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Molière, born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, is a renowned French playwright and actor known for his comic plays with social themes. He reformed French theater and built the backbone of modern comic farce. Despite his father’s disapproval, Molière founded his own theater company and became a frequent defender of his work by King Louis XIV. His plays moved from pure comedy to satire, drawing outrage from high places. Molière struggled with tuberculosis and died during a performance. He was buried in secret due to a church ban on actors, but over 800 mourners attended his funeral.
Molière, stage name of playwright and actor Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, is considered by many to be one of the greatest comic writers in the history of literature. His plays are known for their puns, puns, and social themes. Experts believe that the playwright, actor and troupe director reformed French theater and built the backbone of comic farce in modern writing.
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin was born in 1622 to an interior designer employed at the king’s court and daughter of a wealthy French family. Despite his father’s attempts to secure him a place as a court servant, it was to acting that the young Jean-Baptiste was irresistibly drawn. Acting was considered a shameful pursuit at the time and experts suggest that the young actor lost his father’s affections entirely when he founded a theater called L’Illustre Théâtre in 1643. Soon after, perhaps to protect the position and reputation of his father, Jean-Baptiste adopted the pseudonym of Molière.
The young actor spent 12 years traveling the country with his theater company, performing in small towns and starting his own work as a writer. In 1658, Moliere returned to Paris and performed for King Louis XIV, who greatly appreciated his work. The king granted him an annual pension and he became a frequent defender of the writer’s work despite the political hatred of influential courtiers. Over the next 15 years he wrote more than 30 plays, acting in many of them, while simultaneously managing his own theater company.
The playwright’s style initially owed much to the vulgar Italian form of traveling theater, the Commedia dell’arte. Though he privately admitted to a preference for tragedy, the playwright made frequent use of historical characters of the style and troubled love stories in his plays. As he matured as a writer, Moliere’s works moved away from pure comedy and towards satire. His greatest plays are revered by pundits for their mocking depictions of self-righteous characters and politically sensitive issues.
Comedies such as Tartuffe, which pokes fun at a self-righteous religious figure, and The School for Wives, which alludes to the foolish results of denying women education, have drawn outrage from many high places. Angry courtiers and religious devotees formed the parties des Devots to protest against his satirical plays. His enemies wielded considerable power and succeeded in having Tartuffe banned from public presentations for several years. However, the king’s enduring appreciation saved Molière from serious trouble, and the playwright’s careful avoidance of mocking royalty or true ecclesiastical authority meant that Louis XIV remained a fan.
Molière’s life was troubled by a steadily worsening struggle with tuberculosis which may have influenced his many satirical portrayals of doctors. His death is told as a famous legend among stage actors. During a 1662 performance of The Hypochondriac, the playwright collapsed while on stage in a coughing fit. Despite the king’s encouragement to stop the show until he was recovered, Molière insisted on continuing the show. He hemorrhaged later that day and died.
Since a church ban prohibited actors from being buried in sacred cemeteries, Moliere’s funeral was held at night, in secret, by order of the king. This latest mockery of society’s sillier rules was well followed despite his secrecy. Over 800 mourners arrived at the funeral to bid farewell to the man many consider to be France’s greatest playwright.
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