Online Encyclopedia

Conti clans toutes ses classes." As Conti was seven years younger than Moliere, it is not easy to understand how Moliere came to be the school contemporary of the prince . Among more serious studies the Jesuit fathers encouraged their pupils to take See also:

PART

part in ballets, and in later life Moliere was a distinguished See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master of this sort of entertainment . According to Grimarest, the first writer who published a life of Moliere in any detail (1705), he not only acquired " his humanities," but finished his " See also:

PHILOSOPHY (Gr. gthos, fond of, and vo4 (a, wisdom)

philosophy " in five years . He See also:

LEFT

left the College de Clermont in 1641, the See also:

YEAR

year when Gassendi, a great contemner of See also:

Aristotle, arrived in Paris . The See also:

LOGIC (Xoy1K7, sc. rixvrt, the art of reasoning)

Logic and See also:

Ethics of Aristotle, with his Physics and See also:

META

Meta-physics, were the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief philosophical textbooks at the College de Clermont . But when he became the See also:

PUPIL (Lat. pupillus, orphan, minor, dim. of pupus, boy, allied to puer, from root pm- or peu-, to beget, cf. "pupa," Lat. for " doll," the name given to the stage intervening between the larval and imaginal stages in certain insects)

pupil of Gassendi (in See also:

COMPANY

company with Cyrano de See also:

BERGERAC

Bergerac, Chapelle, and Hesnaut), Moliere was taught to appreciate the atomic philosophy of See also:

LUCRETIUS (TITUS LUCRETIUS CARUS) (c. 98–55 B.C.)

Lucretius . There seems no doubt that Moliere began, and almost or quite finished, a See also:

TRANSLATION

translation of the De natura rerum . According to a See also:

MANUSCRIPT

manuscript See also:

note of Trallage, published by M . See also:

Paul See also:

Lacroix, the manuscript was sold by Moliere's widow to a See also:

BOOK

book-seller . His philosophic studies left a deep See also:

mark on the See also:

GENIUS (from Lat. genere, gignere)

genius of Moliere .

In the Jugement de Pluton sur See also:

les deux parties des nouveaux dialogues des morts (1684), the See also:

VERDICT (O. Fr. verdit, Lat. vere dictum, truly said, used in Late Latin in one word with its present significance)

verdict is " que Moliere ne parleroit point de philosophie." To " talk philosophy " was a favourite exercise of his during his life, and his ideas are indicated with sufficient clearness in several of his plays . There seems no connexion between them and the opinions of "Moliere le Critique " in a See also:

DIALOGUE

dialogue of that name, published in See also:

Holland in 1709 . From his study of philosophy, too, he gained his knowledge of the ways of contemporary pedants: of Pancrace the Aristotelian, of Marphorius the Cartesian, of Trissotin, " qui s'attache pour l'ordre au Peripatetisme," of Philaminte, who loves See also:

PLATONISM

Platonism, of Belise, who relishes " les petits See also:

CORPS (pronounced as in French, from which it is taken, being a late spelling of tors, from Lat. corpus, a body; cf. " corpse ")

corps," and Armande, who loves " les tourbillons." Grimarest has an amusing See also:

ANECDOTE (from av-, privative, and isSLSwµu, to give out or publish)

anecdote of a controversy in which Moliere, defending See also:

DESCARTES, RENE (1596-1650)

Descartes, See also:

CHOSE (Fr. for " thing ")

chose a See also:

lay-See also:

BROTHER

brother of a begging See also:

order for See also:

UMPIRE

umpire, while Chapelle appealed to the same See also:

EXPERT (Lat. expertus, from experiri, to try)

expert in favour of Gassendi . His college education over, Moliere studied See also:

law, and there is even See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence—that of tradition in Grimarest, and of Le See also:

Boulanger de Chalussay, the libellous author of a See also:

PLAY

play called Elomire hypochondre—to prove that he was actually called to the See also:

bar . More trustworthy is the passing remark in La Grange's See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short See also:

BIOGRAPHY (from the Gr. (3ios, life, and yp&4 , writing)

biography (1682), " au sortir des ecoles de See also:

DROIT (Fr. for " right," from Lat. directus, straight)

droit, it choisit la profession de comedien." Before joining a See also:

TROOP (an adaptation of Fr. troupe, O. Fr. trope; cf. Ital. troppa, troppa; Med. Lat. truppus; the origin is doubtful; suggestions have been made that it represents a German conception of Latin turba, crowd, or is an adaptation of Norw. tarp, flock)

troop of See also:

HALF

half-See also:

AMATEUR (Lat. amator, lover)

amateur comedians, however, Moliere had some experience in his father's business . In 1637 his father had obtained for him the right to succeed to his own See also:

OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

office as " valet tapissier de chambre du roi." The document is mentioned in the See also:

INVENTORY (post-class. Lat. inventarium, a list or repertory, from invenire to find)

inventory of Moliere's effects, taken after his See also:

DEATH

death . When the See also:

king travelled the valet tapissier accompanied him to arrange the See also:

FURNITURE (from " furnish," Fr. fournir)

furniture of the royal quarters . There is very See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good reason to believe (Loiseleur, Points obscurs, p . 94) that Moliere accompanied See also:

Louis XIII, as his valet tapissier to See also:

PROVENCE (Provincia, Proenza)

Provence in 1642 . It is even not impossible' that Moliere was the See also:

young valet de chambre who concealed Cinq See also:

Mars just before his See also:

ARREST (Fr. arrester, arreeter, to stop or stay)

arrest at See also:

NARBONNE

Narbonne, on the 13th of See also:

JUNE

June 1642 . But this is part of the See also:

ROMANCE

romance rather than of the See also:

HISTORY

history of Moliere . Our next glimpse of the comedian we get in a document of 6th January 1643 .

Moliere acknowledges the See also:

RECEIPT (M.E. receite, derived through Fr. from Lat. recepta, participle of recipere, to receive)

receipt of See also:

MONEY

money due to him from his deceased mother's See also:

ESTATE (through O. Fr. estat, mod. flat, from Lat. status, state, condition, position, stare, to stand)

estate, and gives up his claim to succeed his father as "valet de chambre du roi." On the 28th of See also:

DECEMBER (Lat. decent, ten)

December of the same year we learn, again from documentary evidence, that Jean Baptiste Poquelin, with See also:

Joseph Bejard, Madeleine Bejard, See also:

GENEVIEVE, or GENOVEFA, ST (c. 422-512)

Genevieve Bejard, and others, have hired a See also:

TENNIS (sometimes called royal tennis, and, in America, court tennis)

tennis-court and fitted it up as a stage for dramatic performances . The company called themselves L'Illustre Theatre, illustre being then almost a See also:

SLANG

slang word, freely employed by the writers of the See also:

period . We now reach a very important point in the private history of Moliere, which it is necessary to discuss at some length in See also:

defence of the much maligned See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character of a great writer and a good See also:

man . Moliere's connexion with the family of Bejard brought him much unhappiness . The father of this family, Joseph Bejard the See also:

elder, was a needy man, with eleven See also:

CHILDREN, LAW RELATING TO

children at least . His wife's name was Marie Herve . The most noted of his children, companions of Moliere, were Joseph, Madeleine, Genevieve, and Armande . Of these, Madeleine was a woman of great See also:

TALENT (Lat. talentum, adaptation of Gr. TaXavrov, balance, ! Recollections of a First Visit to the Alps (1841); Vacation Rambles weight, from root raX-, to lift, as in rXi vac, to bear, 1-aXas, and Thoughts, comprising recollections of three Continental

talent as an actress, and Moliere's friend, or perhaps See also:

MISTRESS

mistress, through all the years of his wanderings . Now, on the 14th of See also:

FEBRUARY

February 1662 (for we must here leave the See also:

CHRONOLOGICAL

chronological order of events), Moliere married Armande Claire Elisabeth Gresinde Bejard: His enemies at that See also:

time, and a number of his biographers in our own day, have attempted to prove that Armande Bejard was not the See also:

SISTER

sister, but the daughter of Madeleine, and even that Moliere's wife may have been his own daughter by Madeleine Bejard . The arguments of M . Arsene See also:

HOUSSAYE, ARSINE (1815-1896)

Houssaye in support of this abominable theory are based on reckless and ignorant confusions, and do not deserve See also:

criticism . But the See also:

SYSTEM

system of M .

Loiseleur is more serious, and he goes no further than the See also:

IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea that Madeleine was the mother of Armande . This, certainly, was the See also:

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion of tradition, an opinion based on the slanders of See also:

MONTFLEURY (d. 1667)

Montfleury, a See also:

RIVAL

rival of Moliere's, on the authority of the spiteful and See also:

ANONYMOUS

anonymous author of La Fameuse comedienne (1688), and on the no less libellous play, Elomire hypochondre . In 1821 tradition received a See also:

SHOCK, or COLLAPSE

shock, for Beffara then discovered Moliere's "acte de mariage," in which Armande, the See also:

BRIDE (a common Teutonic word, e.g..Goth. bruths, O. Eng. bryd, O. H. Ger. prs2t, Mod. Ger. Bract, Dut. bruid, possibly derived from the root bru-, cook, brew; from the med. latinized form bruta, in the sense of daughter-in-law, is derived the Fr. bru)

bride, is spoken of as the sister of Madeleine Bejard, by the same father and mother . The old See also:

SCANDAL

scandal, or part of it, was revived by M . See also:

Fournier and M . See also:

BAZIN

Bazin, but received another See also:

BLOW, JOHN (1648-1708)

blow in 1863 . M . Soulie then discovered a legal document of the loth of See also:

March 1643, in which the widow of Joseph Bejard renounced, in the name of herself and her children, his See also:

INHERITANCE

inheritance, chiefly a collection of unpaid bills . Now in this document all the children are described as minors, and among them is "une petite non encore baptisee." This little girl, still not christened in March 1643, is universally recognized as the Armande Bejard afterwards married by Moliere . We reach this point, then, that when Armande was an See also:

INFANT (in early forms enfaunt, enfant, through the Fr. enfant, from Lat. infans, in, not, and fans, the present participle of fari, to speak)

infant she was acknowledged as the sister, not as the daughter, of Madeleine Bejard . M . Loiseleur refuses, however, to accept this evidence .

Madeleine, says he, had already become the mother, in 1638, of a daughter by Esprit See also:

RAYMOND, HENRY JARVIS (1820-1869)

Raymond de Moirmoron, See also:

COMTE, AUGUSTE [ISIDORE AUGUSTE MARIE FRANCOIS XAVIER] (1798-1857)

comte de Modene, and See also:

chamberlain of Gaston duc d'See also:

Orleans, brother of Louis XIII . In 1642 Modene, who had been exiled for See also:

POLITICAL

political reasons, "was certain to return, for See also:

Richelieu had just died, and Louis XIII. was likely to follow him." Now Madeleine was again—this is M . Loiseleur's See also:

HYPOTHESIS (from Gr. inrorcOivat, to put under; cf. Lat. suppositio, from sub-ponere)

hypothesis—about to become a mother, and if Modene returned, and learned this fact, he would not continue the liaison, still less would he marry her—which, by the way, he could not do, as his wife was still alive . Madeleine, therefore, induced her mother to acknowledge the little girl as her own child . In the first place, all this is pure unsupported hypothesis . In the second place, it has always been denied that Bejard's wife could have been a mother in 1643, owing to her advanced See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age, probably fifty-three . But M . Loiseleur himself says that Marie Herve was young enough to make the See also:

story "sufficiently probable." If it was probable, much more was it possible . M . Loiseleur supports his contention by pointing out that two of the other children, described as legally minors, were over twenty-five, and that their age was understated to make the See also:

account of Armande's birth more probable . Nothing is less likely thanthat Modene would have consulted this document to ascertain the truth about the parentage of Armande, yet M . Loiseleur's whole theory rests on that extreme improbability .

It must also be observed that the date of the birth of Joseph Bejard is unknown, and he may have been, and according to M . Jal (Dictionnaire critique, p . 178) must have been, a See also:

minor when he was so described in the document of the loth of March 1643, while Madeleine had only passed her twenty-fifth birthday, her legal See also:

MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

majority, by two months . This view of Joseph's age is supported by Bouquet (Moliere d See also:

ROUEN

Rouen, p . 77) . M . Loiseleur's only other See also:

PROOF (in M. Eng. preove, proeve, preve, &°c., from O. Fr . prueve, proeve, &c., mod. preuve, Late. Lat. proba, probate, to prove, to test the goodness of anything, probus, good)

proof is that Marie Herve gave Armande a respectable See also:

DOWRY (in Anglo-Fr. dowarie, O. Fr. douaire, Med. Lat. dotaria, from Lat. dos; from root of dare, to give; in Fr. dot)

dowry, and that, as we do not know whence the money came, it must have come from Madeleine . The tradition in Grimarest, which makes Madeleine behave en femme furieuse, when she heard of the See also:

MARRIAGE

marriage, is based on a juster appreciation of the character of See also:

WOMEN

women . It will be admitted, probably, that the reasons for supposing that Moliere espoused the daughter of a woman who had been his mistress (if she had been his mistress) are flimsy and inadequate . The affair of the dowry is insisted on by M . Livet (La Fameuse comedienne, reprint of 1877, p . 143) .

But M . Livet explains the dowry by the hypothesis that Armande was the daughter of Madeleine and the comte de Modene, which exactly contradicts the theory of M . Loiseleur, and is itself contradicted by See also:

DATES

dates, at least as understood by M . Loiseleur . Such are the conjectures by which the foul calumnies of Moliere's enemies are supported in the essays of See also:

MODERN

modern French critics . See also:

MICHELET, JULES (1798-1874)

Michelet accepted the scandal apparently as a See also:

BUTTRESS (from the O. Fr. bouteret, that which bears a thrust, from bouter, to push, cf. Eng. " butt " and " abutment ")

buttress to his charges against Louis XIV. and Madame (Histoire de France, 1879, XV . 63, 64, 332) . To return to the order of events, Moliere passed the year 1643 in playing with and helping to See also:

MANAGE

manage the Theatre Illustre . The company acted in various tennis-courts, with very little success . Moliere was actually arrested by the tradesman who supplied candles, and the company had to See also:

BORROW, GEORGE HENRY (18o3-1881)

borrow money from one See also:

AUBREY, JOHN (1626-1697)

Aubrey to See also:

RELEASE (O.Fr. reles, variant of relais, from relaisser, to release, let go, Lat. relaxare)

release their See also:

LEADER, BENJAMIN WILLIAMS (1831– )

leader from the See also:

GRAND

Grand See also:

CHATELET (from Med. Lat. castella)

Chatelet (Aug . 13, 1645) . The See also:

PROCESS

process of turning a tennis-court into a theatre was somewhat expensive, even though no seats were provided in the See also:

PIT (O. E. pytt, cognate with Du. put, Ger. Pfutze, &c., all ultimately adaptations of Lat. puteus, well, formed from root pu-, to cleanse, whence gurus, clean, pure)

pit .

The troupe was for a short time under the See also:

PROTECTION

protection of the duc d'Orleans, but his favours were not lucrative . The duc de See also:

Guise, according to some verses printed in 1646, made Moliere a See also:

PRESENT

present of his See also:

CAST (from the verb meaning " to throw "; the word is Scand. in origin, cf. Dan. kaste, and Swed. kasta; " cast " in Middle Eng. took the place of the A.S. weor pan, cf. Ger. werf en)

cast-off See also:

WARDROBE

wardrobe . But See also:

costume was not enough to draw the public to the tennis-court theatre of the Croix Noire, and empty houses at last obliged the Theatre Illustre to leave Paris at the end of 1646 . "Nul See also:

animal vivant n'entra dans nbtre salle," says the author of the scurrilous play on Moliere, Elomire hypochondre . But at that time some dozen travelling companies found means to exist in the provinces, and Moliere determined to play among the rural towns . The career of a strolling player is much the same at all times and in all countries . The See also:

ROMAN

Roman comique of See also:

SCARRON, PAUL (1610-166o)

Scarron gives a vivid picture of the adventures and misadventures, the difficulty of transport, the queer cavalcade of horses, mules, and lumbering carts that See also:

DRAG (from the Old Eng. dragan, to draw; the word preserves the g which phonetically developed into w)

drag the wardrobe and properties, the sudden See also:

METAMORPHOSIS

metamorphosis of the tennis-court, where the balls have just been rattling, into a stage, the quarrels with See also:

LOCAL

local squires, the disturbed nights in crowded See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country inns, all the loves and See also:

WARS

wars of a troupe on the march . See also:

PERRAULT, CHARLES (1628-1703)

Perrault tells us what the arrangements to the theatre were in Moliere's early time . Tapestries were hung See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round the stage, and entrances and exits were made by struggling through the heavy curtains, which often knocked off the See also:

hat of the comedian, or gave a See also:

STRANGE, SIR ROBERT (1721-1792)

strange See also:

COCK, EDWARD (1805-1892)

cock to the See also:

HELMET (from an obsolete diminutive of O. Fr. helme, mod. heaume; the English word is " helm," as in O. Eng., Dutch and Ger.; all are from the Teutonic base hal-, pre-Teut. kal-, to cover; cf. Lat. celare, to hide, Eng. " hell," &c.)

helmet of a See also:

WARRIOR

warrior or a See also:

god . The See also:

LIGHTS, CEREMONIAL USE OF

lights were candles See also:

STUCK, FRANZ (1863— )

stuck in See also:

TIN (Lat.- stannum, whence the chemical symbol " Sn "; atomic weight =117.6, 0=16)

tin sconces at the back and sides, but luxury sometimes went so far that a See also:

CHANDELIER

chandelier of four candles was suspended from the roof . At intervals the candles were let down by a rope and See also:

PULLEY

pulley, and any one within easy reach snuffed them with his fingers . A See also:

FLUTE

flute and See also:

TAMBOUR (Fr. for " drum " )

tambour, or two fiddlers, supplied the See also:

MUSIC

music .

The highest prices were paid for seats in the dedans (cost of See also:

ADMISSION

admission fivepence); for the See also:

PRIVILEGE

privilege of See also:

STANDING

standing up in the pit twopence-See also:

HALFPENNY, WILLIAM

halfpenny was the See also:

charge . The doors were opened at one o'See also:

CLOCK

clock, the See also:

CURTAIN

curtain See also:

rose at two . The nominal director of the Theatre Illustre in the provinces was Du Fresne; the most noted actors were Moliere, the Bejards, and Du Parc, called See also:

GROS, ANTOINE JEAN, BARON (1771–1835)

Gros Rene . It is extremely difficult to follow exactly the See also:

LINE

line of march of the company . They played at See also:

BORDEAUX

Bordeaux, for example, but the date of this performance, when Moliere (according to See also:

MONTESQUIEU, CHARLES LOUIS DE SECONDAT, BARON DE LA BREDE ET DE (1689-1755)

Montesquieu) failed in tragedy and was pelted, is variously given as 1644–1645 (Trallage), 1647 (Loiseleur), 1648–1658 (Lacroix) . Perhaps the theatre prospered better elsewhere than in Paris, where the streets were barricaded in these early days of the See also:

war of the See also:

FRONDE, THE

Fronde . We find Moliere at See also:

Nantes in 1648, at Fontenay-la-Compte, and in the See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring of 1649 at See also:

AGEN

Agen, See also:

Toulouse, and probably at See also:

Angouleme and See also:

LIMOGES

Limoges . In January 165o they played at Narbonne, and between 165o and 1653 See also:

Lyons was the headquarters of the troupe . In January 1653, or perhaps 1655, Moliere gave L'Etourdi at Lyons, the first of his finished pieces, as contrasted with the slight farces with which he generally diverted a country See also:

AUDIENCE (from Lat. audire, to hear)

audience . It would be interesting to have the precise date of this piece, but La Grange (1682) says that " in 1653 Moliere went to Lyons, where he gave his first See also:

COMEDY

comedy, L'Etourdi," while in his Registre La Grange enters the year as 1655 . At Lyons de See also:

BRIE (Briegus saltus, from Celtic briek, clay)

Brie and his wife, the famous Mlle de Brie, entered the troupe, and du Parc married the " marquise " de Gorla, better known as Mlle du Parc . The libellous author of La Fameuse comedienne reports that Moliere's See also:

heart was the shuttlecock of the beautiful du Parc and de Brie, and the tradition has a persistent life .

Moliere's own opinion of the ladies and men of his company may be read between the lines of his See also:

IMPROMPTU (from in promptu, on the spur of the moment)

Impromptu de See also:

VERSAILLES

Versailles . In 1653 Prince de Conti, after many political adventures, was residing at La Grange, near See also:

PEZENAS

Pezenas, in See also:

LANGUEDOC

Languedoc, and See also:

CHANCE (through the O. Fr. cheance, from the Late Lat. cadentia, things happening, from cadere, to fall out, happen; cf. " case ")

chance brought him into relations with his old schoolfellow Moliere . Conti had for first See also:

GENTLEMAN (from Lat. gentilis, " belonging to a race or gens," and " man "; Fr. gentilhomme, Span. gentil hombre, Ital. gentil huomo, in its original and strict signification, a term denoting a man of good family, the Lat. generosus (its invariable transl

gentleman of his See also:

bed-chamber the See also:

ABBE (Serbo-Croatian Rai))

abbe See also:

Daniel de Cosnac, whose See also:

MEMOIRS

memoirs now throw light for a moment on the fortunes of the wandering troupe . Cosnac engaged the company " of Moliere and of La Bejart "; but another company, that of Cormier, nearly intercepted the favour of the prince . Thanks to the See also:

RESOLUTION

resolution of Cosnac, Moliere was given one chance of appearing on the private theatre of La Grange . The excellence of his acting, the splendour of the costumes, and the insistence of Cosnac, and of Sarrasin, Conti's secretary, gained the day for Moliere, and a See also:

PENSION (Lat. pensio, a payment, from pendere, to weigh, to pay)

pension was assigned to his company (Cosnac, Memoires, i . 128; Paris, 1852) . As Cosnac proposed to pay Moliere a thousand crowns of his own money to recompense him in See also:

case he was supplanted by Cormier, it is obvious that his profession had become sufficiently lucrative . In 1654, during the session of the estates of Languedoc, Moliere and his company played at See also:

MONTPELLIER

Montpellier . Here Moliere danced in a See also:

BALLET

ballet (Le Ballet des incompatibles) in which a number of men of See also:

RANK (O.Fr. rant or rent, mod. rang, generally connected with the O.E. and O.H.G. bring, a ring)

rank took part, according to the See also:

FASHION (adapted from Fr. facon, agon, Lat. factio, making, facere, to do or make)

fashion of the time . Moliere's own roles were those of the Poet and the Fishwife . The See also:

SPORT (a contracted or shortened form of "disport," to amuse, divert oneself, O. Fr. se dis porter or deporter, to leave off work, hence to play, Lat. dis-, away, and portare, to carry; the origin of the meaning lies in the notion of turning away from ser

sport of the little piece is to introduce opposite characters, dancing and singing together .

Silence dances with six women, Truth with four courtiers, Money with a poet, and so forth . Whether the ballet, or any parts of it, are by Moliere, is still disputed (La Jeunesse de Moliere, suivie du ballet des incompatibles, P . L . See also:

Jacob, Paris, 1858) . In See also:

APRIL

April 1655 it is certain that the troupe was at Lyons, where they met and hospitably entertained a profligate buffoon, See also:

Charles d'Assoucy, who informs the ages that Moliere kept open house, and " une table bien garnie." See also:

NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November 1655 found Moliere at Pezenas, where the estates of Languedoc were convened, and where local tradition points out the See also:

BARBER (from Lat. barba, beard)

barber's See also:

CHAIR (in. Mid. Eng. chcere, through O. Fr. chaire or chaiere, from Lat. cathedra, later caledra, Gr. xaOi3pa, seat, cf. "cathedral"; the modern Fr. form chaise, a chair, has been adopted in English with a particular meaning as a form of carriage; chaire

chair in which the poet used to sit and study character . The longest of Moliere's extant See also:

AUTOGRAPHS

autographs is a receipt, dated at Pezenas, on the 4th of February 1656, for 6000 livres, granted by the estates of Languedoc . This year was notable for the earliest See also:

REPRESENTATION

representation, at See also:

BEZIERS

Beziers, of Moliere's second finished comedy, the Depit amoureux . Conti now (1656) began to " make his soul." Almost his first See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act of penitence was to discard Moliere's troupe (1657), which consequently found that the liberality of the estates of Languedoc was driedup for ever . Conti's relations with Moliere must have definitively closed See also:

long before 1666, when the now pious prince wrote a See also:

TREATISE

treatise against the stage, and especially charged his old school-fellow with keeping a new school, a school of See also:

ATHEISM (from Gr. as, privative, and Oebs, God)

atheism (Traite de. la comedie, p . 24; Paris, 1666) . Moliere was now (1657) See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent of princes and their favour . He went on a new See also:

CIRCUIT (Lat. circuitus, from circum, round, and ire, to go)

circuit to Nismes, See also:

Orange and See also:

AVIGNON

Avignon, where he met another old class-See also:

mate, Chapelle, and also encountered the friend of his later life, the painter See also:

MIGNARD, PIERRE (1610-1695)

Mignard .

After a later stay at Lyons, ending with a piece given for the benefit of the poor on the 27th of February 1658, Moliere passed to See also:

GRENOBLE

Grenoble, returned to Lyons, and is next found in Rouen, where, we should have said, the Theatre Illustre had played in 1643 (F . Bouquet, La Troupe de Moliere d Rouen, p . 9o; Paris, 1880) . At Rouen Moliere must have made or renewed the acquaintance of See also:

PIERRE

Pierre and See also:

Thomas See also:

Corneille . His company had played pieces by Corneille at Lyons and elsewhere . The real business of the comedian in Rouen was to prepare his return to Paris . " After several See also:

SECRET (Lat. secretum, hidden, concealed)

secret journeys thither he was fortunate enough to secure the patronage of See also:

MONSIEUR (Fr., formed from men, my, and sieur, lord)

Monsieur, the king's only brother, who granted him his protection, and permitted the company to take his name, presenting them as his servants to the king and the See also:

queen mother " (See also:

PREFACE (Med. Lat. prefatia, for classical praefatio, praefari, to speak beforehand)

Preface to La Grange's edition of 1682) . The troupe appeared for the first time before Louis XIV. in a theatre arranged in the old Louvre (Oct . 24, 1658) . Moliere was now See also:

THIRTY

thirty-six years of age . He had gained all the experience that fifteen years of practice could give . He had seen men and cities, and noted all the humours of rural and civic France .

He was at the See also:

head of a company which, as La Grange, his friend and comrade, says, " sincerely loved him." He had the unlucrative patronage of a great prince to back him, and the See also:

JEALOUSY (adapted from Fr. jalousie, formed from jaloux, jealous, Low Lat. zelosus, Gr. j'i os, ardour, zeal, from the root seen in '&u', to boil, ferment; cf. " yeast ")

jealousy of all playwrights, and of the old theatres of the Hotel de Bourgogne and the Marais, to contend against . In this struggle we can follow him by aid of the Registre of La Grange (a brief See also:

DIARY

diary of receipts and payments), and by the help of notices in the rhymed See also:

CHRONICLES, BOOKS OF

chronicles of Loret . The first See also:

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance of Moliere before the king was all but a failure . Nicomede, by the elder Corneille, was the piece, and we may believe that the actors of the Hotel de Bourgogne, who were present, found much to criticize . When the play was over, Moliere came forward and asked the king's permission to act " one of the little pieces with which he had been used to regale the provinces." The Docteur amoureux, one of several slight comedies admitting of much " gag," was then performed, and " diverted as much as it surprised the audience." The king commanded that the troupe should establish itself in Paris (Preface, ed . 1682) . The theatre assigned to the company was a salle in the See also:

PETIT, SIR DINSHAW MANECKJI, BART

Petit See also:

Bourbon, in a line with the present Rue du Louvre . Some See also:

ITALIAN

Italian players already occupied the house on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays; the company of Moliere played on the other days . The first piece played in the new house (Nov . 3, 1658) was L'Etourdi . La Grange says the comedy had a great success, producing seventy pistoles for each actor . The success is admitted even by the spiteful author of Elomire hypochondre (Paris, 167o): " Je jouai l'Etourdi, qui fut une merveille." The success, however, is attributed to the farcical See also:

ELEMENT (Lat. elementum)

element in the play and the acting—the See also:

CUCKOO

cuckoo-cry of Moliere's detractors .

The See also:

ORIGINAL

original of L'Etourdi is the Italian comedy (1629) L'Inavvertito, by See also:

NICOLE, PIERRE (1625–1695)

Nicole) See also:

Barbieri detto Beltrame; Moliere pushed rather far his right to " take his own wherever he found it." Had he written nothing more original, the contemporary critic of the Festin de Pierre might have said, not untruly, that he only excelled in stealing pieces from the Italians . The piece is conventional: the stock characters of the prodigal son, the impudent valet, the old father occupy the stage . But the dialogue has amazing rapidity, and the vivacity of M . See also:

COQUELIN, BENOIT CONSTANT (1841-1909)

Coquelin to Mascarille made L'Etourdi a favourite on the modern stage, though it cannot be read with very much See also:

PLEASURE (through Fr. plaisir from Lat. placere, to please; Gr. rlbovii)

pleasure . The next piece, new in Paris, though not in the provinces, was the Depit amoureux (first acted at Beziers, 1656) . The play was not less successful than L'Etourdi . It has two parts, one an Italian imbroglio; the other, which alone keeps the stage, is the original See also:

WORK

work of Moliere, though, of course, the idea of amantium irae is as old as literature . " Nothing so good," says Mr See also:

SAINTSBURY, GEORGE EDWARD BATEMAN (1845- )

Saintsbury, " had yet been seen on the French stage, as the quarrels and reconciliations of the quartette of master, mistress, valet and soubrette." Even the hostile Le Boulanger de Chalussay (Elomire hypochondre) admits that the audience was much of this opinion: " Et de tous les c8tes chacun cria tout haut: C'est la faire et jouer les pieces comme it faut.' The same praise was given, perhaps even more deservedly, to Les Precieuses ridicules (Nov . 18, 1659) . Doubts have been raised as to whether this famous piece, the first true comic See also:

SATIRE (Lat. satira, satura; see below)

satire of contemporary foibles on the French stage, was a new play . La Grange calls it piece nouvelle in his Registre; but, as he enters it as the third piece nouvelle, he may only mean that, like L'Etourdi, it was new to Paris . The short life of 1682, produced under La Grange's care, and probably written by See also:

MARCEL, ETIENNE (d: 1358)

Marcel the actor, says the Precieuses was " made " in 1659 .

There is another controversy as to whether the ladies of the Hotel See also:

Rambouillet, or merely their bourgeoises and rustic imitators, were laughed at . See also:

MENAGE, GILLES (1613-1692)

Menage, in later years at least, professed to recognize an attack on the over-refinement and affectation of the original and, in most ways, See also:

HONOURABLE (Fr. honorable, from Lat. honorabilis, worthy of honour)

honourable precieuses of the Hotel Rambouillet . But Chapelle and See also:

BACHAUMONT, LOUIS PETIT DE (169o-1771)

Bachaumont had discovered provincial precieuses, hyper-aesthetic See also:

LITERARY

literary ladies, at Montpellier before Moliere's return to Paris; and Furetiere, in the Roman See also:

bourgeois (r666), found Paris full of See also:

MIDDLE

middle-class precieuses, who had survived, or, like their modern counterparts, had thriven on ridicule . Another question is: Did Moliere copy from the earlier Precieuses of the abbe de Pure ? This charge of See also:

PLAGIARISM

plagiarism is brought by Somaize, in the preface to his Veritables precieuses . De Pure's work was a novel (1656), from which the Italian actors had put together an acting-piece in their manner—that is, a thing of " gag," and improvised speeches . The reproach is interesting only because it proves how early Moliere found enemies who, like Thomas Corneille in 1659, accused him of being skilled only in See also:

FARCE

farce, or, like Somaize, charged him with literary See also:

LARCENY (an adaptation of Fr. larcin, O. Fr. larrecin, from Lat. latrocinium, theft, latio, robber)

larceny . These were the stock criticisms of Moliere's opponents as long as he lived . The success of the Precieuses ridicules was immense; on one famous occasion the king was a spectator, leaning against the great chair of the dying See also:

CARDINAL (Lat. cardinalis)

Cardinal See also:

MAZARIN, JULES (1602-1661)

Mazarin . The play can never cease to please while literary affectation exists, and it has a comic force of deathless