Molière

A Baroque Paper Doll by David Claudon

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (1622-1673), better known by his assumed theatrical name Molière, was a great French actor and dramatist and contemporary of such luminaries of the Baroque Period as Samuel Pepys and Cyrano de Bergerac. According to the fascinatingly chatty 1911 Encylopedia Britannica entry, Molière's theatrical work began about 1643, when he joined a troupe which called themselves, L'Illustre Theatre, and fitted a tennis court into a theatre at Croix Noire. After a couple of years the trouple was forced to begin touring the provinces. According to tradition, Molière's great desire was to be a tragic actor. Failing at that he turned instead to comedy where he was more suitably talented. Traditionally also, Molière was a talented dancer and performed in various ballets. At 36 in 1658, Molière and his troupe performed a serious play before King Louis XIV which proved a failure. After the curtain Molière asked the king if he could perform a short comedy, which proved such a success that the king commanded him to establish his company in Paris. Sharing the Theatre du Petit Bourbon with a troupe of Italian players, Molière's work showed the influence of the improvisational style of commedia dell'arte. In fact, several contemporaries charged him with plagarism. [Note the comments found in the play Romantic drama Cyrano de Bergerac about Molière's stealing the business with "What the devil was he doing there" in his play Scapin. It should also be noted that one of the Baroque attitudes toward original work was that nothing new could ever be written. How you developed the old idea was the important thing.]

In 1660 the Theatre du Petit Bourbon was torn down without advance notice to the company. The king gave them the Salle du Palais Royal. Molière continued writing dramas which were usually unsuccessful. And a few of his plays, noteably Tartuffe, led to accusations of Athism. In spite of his critics, on August 1665 the king adopted Molière's troupe as his servants, naming them "troupe du roy."

Molière died in 1673, shortly after the death of his ex-lover and his son, having performed the night before in "The Imaginary Invalid." He was buried in a church cemetery with a large crowd attending his burial (in spite of the Archbishop's edict that he be buried without ceremony).

The 1911 Enc. Brit. quotes the following description of Molière by Mlle Simeon Denis Poisson:

[Molière was] neither too stout nor too thin, tall rather than short; he had a noble carriage, a good leg, walked slowly, and had a very serious expression. His nose was thick, his mouth large with thick lips, his complexion brown, his eyebrows black and strongly marked, and it was his way of moving these that gave him his comic expression on the stage.

SCAPIN. I never come home but I expect to have to bear with the anger of my masters, their scoldings, insults, kicks, blows and horse-whippings. And I always thank my destiny for whatever I do not receive.

The Impostures of Scapin (1670)

For the etext check out the Gutenberg Project.

Following the traditions taken from the commedia dell'arte, Molière developed the one-act, The Impostures of Scapin, around the character of the wily servant, Scapin. Modern audiences might recognize the play as Scapino. Here Molière's character wears a long blue and white striped jacket, knee-breeches, hat and cloak. He wears a ruff-like collar about his neck.

The Misanthrope (1666)

The play, The Misanthrope, did not fare as well as some of Molière's other plays [probably because the play remains very talky and with very little action]. It lacks much of the depth of Tartuffe.

Here Molière wears Rhinegrave breeches (petticoat breeches) with a row of ribbons at the hip. The short vest is worn with a lace collar and tassles. The lace has gold thread. The shoes have thin ribbons. He carries a hat and gloves. The costume is based on a picture from The Salacious Historian's Lair's Gallery.

SGAN. (Snatching the picture from her). What hussy! have I caught you in the very act, slandering your honorable and darling husband...

The play was extremely popular and played every year until Molière's death.

SGANARELLE, or the Self-Deceived Husband (1660)

For the etext check out the Guttenberg Project.

Sganarelle is a funny one-act farce based on the commedia dell'arte tradition. In it Sganarelle's wife finds a young man's portrait which his fiance has dropped on the street. Sganarelle, a citizen of Paris and the self-deceived husband finds her with the portrait and believes the young man is her lover. Thus begins a comedy of errors.

Molière married in 1662. I have cast real-life wife, Armande Claire Elisabeth Gresinde Bejard, as Sganarelle's wife. Eyebrows were raised by the twenty-year difference in their ages, but also because Armande was the sister--or scandallously reported daughter--of Molière's ex-lover.

Here Armande wears a typical long silk gown of the period with fitted bodice, puff sleeves, and a shawl worn about the bodice. She wears a pearl necklace and earrings.

According to a footnote in the Guttenberg text, Molière acted this part himself. In the inventory of his dresses taken after his death, and given by M. Eudore Soulie in his ‘Recherches sur Molière.' 1863. we find: “a … dress for the ‘Cocu imaginaire,' consisting of knee-breeches, doublet, cloak, collar, and shoes, all in crimson red satin.” His jacket has a peplum, akin to the Elizabethan doublets.

Molière used the character of Sganarelle in several plays. In The Doctor in Spite of Himself (1666) physical "slap stick" is a running gag. Sganarelle beats his wife Martine (played by his real-life wife) with a stick and is then beat himself by two men who have been told that he is a real doctor but he will only admit it when he is beaten with a stick. In the three-act play he is said to be wearing a big black beard, a ruff, and a green and yellow suit.

Each actor wears gloves and is bedecked with multi-colored plumes.

The Princess of Elides (1664)

The webpage "Pleasures of the Magic Island" details how Louis XIV entertained 600 guests during May 1664 with festivals to honor the two queens, queen mother Anne of Austria and Marie-Thérèse, wife of the king. He also introduced his new mistress to society. Molière and the king's dancing master-composer Jean-Baptiste Lully created a comedy-ballet called Les Plaisirs de L'ile Enchantee (The Princess of Elides.)

Here we see Molière and his partner wearing typical Baroque ballet costumes (based on a frontpiece picture of the play). The color scheme for Molière's costume is based on another ballet costume sketch found online. He wears a doublet with scalloped peplum, elaborate skirt, tights and heeled boots.

The actress wears a blue striped bodice with gold and pearl brooch, an elaborate blue and beige patterned silk brocade petticoat with a blue striped overskirt hiked up and gathered at the back.

Elmire. Come and get under the table.

Orgon. Why so?

Elmire. It is necessary the you should conceal yourself well.

Orgon. But why under the table?

Elmire. Good Heavens! do as you are told. I have thought about my plan and you shall judge. Get under there, I tell you, and, when you are there, take care not to be seen or heard. [Scene IV.]

Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite (1664)

For the etext, check out the Gutenberg project.

The first three acts of the play were first read during the May Festival of 1664, but the clergy were outraged. For further information check below.

Molière orginated not the part of Tartuffe, but rather that of Orgon, who cares more for his "poor Tartuffe" than his own second young and pretty wife, Elmire. When Elmire is forced to convince her husband to find out the truth about Tartuffe, she has him hide under a table while Tartuffe tries to make love to her. The theme of older husband-younger wife would play close to home for Molière and his bride.

Reaction of one critic was that "Molière deserved to be sent through earthly to eternal fires." [1911 Ency. Brit] When the play was performed in 1669, it was highly successful.

According to Dawn B. Sova in Banned Plays: Censorship Histories of 125 Stage Dramas (New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2004), the original script of Tartuffe outraged the clergy because Tartuffe was one of them. When the play was performed in 1667 at the Palais Royal, with a new title and new character, a member of the Parliment of Paris had the play closed down and within a week the Archbishop of Paris issued an interdiction whereby anyone performing the play could be excommunicated. When the king agreed to the 1669 version, the play ran for 44 performances. Censors before the French Revolution also banned the play. (278)

This page was created by C. David Claudon, August 28, 2006. Last update September 15, 2006 .

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