Franche-Comte, poetic dedication (1668)
- Burime to order (1682)

Criticism of Moliere's work

Characteristic

Moliere's artistic method is characterized by:

a sharp distinction between positive and negative characters, the opposition of virtue and vice;
schematization of images, Moliere’s tendency to use masks instead of living people, inherited from commedia dell’arte;
the mechanical unfolding of action as a collision of forces external to each other and internally almost motionless.

He preferred the external comedy of situations, theatrical buffoonery, the dynamic unfolding of farcical intrigue and lively folk speech, dotted with provincialisms, dialectisms, common folk and slang words, sometimes even words of gibberish and macaroonisms. For this, he was repeatedly awarded the honorary title of “people's” playwright, and Boileau spoke of his “excessive love for the people.”

Moliere's plays are characterized by great dynamism of comedic action; but this dynamics is external, it is alien to the characters, which are basically static in their psychological content. This was already noticed by Pushkin, who wrote, contrasting Molière with Shakespeare: “The faces created by Shakespeare are not, as in Molière, types of such and such a passion, such and such a vice, but living beings, filled with many passions, many vices... In Moliere, the stingy stingy and nothing more.”

Still, in his best comedies (“Tartuffe”, “The Misanthrope”, “Don Juan”) Moliere tries to overcome the monosyllabus of his images and the mechanical nature of his method. Nevertheless, the images and the entire structure of his comedies bear a certain artistic limitation of classicism.

The question of Moliere's attitude to classicism is much more complex than it seems school history literature, which unconditionally labels him a classic. There is no doubt that Moliere was the creator and best representative of the classical comedy of characters, and in a number of his “high” comedies, Moliere’s artistic practice is quite consistent with the classical doctrine. But at the same time, Moliere's other plays (mainly farces) contradict this doctrine. This means that in his worldview Moliere differs from the main representatives of the classical school.

Meaning

Moliere had a tremendous influence on the subsequent development of bourgeois comedy both in France and abroad. All French culture developed under the sign of Moliere. comedy XVIII century, reflecting the entire complex interweaving of the class struggle, the entire contradictory process of the formation of the bourgeoisie as a “class for itself”, entering political struggle with a noble-monarchical system. She relied on Moliere in the 18th century. both the entertaining comedy of Regnard and the satirically pointed comedy of Lesage, who developed in his “Turkar” the type of tax farmer-financier, briefly outlined by Molière in “The Countess d’Escarbanhas.” The influence of Molière’s “high” comedies was also felt by the secular everyday comedy of Piron and Gresset and the moral and sentimental comedy of Detouches and Nivelle de Lachausse, reflecting the growth of class consciousness of the middle bourgeoisie. Even the resulting new genre of bourgeois or bourgeois drama, this antithesis of classical drama, was prepared by the comedies of manners of Moliere, which so seriously developed the problems of the bourgeois family, marriage, raising children - these are the main themes of bourgeois drama.

From the school of Moliere came the famous creator of The Marriage of Figaro, Beaumarchais, the only worthy successor to Moliere in the field of social satirical comedy. Less significant is Moliere's influence on bourgeois comedy of the 19th century, which was already alien to Moliere's basic attitude. However, Molière’s comedic technique (especially his farces) is used by the masters of entertaining bourgeois comedy-vaudeville of the 19th century from Picard, Scribe and Labiche to Méillac and Halévy, Payeron and others.

Moliere's influence outside France was no less fruitful, and in various European countries translations of Moliere's plays were a powerful stimulus for the creation of a national bourgeois comedy. This was the case primarily in England during the Restoration (Wycherley, Congreve), and then in the 18th century by Fielding and Sheridan. This was the case in economically backward Germany, where familiarization with Moliere’s plays stimulated the original comedic creativity of the German bourgeoisie. Even more significant was the influence of Moliere's comedy in Italy, where the creator of the Italian bourgeois comedy, Goldoni, was brought up under the direct influence of Moliere. Moliere had a similar influence in Denmark on Holberg, the creator of the Danish bourgeois-satirical comedy, and in Spain on Moratin.

In Russia, acquaintance with Moliere's comedies begins at the end of the 17th century, when Princess Sofia, according to legend, acted out “The Reluctant Doctor” in her mansion. IN early XVIII V. we find them in Peter's repertoire. From the palace performances, Moliere then moved on to the performances of the first state-owned public theater in St. Petersburg, headed by A.P. Sumarokov. The same Sumarokov was the first imitator of Moliere in Russia. The most "original" Russian comedians of the classical style - Fonvizin, V.V. Kapnist and I.A. Krylov - were also brought up at Moliere's school. But the most brilliant follower of Moliere in Russia was Griboedov, who in the image of Chatsky gave Moliere’s congenial version of his “The Misanthrope” - however, the version is completely original, growing in the specific environment of Arakcheev-bureaucratic Russia in the 20s. XIX century Following Griboyedov, Gogol paid tribute to Moliere by translating one of his farces into Russian (“Sganarelle, or the Husband Thinking He’s Been Deceived by His Wife”); Traces of Moliere's influence on Gogol are noticeable even in The Government Inspector. The later noble (Sukhovo-Kobylin) and bourgeois everyday comedy (Ostrovsky) also did not escape the influence of Moliere. In the pre-revolutionary era, bourgeois modernist directors attempted a stage re-evaluation of Moliere's plays from the point of view of emphasizing the elements of “theatricality” and stage grotesque in them (Meyerhold, Komissarzhevsky).

After the October Revolution, some new theaters that emerged in the 1920s included Moliere's plays in their repertoire. There were attempts at a new "revolutionary" approach to Moliere. One of the most famous is the production of “Tartuffe” at the Leningrad State Drama Theater in 1929. The direction (N. Petrov and Vl. Solovyov) moved the action of the comedy into the 20th century. Although the directors tried to justify their innovation with not very convincing politicized supports (they say, the play “ works along the lines of exposing religious obscurantism and bigotry and along the line of Tartuffianism of social compromisers and social fascists"), this helped for a short time. The play was accused (albeit post factum) of “formalist-aesthetic influences” and removed from the repertoire, and Petrov and Solovyov were arrested and died in the camps.

Later, official Soviet literary criticism announced that “with all the deep social tone of Moliere’s comedies, his main method, based on the principles of mechanistic materialism, is fraught with dangers for proletarian drama” (cf. “The Shot” by Bezymensky).

Memory

A Paris street in the 1st city district has been named after Moliere since 1867.
A crater on Mercury is named after Molière.
The main building is named after Moliere theater award France - La cérémonie des Molières, existing since 1987.

Legends about Moliere and his work

In 1662, Moliere married the young actress of his troupe, Armande Béjart, the younger sister of Madeleine Béjart, another actress of his troupe. However, this immediately caused a whole series of gossip and accusations of incest, since there was an assumption that Armande was the daughter of Madeleine and Moliere and was born during the years of their wanderings around the province. To stop such gossip, the king became godfather of the first child of Moliere and Armande.
In 1808, at the Odeon Theater in Paris, Alexander Duval's farce "The Wallpaper" (French "La Tapisserie"), presumably an adaptation of Molière's farce "Cossack" was performed. It is believed that Duval destroyed Moliere's original or copy to hide obvious traces of borrowing, and changed the names of the characters, only their characters and behavior were suspiciously reminiscent of Moliere's heroes. Playwright Guyot de Say tried to restore the original source and in 1911 presented this farce on the stage of the Foley-Dramatic theater, returning it to its original name.
On November 7, 1919, an article by Pierre Louis “Molière - the creation of Corneille” was published in the magazine Comœdia. Comparing the plays “Amphitryon” by Moliere and “Agésilas” by Pierre Corneille, he concludes that Moliere only signed the text composed by Corneille. Despite the fact that Pierre Louis himself was a hoaxer, the idea known today as the “Moliere-Corneille Affair” became widespread, including in such works as “Corneille in the Mask of Moliere” by Henri Poulay (1957), “Moliere , or The Imaginary Author” by lawyers Hippolyte Wouter and Christine le Ville de Goyer (1990), “The Moliere Case: The Great Literary Deception” by Denis Boissier (2004), etc.

Film adaptations of works

1910 - "Molière", dir. Léonce Perret, starring Andre Baquet, Abel Gans, Rene D'Ochi, Amelie de Puzol, Marie Brunel, Madeleine Cézanne - Moliere's first image in cinema
1925 - “Tartuffe”, dir. Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, starring Hermann Piecha, Rosa Valetti, Andre Mattoni, Werner Kraus, Lil Dagover, Lucie Hoeflich, Emil Jannings
1941 - “School for Wives”, dir. Max Ophuls, starring Louis Jouvet, Madeleine Ozeret, Maurice Castel
1965 - “Don Juan”, dir. Marcel Bluval, starring Michel Piccoli, Claude Brasseur, Anouk Feryak, Michel Leroyer
1973 - “The Miser”, teleplay, dir. René Lucot, starring Michel Aumont, Francis Huster, Isabelle Adjani
1973 - “School for Wives”, dir. Raymond Rouleau, starring Isabelle Adjani, Bernard Blier, Gérard Lartigo, Robert Rimbaud
1979 - “The Miser”, dir. Jean Giraud and Louis de Funès, starring Louis de Funès, Michel Galabru, Frank David, Anne Caudry
1980 - “The Imaginary Patient”, dir. Leonid Nechaev, starring Oleg Efremov, Natalya Gundareva, Anatoly Romashin, Tatyana Vasilyeva, Rolan Bykov, Stanislav Sadalsky, Alexander Shirvindt
1984 - “Moliere”. Great Britain. 1984. Russian subtitles. Biographical film based on M. Bulgakov’s play “The Cabal of the Saint.”
1989 - “Tartuffe”, teleplay, dir. Anatoly Efros, starring Stanislav Lyubshin, Alexander Kalyagin, Anastasia Vertinskaya
1990 - “The Miser”, dir. Tonino Cervi, starring Alberto Sordi and others.
1992 - “Tartuffe”, dir. Jan Fried, starring: Mikhail Boyarsky, Igor Dmitriev, Irina Muravyova, Anna Samokhina, Igor Sklyar, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Larisa Udovichenko
1998 - “Don Juan”, dir. Jacques Weber, starring Jacques Weber, Michel Boujen, Emmanuelle Beart, Penélope Cruz
2006 - “The Miser”, dir. Christian de Chalogne, starring Michel Serrault, Cyril Touvnin, Louise Monod, Jacqui Berroyer
2007 - “Molière”, dir. Laurent Tirard, starring Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini, Laura Morante

Comedian of France and new Europe, creator of classical comedy, actor and theater director by profession.

Moliere came from an old bourgeois family, which for several centuries was engaged in the craft of upholsterers and drapers. Moliere's father, Jean Poquelin (1595-1669), was the court upholsterer and valet of Louis XIII. Moliere was brought up in a fashionable Jesuit school - Clermont College, where he thoroughly studied Latin, so that he could freely read Roman authors in the original and even, according to legend, translated Lucretius’ philosophical poem “On the Nature of Things” into French (the translation is lost). After graduating from college in 1639, Moliere passed the exam in Orleans for the title of licentiate of rights. But the legal career attracted him no more than his father’s craft, and Moliere chose the profession of an actor. In 1643, Moliere became the head of the Illustre Théâtre. Considering himself a tragic actor, Moliere played the roles of heroes (it was here that he adopted his pseudonym “Moliere”). When the troupe broke up, Moliere decided to seek his fortune in the provinces, joining a troupe of traveling comedians led by Dufresne.

Moliere's troupe in the provinces. First plays

Moliere's youthful wanderings around the French province (1645-1658) during the years of the civil war - the Fronde - enriched him with everyday and theatrical experience. From 1650 Moliere took over from Dufresne and led the troupe. The repertoire hunger of Molière's troupe was the impetus for the beginning of his dramatic activity. Thus, the years of Moliere’s theatrical studies became the years of his author’s studies. Many of the farcical scenarios he composed in the provinces have disappeared. Only the plays “The Jealousy of Barbouillé” (La jalousie du Barbouillé) and “The Flying Doctor” (Le médécin volant) have survived, the attribution of which to Moliere is not entirely reliable. The titles of a number of similar plays played by Molière in Paris after his return from the provinces are also known (“Gros-Rene the Schoolboy”, “The Pedant Doctor”, “Gorgibus in the Bag”, “Plan-Plan”, “Three Doctors”, “Cossack”) , “The Feigned Lump”, “The Twig Knitter”), and these titles echo the situations of Moliere’s later farces (for example, “Gorgibus in the Sack” and “The Tricks of Scapin”, d. III, sc. II). These plays indicate that the tradition of ancient farce nourished Moliere's dramaturgy and became an organic component in the main comedies of his mature age.

The farcical repertoire, excellently performed by Moliere's troupe under his direction (Moliere himself found himself as an actor in farce), helped strengthen its reputation. It increased even more after Moliere composed two great comedies in verse - “Naughty” (L’étourdi, 1655) and “Love’s Annoyance” (Le dépit amoureux, 1656), written in the manner of Italian literary comedy. The main plot, which represents a free imitation of Italian authors, is layered here with borrowings from various old and new comedies, in accordance with Moliere’s favorite principle of “taking his goodness wherever he finds it.” The interest of both plays, according to their entertaining setting, is reduced to the development of comic situations and intrigue; the characters in them are still developed very superficially.