Moliere’s plays are considered some of the best examples of French theater, noted for their wit and topical subject matter. The School of Wives, Tartuffe, and The Misanthrope are among his most famous works. Influenced by the commedia dell’arte, his plays often feature archetypal characters and heavy puns. They continue to be popular among modern theater-goers and serve as excellent teaching tools.
The plays of Jean-Batiste Poquelin, better known as Moliere, are considered some of the best examples of French theater ever written. They are noted by theater critics for their wit and topical subject matter. Moliere’s plays caused both fanfare and riots in their original performances and continue today as staple productions of live theater.
The first of Moliere’s comedies to bring him enormous success was the 1662 five-act comedy The School of Wives. The play involves the comedic disasters caused by Arnolphe, a man so afraid of being betrayed by a woman that he insists that her ward, Agnes, be brought up as innocently as possible so that he can eventually marry her. Hungry for male attention after her entire childhood in a convent, Agnes immediately falls in love with Arnolphe’s friend Horace, having no idea that Arnolphe means her for himself. The work received such positive attention that King Louis XIV granted Molière an annual pension for his work.
Perhaps the best known of Molière’s plays is his most controversial, Tartuffe. In the 1664 play, a swindler pretending to be a man of great piety deceives a gullible man out of his house and his wealth. The opera caused an uproar with the religious faction of the French court, demanding that it be banned from the stage. The king, despite being a fan of the opera, forbade its public performance for several years. Eventually, the opposition died down and the play was performed freely and frequently beginning in 1669.
Some critics consider Moliere’s play The Misanthrope his masterpiece, despite initially negative reviews at its 1666 premiere. The play features an enormous amount of puns and verbal banter, as it follows the life of Alceste, a man who hates people. The game is also considered a socially important game, as it questions the role of man and whether honesty or kindness should govern the behavior of society.
Molière’s plays are often cited as having been influenced by the traveling theater companies of the commedia dell’arte. In the Italian style, archetypal characters, such as the clown, the lovers, the buffoon father, are used for comic effect. In Scapin some experts believe that the effect of the commedia dell’arte is evident. The story follows two sons who are married in secret while their fathers are away and depend on Scapin, a cunning and deceitful servant, to help them get away with it. As in Italian comedies, they all end more or less happily, with Scapin somehow getting credit and looking ridiculous.
Many of Moliere’s plays are one-act comedies, performed to lighten the mood after a tragic subject. These short comedies often feature commedia dell’arte characters and heavy puns. Some of the better known include School for Husbands, Sganarelle and The Pretentious Young Ladies. In the modern theatre, two or three of Molière’s plays are often combined to form an evening of one-act plays.
Moliere’s plays are extremely popular among modern theater-goers. The political and social wit of comedies is often re-imagined to fit modern issues. Moliere’s plays also serve as excellent teaching tools and are often used to introduce young actors to the world of French farce and the skills required for excellent verbal banter.
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