Born: Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in Paris, France, 15 January 1622. Education: Educated at College de Clermont, to 1641; studied law at University of Orleans, law degree 1642. Family: Married Armande Bejart in 1662; two sons (died in infancy) and one daughter. Career: Inherited father’s post as Tapissier du Roi [Royal Upholsterer], and accompanied court to Narbonne, 1642-43; co-founder, with the Bejart family and others, Illustre Theatre, Paris, 1643; adopted the stage name Moliere, 1643; member, 1645-58, and director, from c. 1650, Dufresne’s touring theatre troupe, toured in French provinces, 1645-58, then in hall of the Petit-Bourbon, Paris, under the protection of the Duc d’Orleans, Louis XIV’s brother, 1658-60; some court opposition after the production of L’Ecole des femmes, 1662; Louis XIV replaced the Duc d’Orleans as his patron in 1665, and the company was established at the Palais Royal. Died: 17 February 1673.
Publications
Collections
Oeuvres completes, edited by E. Despois and Paul Mesnard. 14 vols., 1873-1900.
Plays (bilingual edition), edited and translated by A.R. Waller. 8 vols., 1926.
Comedies. 2 vols., 1929.
Oeuvres completes [Pleaide Edition]. 2 vols., 1933; revised editions, 1959, 1971.
Oeuvres completes, edited by Maurice Rat. 2 vols., 1956; revised by Georges Coutin, 2 vols., 1971.
The Miser and Other Plays, translated by John Wood and David Coward. 2000.
The Miser; The Idiot, translated by Ranjit Bolt. 2001.
The Misanthrope, Tartuffe and Other Plays, translated with introduction by Maya Slater. 2001.
Plays
Le Medecin volant (attributed to Moliere; produced on tour before 1655). 1819; as The Flying Doctor, translated by Allan Clayson, in Four Short Farces, 1969.
La Jalousie du barbouille (attributed to Moliere; produced on tour before 1655). 1819.
L’Etourdi; ou, Les Contre-temps (produced 1655?). 1663; as The Blunderers, translated by Samuel Foote, 1762.
Le Depit amoureux (produced 1656). 1663; as The Amorous Quarrel, 1762; as Lovers’ Quarrels, translated by A.R. Waller, in Plays, 1926; as The Love Tiff, translated by Frederic Spencer, 1930.
Les Precieuses ridicules (produced 1659). 1660; as The Conceited Young Ladies, translated by Samuel Foote, 1762; as The Affected Young Ladies, translated by Barrett H. Clark, 1913; as The Precious Damsels, translated by Morris Bishop, in Eight Plays, 1957; as The Pretentious Young Ladies, translated by Herma Briffault, 1959; as The Ridiculous Precieuses, translated by Donald Frame, in Tartuffe and Other Plays, 1967.
Sganarelle; ou, Le Cocu imaginaire (produced 1660). 1660; as The Picture, 1745; as Sganarelle, translated by A.R. Waller, in Plays, 1926.
Don Garcie de Navarre; ou, Le Prince jaloux (produced 1661). In Oeuvres posthumes, 1684; as Don Garcie de Navarre, translated by A.R. Waller, in Plays, 1926.
L’Ecole des maris (produced 1661). 1661; as The School for Husbands, translated by A.R. Waller, in Plays, 1926; several subsequent translations including by Richard Wilbur, 1992; also translated by Ranjit Bolt, 1997.
Les Facheux (produced 1661). 1662; as The Impertinents, 1732; as The Boors, translated by A.R. Waller, in Plays, 1926.
L’Ecole des femmes (produced 1662). 1663; as The School for Wives, translated by Morris Bishop, in Eight Plays, 1957; several subsequent translations including by Richard Wilbur, 1971, Eric M. Steel, 1971, and Robert David Macdonald, 1987.
La Critique de L’Ecole des femmes (produced 1663). 1663; as The Critique of the School for Wives, translated by Morris Bishop, in Eight Plays, 1957; also translated by Donald Frame, in Tartuffe and Other Plays, 1967.
L’Impromptu de Versailles (produced 1663). In Oeuvres posthumes, 1684; as The Versailles Impromptu, translated by Morris Bishop, in Eight Plays, 1957; also translated by Donald Frame, in Tartuffe and Other Plays, 1967.
Le Mariage force (produced 1664). 1664; as The Forced Marriage, 1762.
La Princesse d’Elide (produced 1664). 1674.
Tartuffe; ou, L’Imposteur (produced 1664; revised version, produced 1664). 1669; as Tartuffe, 1670; several subsequent translations including by Curtis Hidden Page, 1908, Haskell M. Block, 1958, Renee Waldinger, 1959, Richard Wilbur, 1963, and Christopher Hampton, 1984.
Les Plaisirs de l’lle enchantee (produced 1664). 1664.
Dom Juan; ou, Le Festin de pierre (produced 1665). 1683; as Don Juan, translated by A.R. Waller, in Plays, 1926; several subsequent translations including by George Graveley and Ian Maule, in Don Juan and Other Plays, edited by Ian Maclean, 1989.
L’Amour medecin (produced 1665). 1666; as The Quacks, 1705; as Doctor Love, translated by Barrett H. Clark, 1915; as Love Is the Best Remedy, translated by Allan Clayson, in Four Short Farces, 1969.
Le Misanthrope (produced 1666). 1667; as The Misanthrope, 1762; several subsequent translations including by Richard Wilbur, 1955, and Bernard Grebanier, 1960; as The Man-Hater, 1770; translated by Tony Harrison, 1973; translated by Jonathan Mallinson, 1996; translated by Martin Crimp, 1996; also translated by Ranjit Bolt, 1998.
Le Medecin malgre lui (produced 1666). 1667; as The Dumb Lady, 1672; as Love’s Contrivance, 1703; as The Mock Doctor, translated by Henry Fielding, 1732; as The Faggot-Binder, 1762; as The Doctor in Spite of Himself, translated by Barrett H. Clark, 1914; also translated by Albert Bermel, 1987; as The Unwilling Doctor, translated by Lisl Beer, 1962.
Melicerte (produced 1666). In Oeuvres posthumes, 1684; as Melicerte, translated by A.R. Waller, in Plays, 1926.
La Pastorale comique, music by Lully (produced 1666). In Theatre, 1888-93.
Le Sicilien; ou, L’Amour peintre (produced 1667). 1668; as The Sicilian, 1732; also translated by John Wood, 1959.
Amphitryon (produced 1668). 1668; translated as Amphitryon, 1690.
George Dandin; ou, Le Mari confondu (produced 1668). 1669; as George Dandin; or, The Husband Defeated, translated anonymously, 1732.
L’Avare (produced 1668). 1669; as The Miser, 1672; several subsequent translations including by Wallace Fowlie, 1964, and Jeremy Sams, 1991.
Monsieur de Pourceaugnac (produced 1669). 1670; as The Cornish Squire, 1734; as Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, translated by A.R. Waller, in Plays, 1926.
Les Amants magnifiques (produced 1670). In Oeuvres posthumes, 1684; as The Courtly Lovers, translated by A.R. Waller, in Plays, 1926.
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (produced 1670). 1670; as The Citizen Turned Gentleman, 1672; as The Merchant Gentleman, translated by Margaret Baker, 1915; as The Prodigious Snob, 1952; as The Would-Be Gentleman, translated by John Wood, in Five Plays, 1953; as The Self-Made Gentleman, translated by George Graveley, in Six Prose Comedies, 1956; as The Proper Gent, translated by Henry S. Taylor, 1960; as The Bourgeois Gentleman, translated by Albert Bermel, 1987; as The Bourgeois Gentilhomme, translated by Nick Dear, 1992; also translated by Bernard Sahlins, 2000. Psyche, with Corneille and Philippe Quinault, music by Lully (produced 1671). 1671.
Les Fourberies de Scapin (produced 1671). 1671; as The Cheats of Scapin, 1677; as Scapin the Scamp, translated by George Gravely, in Six Prose Comedies, 1956; as That Scoundrel Scapin, translated by John Wood, in Five Plays, 1953; as The Rogueries of Scapin, 1968; as Scapin, translated by Gerard Murphy, 1998.
La Comtesse d’Escarbagnas (produced 1671). In Oeuvres posthumes, 1684; as The Countess of Escarbagnas, translated by A.R. Waller, in Plays, 1926.
Les Femmes savantes (produced 1672). 1673; as The Female Virtuosos, 1693; as Blue-Stockings, 1884; as The Learned Ladies, translated by Renee Waldinger, 1957; also translated by Richard Wilbur, 1978; Freyda Thomas, 1991; as The Sisterhood, translated and adapted by R.R. Bolt, 1989.
Le Malade imaginaire (produced 1673). 1673-74; as Doctor Last in His Chariot, 1769; as The Imaginary Invalid, 1925; as The Would-Be Invalid, translated by Morris Bishop, 1950; as The Hypochondriac, in Three Great French Plays, 1961; translated by Alan Drury, 1982; also translated by Gerard Murphy, 1998.
Oeuvres posthumes (includes Don Garcie de Navarre; ou, Le Prince jaloux; L’Impromptu de Versailles; Melicerte; Les Amants magnifiques; La Comtesse d’Escarbagnas). 1684.
Five Plays, translated by John Wood. 1953; as The Miser and Other Plays, 1960.
Six Prose Comedies, translated by George Gravely. 1956.
Eight Plays, translated by Morris Bishop. 1957.
The Misanthrope and Other Plays, translated by John Wood. 1959.
One-Act Comedies, translated by Albert Bermel. 1964.
Tartuffe and Other Plays, translated by Donald Frame. 1967.
Four Short Farces, translated and adapted by Allan Clayson. 1969. Five Plays, translated by Richard Wilbur and Alan Drury. 1981.
Four Comedies, translated by Richard Wilbur. 1982.
Critical Studies:
Moliere: A Biography by H.C. Chatfield-Taylor, 1905; Moliere: A New Criticism by W.G. Moore, 1949, revised edition, 1968; Moliere: The Man through His Plays by Ramon Fernandez, 1958; Moliere: The Comic Mask by D.B. Wyndham Lewis, 1959; Moliere and the Comedy of Intellect by Judd Hubert, 1962; Men and Masks: A Study of Moliere by Lionel Gossman, 1963; Moliere: A Collection of Critical Essays by Jacques Guicharnaud, 1963; The Spirit of Moliere edited by Percy Addison Chapman, 1965; Moliere: The Comedy of Unreason by F.L. Lawrence, 1968; Moliere by Hallam Walker, 1971; Moliere as Ironic Contemplator by Alvin Eustis, 1973; Moliere: Stage and Study edited by W.D. Howarth and M. Thomas, 1973, and Moliere: A Playwright and His Audience by Howarth, 1982; Moliere. Tradition in Criticism: 1906-1970 by Laurence Romero, 1974; Moliere: An Archetypal Approach, 1976, and The Triumph of Wit: Moliere and Restoration Comedy, 1988, both by Harold C. Knutson; Marivaux and Moliere: A Comparison by Alfred Girmaru, 1977; Moliere’s Tartuffe and the Traditions of Roman Satire by Jerry Lewis Kasparek, 1977; The Sceptical Vision of Moliere: A Study in Paradox by Robert McBride, 1977; The Original Casting of Moliere’s Plays by Roger W. Herzel, 1981; Moliere: Le Malade imaginaire by H.T. Barnwell, 1982; Moliere: L’Ecole des femmes, and Le Misanthrope by J.H. Broome, 1982; From Gesture to Idea: Esthetics and Ethics in Moliere’s Comedy by Nathan Gross, 1982; On the Structure of Moliere’s comedies-ballets by Claude Abraham, 1984; Social Structures in Moliere’s Theater by James F. Gaines, 1984; Comedy in Context: Essays on Moliere, 1984, and Moliere’s Le Bourgois Gentilhomme: Context and Stagecraft, 1990, both by Hugh Gaston Hall; Moliere: Les Precieuses ridicules by David Shaw, 1986; L’Avare: Moliere by G.J. Mallinson, 1988; Moliere’s "L’Ecole des femmes” by N.A. Peacock, 1988; Moliere’s Theatrical Bounty: A New View of the Plays by Albert Bermel, 1989; Tarte a la creme: Comedy and Gastronomy in Moliere’s Theatre by Ronald W. Tobin, 1990; Moliere and the Comic Spirit by Peter H. Nurse, 1991; Moliere, Le Misanthrope by David Whitton, 1991; Triumph of Ballet in Moliere’s Theatre by Robert McBride, 1992; Moliere in Scotland: 1945-1990 by Noel Peacock, 1993; Moliere: The Theory and Practice of Comedy by Andrew Calder, 1993; Music, Dance, and Laughter: Comic Creation in Moliere’s Comedy-Ballets by Stephen H. Fleck, 1995; Intruders in the Play World: The Dynamics of Gender in Moliere’s Comedies by Roxanne Decker Lalande, 1996; The Public Mirror: Moliere and the Social Commerce of Depiction by Larry F. Norman, 1999; Moliere, edited with introduction by Harold Bloom, 2002.
Moliere is one of the world’s greatest dramatists, a man whose originality and importance puts him in the same league as Sophocles, Shakespeare, and Ibsen. Like Shakespeare, he was very much a professional man of the theatre, a busy actor-manager who wrote plays for performance by his own company, and like Ibsen his work translates easily and so ensures his acceptance abroad, a distinction denied, for instance, to Moliere’s illustrious contemporary Racine, who has never been widely appreciated outside France.
Because neo-classical conventions under which Moliere worked— and, indeed, readily accepted—insisted on the strict segregation of dramatic categories, all his works are technically comedies, which means in practice that they have happy endings and deal with ordinary middle-class people rather than the kings and princes of tragedy. His plots are usually quite conventional, featuring for the most part young star-crossed lovers whose plans for married happiness are temporarily thwarted by older people, and they derive from the Roman comedies that Moliere was happy to imitate since it was expected of him by the all-powerful critics of his age. He wrote for the most part five-act plays in verse, and in all other respects conformed to the tastes of his time such as a decided preference for the ”three unities” of place, time, and action, and the avoidance of coarse expressions or bawdy situations on stage.
The remarkable thing, therefore, is that he was able to transcend the restrictions imposed upon him and create works of universal appeal. His early plays, produced on tour in the provinces before he found a theatre of his own in Paris, are fairly crude pieces imitated from the commedia dell’arte, but he found his own voice in Les Precieuses ridicules (The Conceited Young Ladies), a rumbustious send-up of a contemporary affectation, that of excessively refined speech reflecting impossibly exalted sentiments. This vein of social satire proved a rich one for Moliere, and he made the most of it in the dozen or so years he had left to live. L’Ecole des femmes (The School for Wives), in some respects his most characteristic comedy, concerns a man who plans to keep his future wife faithful by bringing her up in uneducated innocence, but the scheme misfires when a much more attractive younger man enters her life and, after several hilarious setbacks, carries her off for himself. This theme was to be taken up a decade or so later by Wycherley in his much coarser version, The Country Wife.
More complex is Tartuffe, a play in which things nearly go wrong and happiness is restored only by a deus ex machina. It also caused a serious controversy about supposed immorality in Moliere’s work. Tartuffe is a religious hypocrite who is unmasked at the eleventh hour, but not before he has nearly ruined his gullible benefactor and come close to raping the man’s loyal wife. Satire of this kind cut too near the bone for many people in that still largely devout age, and Moliere escaped punishment only thanks to royal protection.
Le Misanthrope (The Misanthrope) is usually considered his masterpiece, largely because the comedy is ambiguous, and the play even subtler than Tartuffe. Alceste and Celimene—the names, as so often in Moliere, are purely conventional—are expected to marry soon, but his acerbic temperament and her flightiness make this an improbable match. He rails at the hypocrisy of the age; she is a normal social being for whom tact and discretion are considerable virtues. After much friction, he insists, as a test of her loyalty, that she leave Paris with him for ever. Her response is quite predictable. In Tony Harrison’s inspired translation, ”I’m only twenty! I’d be terrified!” she gasps: ”Just you and me, and all that countryside!” Alceste storms out in embittered despair. In one sense he is an antisocial buffoon; in another, he is a penetrating critic of a corrupt and cynical milieu. Moliere shrewdly leaves the question open.
An equally serious situation is explored in L’Avare (The Miser), a probing treatment of that most dismal of human vices, avarice, and in Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (The Bourgeois Gentleman), a shrewd analysis of social snobbery and human gullibility. The last two plays Moliere wrote in a way sum up his whole career. Les Femmes savantes (The Learned Ladies) is social satire, mocking the pretensions of women who aspire to be intellectuals and whose vanity is exploited by the unscrupulous. Le Malade imaginaire (The Hypochondriac) takes the scalpel of comedy to hypochondria, and Moliere no doubt savoured the irony which decreed that his own death took place as he acted the part of the imaginary invalid himself.
Moliere exerted a considerable influence on his contemporaries, the Restoration dramatists in England, who imitated him without always understanding him, but otherwise he had few immediate followers. He has been successfully translated and produced on the modern stage and on television. His situations are so straightforward and universal that it is not difficult for directors to update him without in any way distorting his meaning. The Misanthrope, for instance, has been effectively staged as a satire on Paris high society under General de Gaulle’s administration, and as a shrewd comment on the ”jazz age” of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s characters. As a true professional himself, Moliere would be gratified by the fact that today’s actors have no difficulty in bringing his characters to life in modern dress. Religious hypocrisy may no longer be a threat in our society, but Tartuffe stands for any kind of cynical deception practised on the susceptibility of human beings to flattery, just as Alceste is the eternal boor, high on the egoism of the self-righteous, the very personification of negativity and destructiveness. And the miracle is, that in spite of being so serious, it is all so helplessly funny.
