Biography

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin was a French comedian of the 17th century, the creator of classical comedy, an actor by profession and director of the theater, better known as the Molière troupe (Troupe de Molière, 1643-1680).

early years

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin came from an old bourgeois family, for several centuries engaged in the craft of upholsterers and draperies. Jean-Baptiste's father, Jean Poquelin (1595-1669), was the court upholsterer and valet of Louis XIII and sent his son to the prestigious Jesuit school - Clermont College (now the Lyceum of Louis the Great in Paris), where Jean-Baptiste thoroughly studied Latin, so he read freely in the original of Roman authors and even, according to legend, translated into French the philosophical poem of Lucretius "On the Nature of Things" (the translation is lost). After graduating from college in 1639, Jean-Baptiste passed the exam in Orleans for the title of licentiate in law.

The beginning of an acting career

A legal career attracted him no more than his father's craft, and Jean-Baptiste chose the profession of an actor, taking the theatrical pseudonym Molière. After meeting the comedians Joseph and Madeleine Béjart, at the age of 21, Molière became the head of the Illustre Théâtre, a new Parisian troupe of 10 actors, registered by the metropolitan notary on June 30, 1643. Having entered into fierce competition with the troupes of the Burgundy Hotel and the Marais, already popular in Paris, the Brilliant Theater loses in 1645. Molière and his fellow actors decide to seek their fortune in the provinces by joining a troupe of itinerant comedians led by Dufresne.

Molière's troupe in the provinces. First plays

Wandering Molière in the French provinces for 13 years (1645-1658) during the years of the civil war (Fronde) enriched him with worldly and theatrical experience.

Since 1645, Molière and his friends come to Dufresne, and in 1650 he leads the troupe. The repertory hunger of Molière's troupe was the impetus for the beginning of his dramatic work. So the years of Molière's theatrical studies became the years of his author's works. Many farcical scenarios he composed in the provinces have disappeared. Only the plays “The Jealousy of Barbouille” (La jalousie du Barbouillé) and “The Flying Doctor” (Le médécin volant) have survived, the belonging of which to Molière is not entirely reliable. The titles of a number of similar plays played by Molière in Paris after his return from the provinces are also known (“Gros-Rene Schoolboy”, “Doctor Pedant”, “Gorgibus in a Bag”, “Plan Plan”, “Three Doctors”, “Kazakin” , “The feigned goof”, “The brushwood binder”), and these titles echo the situations of Moliere’s later farces (for example, “Gorgibus in a sack” and “Scapin's Tricks”, d. III, sc. II). These plays testify to the influence of the old farce tradition on the mainstream comedies of his adulthood.

Farcical repertoire performed by Molière's troupe under his direction and with his participation as actor contributed to its reputation. It increased even more after Molière composed two great comedies in verse - “Naughty, or Everything at random” (L’Étourdi ou les Contretemps, 1655) and “Love Annoyance” (Le dépit amoureux, 1656), written in the manner of Italian literary comedy. Borrowings from various old and new comedies are layered on the main plot, which is a free imitation of Italian authors, in accordance with the principle attributed to Moliere "take your good wherever he finds it." The interest of both plays is reduced to the development of comic situations and intrigue; the characters in them are developed very superficially.

Molière's troupe gradually achieved success and fame, and in 1658, at the invitation of the 18-year-old Monsieur, the king's younger brother, she returned to Paris.

Parisian period

In Paris, Molière's troupe made its debut on October 24, 1658 at the Louvre Palace in the presence of Louis XIV. The lost farce "The Doctor in Love" was a huge success and decided the fate of the troupe: the king gave her the Petit Bourbon court theater, in which she played until 1661, until she moved to the Palais Royal theater, where she already remained until the death of Moliere. From the moment Moliere settled in Paris, a period of his feverish dramatic work began, the intensity of which did not weaken until his death. During those 15 years from 1658 to 1673, Molière created all of his best plays, which, with a few exceptions, provoked fierce attacks from social groups hostile to him.

Early farces

The Parisian period of Molière's activity opens with the one-act comedy The Funny Pretenders (French Les précieuses ridicules, 1659). In this first, completely original, play, Molière made a bold attack against the pretentiousness and mannerisms of speech, tone and manner that prevailed in aristocratic salons, which was widely reflected in literature (see Precise Literature) and had a strong influence on young people (mainly its female part). Comedy painfully hurt the most prominent minnows. Molière's enemies achieved a two-week ban on the comedy, after which it was canceled with double success.

For all its great literary and social value, "Zhemannitsa" is a typical farce that reproduces all the traditional techniques of this genre. The same farcical element that gave Molière's humor an areal brightness and juiciness also permeates Molière's next play, Sganarelle, ou Le cocu imaginaire (1660). Here, the clever rogue servant of the first comedies - Mascaril - is replaced by the silly, ponderous Sganarelle, who was later introduced by Moliere into a number of his comedies.

Marriage

On January 23, 1662, Molière signed a marriage contract with Armande Béjart, Madeleine's younger sister. He is 40 years old, Armande is 20. Against all the decorum of the time, only the closest people were invited to the wedding. The wedding ceremony took place on February 20, 1662 in the Parisian church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerroy.

comedy parenting

The comedy The School of Husbands (L'école des maris, 1661), which is closely related to the even more mature comedy The School of Wives (L'école des femmes, 1662), which followed it, marks Molière's turn from farce to socio-psychological comedy. education. Here Molière raises questions of love, marriage, attitudes towards women and family arrangements. The lack of monosyllabism in the characters and actions of the characters makes the "School of Husbands" and especially the "School of Wives" a major step forward towards creating a comedy of characters, overcoming the primitive schematism of the farce. At the same time, the "School of Wives" is incomparably deeper and thinner than the "School of Husbands", which in relation to it is, as it were, a sketch, a light sketch.

Such satirically pointed comedies could not but provoke fierce attacks from the enemies of the playwright. Molière answered them with a polemical play, La critique de L'École des femmes (1663). Defending himself from accusations of gaerstvo, he expounded here with great dignity his creed as a comic poet (“to delve into the ridiculous side of human nature and amusingly depict the shortcomings of society on stage”) and ridiculed the superstitious admiration for the “rules” of Aristotle. This protest against the pedantic fetishization of the "rules" reveals Molière's independent position in relation to French classicism, to which, however, he adjoined in his dramatic practice.

Another manifestation of the same independence of Moliere is his attempt to prove that comedy is not only not lower, but even “higher” than tragedy, this main genre of classical poetry. In the “Critique of the “School of Wives””, through the mouth of Dorant, he criticizes classical tragedy from the point of view of inconsistency with its “nature” (sc. VII), that is, from the standpoint of realism. This criticism is directed against the themes of classical tragedy, against its orientation towards court and high-society conventions.

Molière parried the new blows of the enemies in the play “Impromptu of Versailles” (L’impromptu de Versailles, 1663). Original in concept and construction (its action takes place on the stage of the theater), this comedy provides valuable information about Molière's work with actors and the further development of his views on the essence of the theater and the tasks of comedy. While subjecting his competitors, the actors of the Burgundy Hotel, to devastating criticism, rejecting their method of conditionally pompous tragic acting, Molière at the same time rejects the reproach that he brings certain people onto the stage. The main thing is that he, with unprecedented courage, mocks the court shamblers-marquises, throwing the famous phrase: “The current marquis makes everyone laugh in the play; and just as ancient comedies always depict a simpleton servant who makes the audience laugh, in the same way we need a hilarious marquis who amuses the audience.

Mature comedies. Comedy-ballets

From the battle that followed the "School of Wives", Moliere emerged victorious. Along with the growth of his fame, his ties with the court also strengthened, in which he increasingly performs with plays composed for court festivities and giving rise to a brilliant spectacle. Moliere creates here a special genre of “comedy-ballet”, combining ballet (a favorite type of court entertainment, in which the king himself and his entourage acted as performers) with comedy, giving plot motivation to individual dance “outputs” (entrées) and framing them with comic scenes . Molière's first comedy-ballet is The Unbearables (Les fâcheux, 1661). It is devoid of intrigue and presents a series of disparate scenes strung on a primitive plot core. Molière found here so many well-aimed satirical and everyday features for depicting secular dandies, players, duelists, projectors and pedants that, for all its formlessness, the play is a step forward in the sense of preparing that comedy of manners, the creation of which was the task of Molière (“The Unbearables” were set to "Schools for Wives").

The success of The Unbearables prompted Molière to further develop the comedy-ballet genre. In Le Marriage forcé (1664), Moliere raised the genre to great heights, achieving an organic connection between comedic (farcical) and ballet elements. In The Princess of Elis (La princesse d'Elide, 1664), Moliere went the opposite way, inserting clownish ballet interludes into a pseudo-antique lyric-pastoral plot. This was the beginning of two types of comedy-ballet, which were developed by Molière and further. The first farcical-everyday type is represented by the plays Love the Healer (L'amour médécin, 1665), The Sicilian, or Love the Painter (Le Sicilien, ou L'amour peintre, 1666), Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, 1669), "The bourgeois in the nobility" (Le bourgeois gentilhomme, 1670), "The Countess d'Escarbagnas" (La comtesse d'Escarbagnas, 1671), "The Imaginary Sick" (Le malade imaginaire, 1673). Despite the enormous distance separating such a primitive farce as The Sicilian, which served only as a frame for the "Moorish" ballet, from such developed social comedies as "The Tradesman in the Nobility" and "The Imaginary Sick", we still have development here. one type of comedy - a ballet that grows out of an old farce and lies on the highway of Molière's creativity. These plays differ from his other comedies only in the presence of ballet numbers, which do not at all reduce the idea of ​​the play: Moliere makes almost no concessions to court tastes here. The situation is different in comedies-ballets of the second, gallant-pastoral type, which include: “Melicerte” (Mélicerte, 1666), “Comic Pastoral” (Pastorale comique, 1666), “Brilliant Lovers” (Les amants magnifiques, 1670), "Psyche" (Psyché, 1671 - written in collaboration with Corneille).

"Tartuffe"

(Le Tartuffe, 1664-1669). Directed against the clergy, this mortal enemy of the theater and all secular bourgeois culture, in the first edition the comedy contained three acts and depicted a hypocrite priest. In this form, it was staged in Versailles at the celebration of the "Entertainment of the Magic Island" on May 12, 1664 under the name "Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite" (Tartuffe, ou L'hypocrite) and caused discontent on the part of the religious organization "Society of Holy Gifts" (Société du Saint sacrament). In the image of Tartuffe, the Society saw a satire on its members and achieved the prohibition of Tartuffe. Molière defended his play in the "Placet" (Placet) addressed to the king, in which he directly wrote that "the originals have achieved the prohibition of the copy." But this request came to nothing. Then Molière weakened the sharp places, renamed Tartuffe to Panyulf and took off his cassock. In a new form, the comedy, which had 5 acts and was entitled "The Deceiver" (L'imposteur), was allowed to be presented, but after the first performance on August 5, 1667, it was again withdrawn. Only a year and a half later, Tartuffe was finally presented in the 3rd final edition.

Although Tartuffe is not a clergyman in it, the latest edition is hardly softer than the original. Expanding the outlines of the image of Tartuffe, making him not only a hypocrite, a hypocrite and a lecher, but also a traitor, an informer and a slanderer, showing his connections with the court, the police and court spheres, Molière significantly increased the satirical sharpness of the comedy, turning it into a social pamphlet. The only light in the realm of obscurantism, arbitrariness and violence is the wise monarch, who cuts the tight knot of intrigue and provides, like a deus ex machina, a sudden happy ending to the comedy. But precisely because of its artificiality and improbability, the successful denouement does not change anything in the essence of the comedy.

"Don Juan"

If in Tartuffe Moliere attacked religion and the church, then in Don Juan, or the Stone Feast (Don Juan, ou Le festin de pierre, 1665), the feudal nobility became the object of his satire. Molière based the play on the Spanish legend of Don Juan, the irresistible seducer of women, who violates the laws of God and man. He gave this wandering plot, which has flown around almost all the scenes of Europe, an original satirical development. The image of Don Juan, this beloved noble hero, who embodied all the predatory activity, ambition and lust for power of the feudal nobility in its heyday, Molière endowed with everyday features of a French aristocrat of the 17th century - a titled libertine, rapist and "libertin", unprincipled, hypocritical, arrogant and cynical. He makes Don Juan a denier of all foundations on which a well-ordered society is based. Don Juan is deprived of filial feelings, he dreams of the death of his father, he mocks petty-bourgeois virtue, seduces and deceives women, beats a peasant who stood up for his bride, tyrannizes a servant, does not pay debts and sends creditors away, blasphemes, lies and hypocrisy recklessly, competing with Tartuffe and surpassing him with his frank cynicism (cf. his conversation with Sganarelle - d. V, sc. II). Molière puts his indignation against the nobility, embodied in the image of Don Juan, into the mouths of his father, the old nobleman Don Luis, and Sganarelle's servant, who each in their own way denounce the depravity of Don Juan, uttering phrases foreshadowing Figaro's tirades (for example, : “Origin without valor is worth nothing”, “I would rather honor the son of a porter if he is an honest man than the son of a crowned bearer if he is as dissolute as you”, etc.).

But the image of Don Juan is not woven out of negative traits alone. For all his viciousness, Don Juan has great charm: he is brilliant, witty, brave, and Moliere, denouncing Don Juan as the bearer of vices, at the same time admires him, pays tribute to his chivalrous charm.

"Misanthrope"

If Molière introduced a number of tragic features into Tartuffe and Don Juan, appearing through the fabric of comedic action, then in Le Misanthrope (1666) these features were so intensified that they almost completely pushed aside the comic element. A typical example of a “high” comedy with an in-depth psychological analysis of the characters’ feelings and experiences, with a predominance of dialogue over external action, with a complete absence of a farcical element, with an excited, pathetic and sarcastic tone of the protagonist’s speeches, The Misanthrope stands apart in Moliere’s work.

Alceste is not only the image of a noble exposer of social vices, looking for "truth" and not finding it: he is also less schematic than many previous characters. On the one hand, this is a positive hero, whose noble indignation arouses sympathy; on the other hand, he is not devoid of negative features: he is too unrestrained, tactless, devoid of a sense of proportion and a sense of humor.

Later plays

Too deep and serious comedy "The Misanthrope" was coldly received by the audience, who were looking for entertainment in the theater first of all. In order to save the play, Molière added to it the brilliant farce The Unwilling Doctor (French Le médécin malgré lui, 1666). This trifle, which had a huge success and is still preserved in the repertoire, developed the theme of Moliere's favorite theme of charlatans and ignoramuses. It is curious that just in the most mature period of his work, when Molière rose to the height of socio-psychological comedy, he increasingly returns to a farce splashing with fun, devoid of serious satirical tasks. It was during these years that Molière wrote such masterpieces of entertaining comedy-intrigue as "Monsieur de Poursonac" and "The Tricks of Scapin" (fr. Les fourberies de Scapin, 1671). Moliere returned here to the primary source of his inspiration - to the old farce.

In literary circles, a somewhat dismissive attitude towards these rude plays has long been established. This attitude goes back to the legislator of classicism, Boileau, who condemned Moliere for buffoonery and pandering to the coarse tastes of the crowd.

The main theme of this period is the ridicule of the bourgeois, who seek to imitate the aristocracy and intermarry with it. This theme is developed in "Georges Dandin" (fr. George Dandin, 1668) and in "The Tradesman in the Nobility". In the first comedy, which develops the popular “wandering” plot in the form of the purest farce, Molière ridicules the rich “upstart” (French parvenu) from among the peasants, who, out of stupid arrogance, married the daughter of a ruined baron, openly cheating on him with the Marquis, making a fool of him and finally forcing him to ask her forgiveness. The same theme is developed even sharper in The Tradesman in the Nobility, one of Molière's most brilliant comedies-ballets, where he achieves virtuoso ease in constructing a dialogue approaching in its rhythm to a ballet dance (cf. Quartet of Lovers - d. III, sc. X). This comedy is the most vicious satire on the bourgeoisie, imitating the nobility, which came out from under his pen.

In the famous comedy "The Miser" (L'avare, 1668), written under the influence of Plautus' "Kubyshka" (Fr. Aulularia), Molière skillfully draws a repulsive image of the miser Harpagon (his name has become a household name in France), whose passion for accumulation has taken on a pathological character and drowned out all human feelings.

Molière also poses the problem of family and marriage in his penultimate comedy Les femmes savantes (French: Les femmes savantes, 1672). The object of his satire is here female pedants who are fond of science and neglect family responsibilities.

The question of the disintegration of the bourgeois family was also raised in Molière's last comedy The Imaginary Sick (French Le malade imaginaire, 1673). This time, the reason for the breakup of the family is the mania of the head of the house, Argan, who imagines himself sick and is a toy in the hands of unscrupulous and ignorant doctors. Molière's contempt for doctors ran through all his dramaturgy.

Last days of life and death

Written by the mortally ill Molière, the comedy "Imaginary Sick" is one of his most cheerful and cheerful comedies. At her 4th performance on February 17, 1673, Molière, who played the role of Argan, felt ill and did not finish the performance. He was taken home and died a few hours later. The archbishop of Paris forbade the burial of an unrepentant sinner (the actors on his deathbed were supposed to repent) and lifted the ban only at the direction of the king. The greatest playwright of France was buried at night, without rituals, outside the cemetery fence, where suicides were buried.

List of works

The first edition of the collected works of Molière was carried out by his friends Charles Varlet Lagrange and Vino in 1682.

Plays that have survived to this day

Jealousy of Barbullieu, farce (1653)
The Flying Physician, farce (1653)
Shaly, or Everything out of place, a comedy in verse (1655)
Love Annoyance, comedy (1656)
Funny coynesses, comedy (1659)
Sganarelle, or the Pretending Cuckold, comedy (1660)
Don Garcia of Navarre, or The Jealous Prince, comedy (1661)
School of Husbands, comedy (1661)
Boring, comedy (1661)
School for Wives, comedy (1662)
Criticism of the School for Wives, comedy (1663)
Versailles Impromptu (1663)
Reluctant marriage, farce (1664)
Princess of Elis, gallant comedy (1664)
Tartuffe, or the Deceiver, comedy (1664)
Don Juan, or the Stone Feast, comedy (1665)
Love the Healer, comedy (1665)
Misanthrope, comedy (1666)
The Reluctant Doctor, comedy (1666)
Melisert, pastoral comedy (1666, unfinished)
Comic pastoral (1667)
The Sicilian, or Love the Painter, comedy (1667)
Amphitryon, comedy (1668)
Georges Dandin, or The Fooled Husband, comedy (1668)
Miser, comedy (1668)
Monsieur de Poursonac, comedy-ballet (1669)
Brilliant Lovers, comedy (1670)
Tradesman in the nobility, comedy-ballet (1670)
Psyche, tragedy-ballet (1671, in collaboration with Philippe Cinema and Pierre Corneille)
The Antics of Scapin, comedy-farce (1671)
The Countess d'Escarbagna, comedy (1671)
Learned Women, comedy (1672)
The imaginary patient, a comedy with music and dancing (1673)

Lost plays

Doctor in Love, farce (1653)
Three Rival Doctors, farce (1653)
Schoolmaster, farce (1653)
Kazakin, farce (1653)
Gorgibus in a sack, farce (1653)
Whisperer, farce (1653)
Jealousy of the Gros Resnais, farce (1663)
Gros Rene schoolboy, farce (1664)

Meaning

Molière had a tremendous influence on the entire subsequent development of bourgeois comedy both in France and abroad. Under the sign of Moliere, the entire French comedy of the 18th century developed, reflecting the entire complex interweaving of the class struggle, the entire contradictory process of the formation of the bourgeoisie as a “class for itself”, entering into a political struggle with the noble-monarchist system. She relied on Molière in the 18th century. both the entertaining comedy of Regnard and the satirically pointed comedy of Lesage, who developed in his "Turcar" the type of tax-farmer-financier, briefly outlined by Molière in "Countess d'Escarbagnas". The influence of the "high" comedies of Moliere was also experienced by the secular everyday comedy of Piron and Gresse and the moral-sentimental comedy of Detouche and Nivelle de Lachausse, reflecting the growth of the class consciousness of the middle bourgeoisie. Even the resulting new genre of petty-bourgeois or bourgeois drama, this antithesis of classical dramaturgy, was prepared by Molière's comedies of manners, which so seriously developed the problems of the bourgeois family, marriage, and the upbringing of children - these are the main themes of petty-bourgeois drama.

From the school of Moliere came the famous creator of The Marriage of Figaro, Beaumarchais, the only worthy successor to Moliere in the field of social satirical comedy. Less significant is the influence of Molière on the bourgeois comedy of the 19th century, which was already alien to the main orientation of Molière. However, the comedic technique of Molière (especially his farces) is used by masters of entertaining bourgeois vaudeville comedy of the 19th century from Picard, Scribe and Labiche to Meilhac and Halévy, Pieron and others.

No less fruitful was the influence of Molière outside of France, and in various European countries, translations of Molière's plays were a powerful stimulus for the creation of a national bourgeois comedy. This was the case first of all in England during the Restoration (Wycherley, Congreve), and then in the 18th century by Fielding and Sheridan. So it was in economically backward Germany, where acquaintance with the plays of Molière stimulated the original comedy creativity of the German bourgeoisie. Even more significant was the influence of Moliere's comedy in Italy, where, under the direct influence of Moliere, the creator of the Italian bourgeois comedy Goldoni was brought up. Moliere had a similar influence in Denmark on Golberg, the creator of the Danish bourgeois-satirical comedy, and in Spain on Moratin.

In Russia, acquaintance with the comedies of Molière begins already at the end of the 17th century, when Princess Sophia, according to legend, played the “Doctor involuntarily” in her tower. At the beginning of the XVIII century. we find them in the Petrine repertoire. From the palace performances Molière then moves on to the performances of the first state-owned public theater in St. Petersburg, headed by A.P. Sumarokov. The same Sumarokov was the first imitator of Molière in Russia. The most “original” Russian comedians of the classical style, Fonvizin, V.V. Kapnist and I.A. Krylov, were also brought up at Molière’s school. But the most brilliant follower of Molière in Russia was Griboedov, who in the image of Chatsky gave Molière a congenial version of his "Misanthrope" - however, a completely original version, which grew up in the specific situation of the Arakcheev-bureaucratic Russia of the 1920s. 19th century Following Griboyedov, Gogol also paid tribute to Molière by translating one of his farces into Russian (“Sganarelle, or the Husband who thinks he is deceived by his wife”); traces of Molière's influence on Gogol are noticeable even in The Government Inspector. The later noble (Sukhovo-Kobylin) and bourgeois comedy (Ostrovsky) also did not escape the influence of Molière. In the pre-revolutionary era, bourgeois modernist directors attempted a stage reassessment of Moliere's plays from the point of view of emphasizing in them elements of "theatricality" and stage grotesque (Meyerhold, Komissarzhevsky).

After the October Revolution, some new theaters that arose in the 1920s included Molière's plays in their repertoire. There were attempts at a new "revolutionary" approach to Molière. One of the most famous was the production of Tartuffe at the Leningrad State Drama Theater in 1929. Directing (N. Petrov and Vl. Solovyov) transferred the action of the comedy into the 20th century. Although the directors tried to justify their innovation with not very convincing politicized props (say, the play “works along the line of exposing religious obscurantism and hypocrisy and along the line of Tartuffe of the social compromisers and social fascists”), this did not help for long. The play was accused (albeit post factum) of "formalist-aesthetic influences" and removed from the repertoire, while Petrov and Solovyov were arrested and died in the camps.

Later, official Soviet literary criticism announced that “for all the deep social tone of Molière’s comedies, his main method, based on the principles of mechanistic materialism, is fraught with dangers for proletarian dramaturgy” (cf. Bezymensky’s “The Shot”).

Memory

The Parisian street of the 1st city district has been named after Molière since 1867.
A crater on Mercury is named after Molière.
The main French theater award, La cérémonie des Molières, has been named after Molière since 1987.

Legends about Molière and his work

In 1662, Molière married a young actress of his troupe, Armande Béjart, the younger sister of Madeleine Béjart, another actress of his troupe. However, this immediately caused a number of gossip and accusations of incest, since there was an assumption that Armande was the daughter of Madeleine and Moliere and was born during the years of their wanderings around the province. To stop such gossip, the king became the godfather of the first child of Molière and Armande.
In 1808, Alexandre Duval's farce "Wallpaper" (French "La Tapisserie"), presumably an adaptation of Moliere's farce "Kazakin", was played at the Odeon Theater in Paris. It is believed that Duval destroyed Molière's original or copy in order to hide obvious traces of borrowing, and changed the names of the characters, only their characters and behavior suspiciously resembled Molière's heroes. The playwright Guillot de Sey tried to restore the original source and in 1911 presented this farce on the stage of the Foley Dramatic theater, returning its original name.
On November 7, 1919, an article by Pierre Louis "Molière - Corneille's creation" was published in the Comœdia magazine. Comparing the plays "Amphitrion" by Moliere and "Agésilas" by Pierre Corneille, he concludes that Moliere only signed the text composed by Corneille. Despite the fact that Pierre Louis himself was a hoaxer, the idea known today as the "Molière-Corneille Affair" was widely disseminated, including in such works as "Corneille under the mask of Moliere" by Henri Poulay (1957), "Molière , or The Imaginary Author" by lawyers Hippolyte Wouter and Christine le Ville de Goyer (1990), "The Molière Case: A Great Literary Fraud" by Denis Boissier (2004) and others.

"I know and love Molière from early youth and studied with him all my life. Every year I

I re-read a few of his things in order to constantly join in this

amazing craftsmanship. But I love Molière not only for his perfection

artistic techniques, and mainly, perhaps, for his charming

naturalness..." These words of the "grateful student" belong to Goethe, the creator of

"Faust", which influenced the entire world literature. Michael Bulgakov

schoolboy and student watched the opera "Faust" forty-one times, which, without

doubt, planted the original idea of ​​"Master and Margarita". But at that time

Bulgakov, like the once young Moliere, dreamed of becoming an actor, and later, in a difficult

period of life when Bulgakov's plays were banned, for reinforcement of spirit he

turned to the fate of the great comedian and wrote a documentary novel "Life

Monsieur de Molière", showing the capriciousness of fortune and inaccessible to earthly

understanding the justice of eternity: the lucky Molière, the favorite of the king,

ironically overtaken by sudden death while playing the role of his

imaginary patient, secretly buried

at night next to suicides like a great sinner whose grave was lost,

and the manuscripts were gone, returned to us. "Here he is! This is he - the royal comedian with

bronze bows on the shoes! And I, who was never destined to see him,

I send him my farewell greetings!" - this is how Bulgakov ended his novel.

Molière's real name is Jean Baptiste Poquelin. He was born in Paris and was baptized on 15

January 1622, as indicated by an entry in the book of the Paris church of St.

Eustache. His father Jean Poquelin and both grandfathers were upholsterers. Judging by the fact that the father

writer bought himself the post of royal upholsterer and valet of the king, affairs

it went great. Mother, Marie Cresset, died quite young.

Jean Poquelin saw in the first-born Jean Baptiste the successor to his court position and

even made sure that the king secured his place officially. Because it

the matter did not require special education, Jean Baptiste, by the age of fourteen, barely

Clermont Jesuit College.

At that time it was the best educational institution in Paris. Training program

included ancient languages, natural sciences, philosophy, Latin literature.

He received a degree in law and even appeared several times in court as

However, he did not become either a lawyer or a court upholsterer. Relinquishing rights to

father's position and taking his share of the mother's inheritance, he gave himself

passion, which completely subjugated him - to the theater, dreaming of becoming a tragic

That was the time when the theater moved from the street stage to the stages of luxurious

halls, turned from fun for the common people into exquisite entertainment and

philosophical instruction for aristocrats, refusing to concocted in a hurry

hand of farces in favor of real literature. Nevertheless, street theater is something

taught Moliere. He took lessons in skill as in the Italian comedy from the famous

Tiberio Fiorilli, better known by his stage name Scaramos (but it will be

much later), and in fair booths (where I started).

Together with several actors, Jean Baptiste created his own theater, which, not

doubting success, he called it Brilliant, took the pseudonym Molière and began

try yourself in tragic roles Tragedy at that time became the leading genre

thanks to the extraordinary success

"Sid" Corneille (1636). The brilliant theater did not last long, unable to withstand

rivalry with professional Parisian troupes. The most persistent

enthusiasts, among them a gifted tragic actress and tender friend of Molière

Madeleine Bejart, decided to try their luck in the provinces.

During thirteen years of wanderings throughout France (1646-1658) Molière

retrained from a tragedian to a comedian, since it was farcical performances

enjoyed a special location among the provincial public. Besides,

the need to constantly update the repertoire made Molière take up the pen,

to compose his own plays. So Molière, who dreamed of playing tragic roles

Caesar and Alexander the Great, involuntarily became a comedian and comedian.

Having gained fame as the best provincial troupe, Moliere's theater (he became his

leader) decided to return to Paris In the capital, as they say, they were not expected - in

theater business, as in all times, the scenes have long been divided.

The resilient Moliere first enlisted the patronage of the king's brother, Monsieur,

received permission for his theater to be called the "Monsieur Troupe", and then achieved

the highest grace to show Louis XIV a production of his comic play

"Doctor in Love" (not preserved). Louis at that time was only twenty

years, and he was able to appreciate Moliere's humor. Since then, the Troupe Monsieur has become a frequent

guest in the castles of the king.

The first original play by Moliere, that is, a play that does not take into account the audience

of the year. The success was overwhelming and scandalous.

The Russian translation does not fully reflect the French meaning of the name. It's not about

just about coquetry and coquetry as such, but about precision and precision,

then prevailing in the salons of the capital. According to the precisionists, everything that relates

to everyday life and ordinary human manifestations, is base and

rough. They needed paradises (as Vertinsky sang about the precision women of the early 20

centuries), that is, unearthly feelings, refined expressions. They were dreaming

ideality and despised rough matter, and a hilarious comedy came out: "Oh, God

my dear! Like your father's form is immersed in matter!" - says

Molière's heroine to her friend. There are also more "refined" phrases:

"the sedan chair is a magnificent shelter from the attacks of dirt"; "you have to be the antipode

common sense not to recognize Paris"; "there is something chromatic in the melody"

Many recognized on the stage the salon of the Marquise Ramboulier, where the Parisian

fronting to know. "Funny coynesses" due to

behind-the-scenes intrigues were banned, but only for two weeks. Art won, and the word

"precise", formerly pronounced with reverence as "refined", has acquired

comic connotation and sobered many "precious" minds.

girls: despotic and loyal, in favor of the latter, as well as "A lesson to wives"

(1662), the meaning of which is expressed by La Rochefoucauld's maxim: "Passion often turns

the most cunning of men into a simpleton, and simpletons he makes cunning." Initiates

saw in the plays a reflection of the family troubles of Moliere himself, and the Puritans -

excess of obscenities and disrespect for religion.

Molière really had troubles. By that time he had married his sister.

his former girlfriend Madeleine Bejart - Armande, who was half his age.

Evil tongues claimed that Armande was not a sister, but the daughter of Madeleine, and condemned

"immorality" of Moliere, who married the daughter of his former mistress.

However, this is none of our business. But the fact that he could have reasons for gloomy thoughts

be easy to guess. Moliere, according to the memoirs of his contemporaries, was inclined

to melancholy (as is often the case with writers of the comedy genre), the temper had

irritable and jealous, moreover, he had entered the age of gray hairs, while Armande was

young, charming and flirtatious. On top of that, this "simple story"

aggravated by gossip and "oedipal" allusions.

The king put an end to everything. Louis XIV at that time was happily in love with

Mademoiselle de La Vallière, and therefore generous and broad-minded. He took under

defense of the play "freethinker" and, in addition, agreed to become the godfather

the first-born of Molière and Armande, and Henrietta of England became the godmother, which

was more eloquent than any decree on immunity.

As for the "obscene jokes" in Moliere's comedies, this can be

comment with Goethe's witty remark. Ackerman (author of a wonderful

book "Conversations with Goethe") translated some of Molière's comedies into German

language and complained that on the German stage they were smoothed, because

insult in girls the excessive "subtlety of feelings" originating in the "ideal

literature" "No," answered Goethe, "the public is to blame for it. Well,

the question is, what should our young girls do there? Their place is not in the theater, but in

monastery, the theater exists for men and women who know life. When I wrote

Moliere, the girls lived in monasteries (they were brought up there until they came of age. -

LK), and he, of course, did not take them into account. Now the girls are no longer from the theater

survive, and we will continue to give weak plays, very suitable for them,

so be sensible and do as I do, that is, simply do not go to

The following comedies are Tartuffe, or the Deceiver (1664), Don Giovanni, or the Stone

guest "(1665) and" Misanthrope "(1666) - are considered the pinnacles of Moliere's work. Their

the heroes express three ways of understanding the world: the holy man Tartuffe, about such among the people

say "holier than the Pope", believing that "for the sins of any there

justification in good intentions"; the atheist Don Juan, challenging heaven and

dying from the tenacious hand of the Stone Guest, under lamentations, similar to a sentence,

his servant: "Ah, my salary, my salary! Don Juan's death plays into everyone's hands.

Angry sky, violated laws, seduced girls, disgraced families...

everyone, everyone is happy Only me was not lucky. My salary!..”, as well as a moralist

misanthrope, in the heat of scourging human vices, transgressing all nine commandments:

"Without exception, I hate all mortals: / Some - because they are evil and cause

harm, / Others - because there is no aversion to evil in them, / That their hatred

life-giving force / It did not inspire the eternal struggle against evil.

trouble. "Tartuffe" after the first performances was banned. Both the Jesuits and

The Jansenists saw in the ridicule of Tartuffe's religious hypocrisy an attack on the Church.

The Archbishop of Paris threatened his flock with excommunication for any attempt

get acquainted with comedy, and a certain curate offered to burn the sacrilegious author on

bonfire. Even the king was careful not to interfere in this matter, preferring to support

Molière unofficially. Comedy did not appear on the scene for five years, while public

The rules have not been softened up a bit.

"Don Giovanni" was written by Moliere after the prohibition of "Tartuffe" in order to feed

troupe, but an unpleasant story happened to him: after the fifteenth

performances, despite the resounding success with the public, "Don Juan" suddenly disappeared

from the stage After "Tartuffe" Moliere caused increased attention of the Jesuit order and

it must be assumed that here, too, it was not without their intervention. King to save

Moliere's "Theatre Monsieur", promoted him to the rank, giving the name "Actors of the King", and

the troupe began to pay salaries from the treasury.

It should be noted that the creative audacity of Moliere (the so-called "innovation")

far ahead of the evolution of aesthetic and ethical norms, and his artistic

looseness, which Goethe called "charming naturalness," bordered on

time with a violation of morality, but this also kept his plays eternal youth

Moreover, Molière's texts are read without causing "resistance of the material", but,

note that a rare playwright succeeds in plays that would not lose when reading

before stage performances.

In "Misanthrope" many saw a reflection of the gloomy state of mind of the author himself,

who was associated with the main character. There were reasons for this. molière

really was in a difficult period of life: his son died before he lived even a year,

godson of the king, with Armande, who entered the theater and was intoxicated by the first stage

successes and victories, conflicts began, "Tartuffe", whom he considered his

the biggest luck, was banned.

In total, Moliere left 29 comedies, some of them were written on the occasion of courtiers.

festivities - "The Princess of Elis" (1664), "Mr. de Pursonyak" (1669),

"Brilliant Lovers" (1670) and others, some belong to the genre of family

household comedies, such as Georges Danden, or the Fooled Husband, Marriage

reluctantly", "Miserly" (all - 1668), "Skapen's Dodgers" (1671), "Learned Women"

Molière's last significant comedies are The Tradesman in the Nobility (1670) and

"Imaginary Sick" (1673) - written as a comedy ballet. "The tradesman in the nobility",

which premiered at the Château de Chambord at the festivities on the occasion of

royal hunt, the audience did not like it, and it could hardly have been liked in the castle

charming hero "from the middle class" against the backdrop of a squandered count and a frivolous

coquette of the marquise, who is also scolded by the merchant - as they say, not the

hierarchy.

Moliere took the stage to amuse the audience in the role of Argan with his imaginary

diseases. Some viewers noticed how he began to have convulsions, but

took it as a brilliant game. After the performance, Moliere gushed throat

blood and he died. He is fifty one years old

Moliere did not have time to unction, and the Archbishop of Paris, due to the customs of that

time, forbade the burial of the body of the "comedian" and "unrepentant sinner"

according to the Christian rite Only after the intervention of Louis XIV Archbishop

made some concessions.

On the day of the funeral, under the windows of the house where Moliere lived, a crowd gathered, but not at all

then, to see him on his last journey - to prevent burial. Armanda

throwing money out the window, trying to calm the excited public ...

They buried Molière at night - "... in the crowd of mourners they saw ... the artist Pierre

Mignard, the fabulist Lafontaine and the poets Boileau and Chapelle. They all carried torches

hands, - writes Mikhail Bulgakov ... - When they passed one street, a window opened in

house and a woman leaning out loudly asked: "Who is this being buried" - "Some

Moliere-ra," another woman replied. This Moliere was brought to the cemetery

St. Joseph and buried in the department where suicides and unbaptized are buried

children And in the church of St. Eustathius, the clergyman noted briefly that 21

February 1673, on Tuesday, was buried in the cemetery of St. Joseph, an upholsterer and

royal valet Jean Baptiste Poquelin"

Among the geniuses of world literature, Jean-Baptiste Molière (1622-1673) occupies one of the most prominent places. Comedians of almost all countries have long recognized Molière as their elder. Molière's comedies have been translated into almost all languages ​​of the world. The name of Molière shines in all works on the history of world literature. Molière's motto: "the purpose of comedy is to depict human shortcomings, and especially the shortcomings of contemporary people" - largely determined the aesthetics of the realistic dramaturgy of modern times. Thus, Molière's literary work acquired the highest historical assessment and, in a certain sense, was elevated to the norm and model.

Introductory article and notes by G. Boyadzhiev.

Illustrations by P. Brissard.

Jean-Baptiste Molière
Comedy

Translation from French

Great Reformer of Comedy

Among the geniuses of world literature, Jean-Baptiste Moliere occupies one of the most prominent places.

To the question of King Louis XIV to the poet and literary theorist Boileau, who was the greatest writer who glorified his kingdom, the answer was: "Moliere, your Majesty."

The high literary prestige of Moliere was supported by the main authorities of the next three centuries: Voltaire in the 18th century, Balzac in the 19th, Romain Rolland in the 20th. Comedians of almost all countries have long recognized Molière as their elder. Molière's comedies have been translated into almost all languages ​​of the world. The name of Molière shines in all works on the history of world literature. Molière's motto: "the purpose of comedy is to depict human shortcomings, and especially the shortcomings of contemporary people" - largely determined the aesthetics of the realistic dramaturgy of modern times. Thus, Molière's literary work acquired the highest historical assessment and, in a certain sense, was elevated to the norm and model.

True, the work of the brilliant comedian sometimes received other assessments. Arguing with the supporters of "academic moliere studies", who sometimes imposed on Molière the role of a tiresome moralist and a flat writer of everyday life, which is alien to him, a number of critics fell into the other extreme, arguing that the author of "Tartuffe" and "Don Giovanni" is just "an actor, not a writer", that he thought only of making the audience laugh.

Struggling with the wretched ideological nature of "academic moliere studies", the supporters of the new theory committed an even greater sin, denying any ideological spirit in Molière in general and wrongly seeing in the conflict between Moliere and his flat petty-bourgeois interpretation the eternal struggle between "theater" and "literature", in connection with which and a dispute was started - which of the creative sides of Molière's genius is leading. Who was Moliere - a "man of the pen" or a "man of the theater"?

It must be said that the battle for Molière between literature and the stage has been going on for a long time. And Boileau began it, having acted as a decisive warrior from Terence's camp. His reproachful verse is well remembered:

(Translated by S. Nesterova and S. Piralov)

Indeed, the famous critic had something to be annoyed about: at the age of fifty, having already composed all his masterpieces, his friend stubbornly did not leave the stage. He even played the role of the merry Scapin, finally losing the right to take a seat at the French Academy. And Moliere had more reasons to become an academician than anyone else: he stood at the top of the literature of the century and was a well-educated writer, a deep thinker.

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (real name Moliere) was born in January 1622, in the family of the royal upholsterer Jean Poquelin. Having lost his mother in childhood, he remained in the care of his grandfather Louis Cresset, and then he was assigned to Clermont College. It was the best educational institution in the country, and Jean-Baptiste Poquelin was one of his best students. A penchant for literature and philosophy showed up in Molière very early. The diligent young man lovingly translated into verse the philosophical poem of Lucretius Cara "On the Nature of Things", this famous encyclopedia of ancient materialism.

From a young age, the direction of Moliere's thought was predicted by the teachings of the French materialist philosopher Pierre Gassendi, and the very passion for philosophy was associated with the playwright's insistent desire to know the essence, the "nature of things" of the world around him - it was not for nothing that Boileau called Molière a "contemplator". A man contemplating, thinking intently, looks at us from the portrait painted by Lagrange: "He spoke little, but accurately, and besides, he observed the habits and customs of those around him, finding excellent ways to introduce what he observed into his comedies."

The circle of people with whom Molière was friendly is also characteristic. As a young man, he becomes close to people who are inclined to engage in philosophy and literature. This is Claude Chapelle, the owner of a lively ironic mind, who later became a pamphleteer; this is Francois Bernier - the future author of a bold political treatise; This is the playwright and philosopher Cyrano de Bergerac. In the province, Molière makes friends with the cheerful Epicurian poet d "Assouci, with the brothers Pierre and Thomas Corneille. In Paris, Molière is friends with the young Depreo Boileau, with the Gassendist philosopher La Motte le Ville, with the free-thinking woman Ninon de Lanclos, with the enlightened lady Mrs. Joy Sablier, with the young Jean Racine and, finally, La Fontaine, who said, as if on behalf of all Moliere's interlocutors and like-minded people: "This is my man."

After all, rich literary sources, which, as studies show, Moliere used, are the first indicator of the writer's extensive knowledge, his significant literary experience. Molière, an excellent Latinist, uses the plots of Roman authors four times in his comedies; he repeatedly turns to plays of Italian origin, uses Spanish material. An excellent connoisseur of French Renaissance literature, Moliere finds grain for his creations in the satire of Mathurin Renier or in the comic stories told in the famous novel by Rabelais. Moliere also found his "good" in the bins of the farcical theater.

It would be possible to further expand the list of evidence that the actor Molière was the most prominent writer and literary widely educated person. And if he took up the pen later than he went up on stage, this does not mean that writing for him was secondary to acting.

But in emphasizing Molière's writing so emphatically, one should not forget his own categorical statement: "Comedies are written to be played."

The unity of literary and acting creativity is indeed the most characteristic feature of the genius of Molière. France's greatest playwright began his entry into the theater as an actor and remained an actor all his life. This circumstance is of great importance, and the point is not only that being on the stage contributes to a better knowledge of the laws of the theater. The main thing is that, being on the stage for thirty years, Moliere continued the uninterrupted French theatrical tradition with his own stage practice, developing and harmonizing it with the requirements of the high comedy genre. Not only on the stage of Molière's theatre, but throughout the entire internal structure of his comedies, the elements of free play in the arena, the open form of acting, the bright colors of the masks, the dynamics of the external construction of the action, were preserved, despite the fact that modern types were erected on the stage and morals and living reality.

It was also extremely important that Moliere, remaining an actor all his life, was in constant communication with hundreds of thousands of spectators. And if he himself influenced their views and tastes, then the people's audience, with their applause, laughter, approval or censure, formed his taste and directed his worldview.

The inseparability of dramaturgy and theater was for Molière the inseparability of creativity from its social function. The playwright, being an actor, himself brought his plans to the end, he directly made his plays the true property of the people.

Therefore, with such certainty, it was said to them: "Comedies are written in order to be played."

French literature

Jean-Baptiste Molière

Biography

Molière (Poquelin), Jean-Baptiste (Molire (Poquelin) Jean-Baptiste) (1622−1673), French poet and actor, creator of classic comedy.

Born January 13, 1622 in Paris; son of Jean Poquelin, court upholsterer and royal valet, and Marie, daughter of the private upholsterer Louis Cresset. At the age of ten, he lost his mother. In 1631-1639 he studied at the Jesuit Clermont College, where, in addition to theological disciplines, they taught ancient literature and ancient languages; showed great interest in studies; translated into French the poem On the Nature of Things by the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius. In 1640 he studied law at the University of Orleans, at the beginning of 1641 he passed the exam for the title of licentiate of law. In April-June 1642, he replaced his father as a royal valet. January 6, 1643 refused the title of royal upholsterer. On June 30, 1643, together with the Bejart family, he organized the "Brilliant Theater"; staged tragedies, tragicomedies, pastorals; took the surname Molière. After a series of failures, the theater ceased to exist. With the remnants of the troupe he left for the province.

In 1645-1658 the troupe performed in the cities and castles of Normandy, Brittany, Poitou, Gascony and Languedoc. By 1650 Molière had become its recognized head. Gradually, comedy performances took the leading place in her repertoire. In the conditions of competition with Italian comedians, Moliere began to compose small plays (divertissements) himself, adding elements of the Italian comedy of masks (commedia dell'arte) to the French medieval farce. Their success prompted him to turn to larger forms: in 1655 he created his first five-act comedy in verse, Madcap, or Everything out of place (L "Etourdi, ou Les Contretemps); it was followed in 1656 by Love quarrel (Le Dpit amoureux).

By 1658 Molière's troupe had become the most popular in the French provinces. Thanks to the patronage of the Duke of Orleans, brother of Louis XIV, she had the opportunity to speak to the royal court on October 24, 1658 with the tragedy of P. Corneille Nicomede and the farce of Molière The Doctor in Love; Nicomedes was coldly received, but the Doctor in Love made a splash, which decided the fate of the troupe: she was awarded the title of "Troup of the King's Brother" and provided the stage of the Petit Bourbon Theater. From that time on, Molière finally abandoned tragic roles and began to play only comedic characters.

In 1659 he staged a one-act comedy in prose, Les Prcieuses ridicules, in which he ridiculed the unnaturalness and pomposity of the precision style cultivated in literature (a group of poets led by J. Chaplin) and secular salons (See also CLASSICISM). She was a resounding success, but at the same time gave rise to many enemies in the world. From that day on, Molière's life turned into a constant struggle with them. In 1660, the situation comedy Sganarelle, or the alleged cuckold (Sganarelle, ou le Cocu imaginaire), which treated the traditional theme of adultery, was played with no less success. In the same year, the king granted the Molière troupe the building of the Palais Royal theatre.

The theatrical season on the new stage opened on February 4, 1661 with the play Don Garcia of Navarre, or the Jealous Prince (Dom Garcie de Navarre, ou le Prince jaloux), but its philosophical comedy was not accepted by the general public. In June, the School of Husbands (L "Ecole des maris), which ridiculed paternal despotism and defended the principles of natural education, was successfully held; it marked the author's turn to the comedy of manners genre; it already had features of high comedy. The first truly classic comedy was the School of Wives (L "Ecole des femmes", staged in December 1662; it was distinguished by a deep psychological development of the traditional theme of family and marriage. Moliere responded to accusations of plagiarism, weakness of the plot and bad taste in 1663 with the comedies Criticism of the School of Wives (La Critique de l'Ecole des femmes) and Versailles Impromptu (L "Impromptu de Versailles), in which he cheerfully and evilly mocked his ill-wishers ( marquises, salon ladies, precision poets and actors of the Burgundy hotel). They did not disdain any means and even accused Moliere of incest (marriage with supposedly his own daughter); support of Louis XIV, who became the godfather of his first son, put an end to gossip. constantly participate in the organization of court festivities, composing and staging comedy-ballets: in January 1664, Marriage was played by force (Le Mariage forc), in May - the Princess of Elis (La Princesse d'Elide) and Tartuffe, or the hypocrite (Le Tartuffe, ou l'Hypocrite), a cruel parody of religious hypocrisy. A scandal erupted; the king forbade the performance. They even demanded that the author be sent to the stake. In the spring of 1665, Don Juan, or K stone feast (Dom Juan, ou le Festin de pierre), which was sharply anti-clerical in nature. In 1666, Molière staged the high comedy Misanthrope (Le Misanthrope), indifferently accepted by the general public. He continued to compose comedy-ballets and pastoral plays for court festivities. On the stage of the Palais Royal, two comedies in the style of folk farces were held with great success, where medical science and its ministers were ridiculed - Love the Healer (L "Amour mdecin) and The Doctor involuntarily (Le Mdecin malgr lui). In August 1667, Moliere decided to present in the Palais Royal, a softened version of Tartuffe under the new name of the Deceiver (L "Imposteur), but immediately after the premiere it was banned by the Paris Parliament. In February 1668, the comedy Amphitryon was played. This was followed by Georges Danden, or the Fooled Husband (George Dandin, ou le Mari confondu), on the well-known folk story about a cunning wife and a gullible husband (July 1668), and Miserly (L "Avare), in which usury and a thirst for enrichment turned out to be the object of ridicule (September 1668). At the beginning of 1669, Molière achieved the lifting of the ban on Tartuffe. In 1669-1671, he staged several comedies-ballets one after another: Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, Brilliant Lovers (Amants magnifiques), The Countess d'Escarbaria (La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas) and the best of them - The tradesman in the nobility (Le Bourgeois gentilhomme), as well as the tragedy-ballet Psyche (Psych). Played in May 1671, the farcical comedy Scapin's Tricks (Les Fourberies de Scapin) caused a new round of controversy - the author was reproached for indulging plebeian tastes and deviating from classic rules. In March 1672, Molière presented to the public the high comedy Women Learned (Les Femmes savantes), ridiculing the parlor passion for science and philosophy and women's neglect of family responsibilities. 1672 proved to be a difficult year for Molière. Many of his friends and relatives passed away, his relations with the king cooled; health deteriorated significantly. In the winter of 1672−1673 he wrote his last comedy-ballet The imaginary patient (Le Malade imaginaire), where he returned to the theme of charlatans and gullible patients. On February 17, 1673, at her fourth performance, he suffered a stroke and died a few hours later. Church authorities refused to bury him according to the Christian rite. Only after the intervention of the king, Moliere's body was buried on February 21 in the cemetery of St. Joseph. In 1817, his remains were transferred to the Père Lachaise cemetery. Molière left a rich legacy - more than 32 dramatic works written in a variety of genres: farce, divertissement, comedy-ballet, pastoral, sitcom, comedy of manners, everyday comedy, high comedy, etc. He constantly experimented, created new forms and transformed old ones. . His first experience as a playwright was divertissement, which combined the medieval farce with the Italian commedia dell'arte. Madcap and Love Spat became the first major (in five acts) verse comedies with extensive intrigue, a large number of characters and a variety of plot points. Nevertheless, his connection with the folk (farcical) tradition was never interrupted: he not only introduced individual farcical elements into his great comedies (Tartuffe, Monsieur de Poursonnac, the Philistine in the nobility), but also constantly returned to the farcical form in one-act and three-act comedies. (Funny simpering women, Scapen's tricks, Forced marriage, Love-healer, Doctor involuntarily). Moliere tried to develop the genre of heroic comedy created by P. Corneille in Don Garcia, but abandoned it after the failure of this play. In the early 1660s, he created a new comedy genre - high comedy that meets the classic rules: five-act structure, poetic form, unity of time, place and action, intrigue based on clash of views, intellectual characters (School of Wives, Tartuffe, Don Juan, Misanthrope , Miser, Scholars). Learned women are considered an example of the classic comedy genre, while Don Juan goes beyond the classic rules - it is written in prose, all three unities are violated in it. The essential feature of high comedy was the element of the tragic, most clearly manifested in Misanthrope, which is sometimes called tragicomedy and even tragedy. An important achievement of Moliere was the creation of a special form of comedy - comedy-ballet, where he combined the poetic word, music and dance. He gave a comic interpretation to ballet allegories, dramatized dance numbers and organically incorporated them into the action of the play (The Unbearable, Forced Marriage, Princess of Elis, Tartuffe and many others). He is seen as the herald of French opera. Molière's comedies touch upon a wide range of problems of modern life: relations between fathers and children, upbringing, marriage and family, the moral state of society (hypocrisy, self-interest, vanity, etc.), class, religion, culture, science (medicine, philosophy), etc. This set of themes is based on Parisian material, with the exception of the Comtesse d'Escarbagna, whose action takes place in the provinces. Moliere takes subjects not only from real life; he draws them from ancient (Plavt, Terence) and Renaissance Italian and Spanish dramaturgy (N. Barbieri, N. Secchi, T. de Molina), as well as from the French medieval folk tradition (fablios, farces). The main feature of Moliere's characters is independence, activity, the ability to arrange their happiness and their destiny in the fight against the old and obsolete. Each of them has his own beliefs, his own system of views, which he defends before his opponent; the figure of the opponent is obligatory for classic comedy, because the action in it develops in the context of disputes and discussions. Another feature of Moliere's characters is their ambiguity. Many of them have not one, but several qualities (Alceste from Misanthrope, Don Juan), or in the course of action there is a complication or change in their characters (Agnès in the School of Wives, Argon in Tartuffe, Georges Danden). But all the negative characters are united by one thing - violation of the measure. Measure is the main principle of classical aesthetics. In the comedies of Molière, it is identical to common sense and naturalness (and hence morality). Their carriers often turn out to be representatives of the people (a maid in Tartuffe, a plebeian wife of Jourdain in the Philistine in the nobility). Showing the imperfection of people, Moliere implements the main principle of the comedy genre - through laughter to harmonize the world and human relations. However, in Tartuffe, Don Giovanni, Misanthrope (partly in the School of Wives and the Miser) he deviates from this principle. Evil triumphs in Misanthrope; in Tartuffe and Don Giovanni, although its bearers are punished, it remains essentially undefeated, for it is too deeply rooted in people's lives. This is the deep realism of Molière. The work of Molière, the great comedian, the creator of the classic comedy, had a huge impact not only on the dramatic art of France (Lesage, Beaumarchais), but also on the entire world dramaturgy (Sheridan, Goldoni, Lessing, etc.); in Russia, his followers were Sumarokov, Knyazhnin, Kapnist, Krylov, Fonvizin, Griboyedov.

Molière (Poquelin) Jean-Baptiste (1622-1673) is a world-famous poet, author of classic comedy. Moliere's birthplace is France, Paris. On January 13, 1622, the son of Jean-Baptiste was born to Jean Poquelin, the royal valet, and Mary, the daughter of a private upholsterer. His mother died when he was ten years old.

Until 1639, the boy was a student at Clermont College. There he studied theology, ancient literature, languages ​​of antiquity. Jean-Baptiste was a diligent student. After college, he studied the basics of jurisprudence at the University of Orleans. In the summer of 1642, instead of his father, he worked as a valet at court. In January of the following year, he resigned from the position of an upholsterer, and in June, together with the Bejart family, he opened the "Bistatelny Theater". The repertoire consisted of tragedies, tragicomedies and pastorals. Decides to change his name to the pseudonym Molière. The theater turned out to be a failure, and soon the troupe fled. With the remaining members, Molière left for the wilderness.

During the tour (1645-1658) he traveled through the cities of Normandy, Poitou, Gascony, Languedoc. Over time, Molière became director of the theatre.

Over time, comedy performances occupy the main place in the repertoire. In 1658, Molière's theater troupe was on everyone's lips. The Duke of Orleans contributed to the staging of the tragedy Nicomedes and the farce The Doctor in Love, at court. What, in fact, provided the future of the actors. They are called "The Troupe of the King's Brother", and they make available the Petit Bourbon stage. At this time, Moliere forever refuses tragic roles. The success was not cloudless, the courtiers pestered Moliere with intrigues and gossip.

Life at court was bright, constant organization of festivities, new and new plays. In total, Moliere left behind more than 32 dramatic works to the world heritage.

1672 knocked down Molière, relations with the king did not develop, many friends were gone. At that time, he writes the comedy Imaginary Ill, which turns out to be fatal for the author. On her fourth production on February 17, 1673, Moliere becomes ill. They didn't save him. The church refused to bury according to Christian rites, but the king insisted, and on February 21 he was buried in the cemetery of St. Joseph.

Molière (fr. Molière, real name Jean Baptiste Poquelin; fr. Jean Baptiste Poquelin; January 13, 1622, Paris - February 17, 1673, ibid) - comedian of France and new Europe, creator of classical comedy, actor and theater director by profession.

His father was a court upholsterer. He did not care about educating his son. It is hard to believe, but by the age of fourteen, the future playwright had learned to read and write. However, the boy's abilities became quite noticeable. He did not want to take over his father's craft. Poquelin Sr. had to send his son to the Jesuit College, where in five years he becomes one of the best students. Moreover: one of the most educated people of his time.

After graduating from college, Jean Baptiste received the title of lawyer and was sent to Orleans. However, the love and dream of his whole life was the theater. From several friends, the young man organized a troupe in Paris and called it the "Brilliant Theater". At that time there were no own plays in the project. Poquelin took the pseudonym Moliere and decided to try himself in the role of a tragic actor.

The new theater was not successful and had to be closed. Molière sets off to wander around France with a traveling troupe. Traveling enriches life experience. Moliere studied the life of various classes. In 1653 he staged one of his first plays, The Madman. The author has not yet dreamed of literary glory. It's just that the troupe's repertoire was poor.

Molière returns to Paris in 1658. This is an experienced actor and a mature writer. The performance of the troupe in Versailles in front of the royal court was a success. The theater is left in Paris. In 1660, Molière receives a stage in the Palais Royal, built under Cardinal Richelieu.

In total, the playwright lived in the capital of France for fourteen years. During this time, more than thirty plays were created. The famous literary theorist Nicolas Boileau, in a conversation with the king, said that his reign would become famous thanks to the playwright Molière.

The satirical orientation of Molière's truthful comedies created many enemies for him. So, for example, the comedy Tartuffe, which denounces hypocritical saints, was offended by both the nobility and the clergy. The comedy was either banned, or it was still allowed to be staged. All his life Molière was pursued by intriguers. They even tried to interfere with his funeral.

Molière died on February 17, 1673. He played the main role in his play "Imaginary Sick" and felt bad on stage. A few hours later, the great playwright died. The Archbishop of Paris forbade the burial of the body of a "comedian" and "unrepentant sinner" according to Christian rites.

They buried him secretly, at night, in the cemetery of Saint-Joseph.

Molière's comedies The Misanthrope, Don Juan, Scapin's Tricks, The Miser, Schoolboy and others still do not leave the stage of world theaters.

Source http://lit-helper.ru and http://ru.wikipedia.org