Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (French Jean-Baptiste Poquelin), theatrical pseudonym - Moliere (French Molière; January 15, 1622, Paris - February 17, 1673, ibid.) - French comedian of the 17th century, creator of classical comedy, actor and director by profession theater, better known as the Molière troupe (Troupe de Molière, 1643-1680).
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin came from an old bourgeois family, which for several centuries was engaged in the craft of upholsterers and drapers.
Jean-Baptiste's father, Jean Poquelin (1595-1669), was the court upholsterer and valet of Louis XIII and sent his son to a prestigious Jesuit school - the Clermont College (now the Lyceum of Louis the Great in Paris), where Jean-Baptiste thoroughly studied Latin, so he read fluently in the original of Roman authors and even, according to legend, translated into French philosophical poem by Lucretius “On the Nature of Things.” After graduating from college in 1639, Jean-Baptiste passed the exam in Orleans for the title of licentiate of rights.
The legal career attracted him no more than his father's craft, and Jean-Baptiste chose the profession of an actor, taking the stage name Moliere.
After meeting the comedians Joseph and Madeleine Béjart, at the age of 21, Moliere became the head of the Illustre Théâtre, a new Parisian troupe of 10 actors, registered with the capital's 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” lost in 1645. Moliere and his actor friends decide to seek their fortune in the provinces, joining a troupe of traveling comedians led by Dufresne.
Moliere's wanderings around the French province for 13 years (1645-1658) during the civil war (Fronde) enriched him with everyday and theatrical experience.
Since 1645, Moliere and his friends joined Dufresne, and in 1650 he headed the troupe.
The repertoire hunger of Molière's troupe was the impetus for the beginning of his dramatic activity. Thus, the years of Moliere’s theatrical studies became the years of his author’s studies. Many of the farcical scenarios he composed in the provinces have disappeared. Only the plays “The Jealousy of Barbouillé” (La jalousie du Barbouillé) and “The Flying Doctor” (Le médécin volant) have survived, the attribution of which to Moliere 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-René the Schoolboy,” “The Pedant Doctor,” “Gorgibus in the Bag,” “Plan-Plan,” “Three Doctors,” “Cossackin”) , “The Feigned Lump”, “The Twig Knitter”), and these titles echo the situations of Moliere’s later farces (for example, “Gorgibus in the Sack” and “The Tricks of Scapin”, d. III, sc. II). These plays indicate that the tradition of old farce influenced the major comedies of his mature age.
The farcical repertoire performed by Molière's troupe under his direction and with his participation as an actor helped strengthen its reputation. It increased even more after Moliere composed two great comedies in verse - “Naughty, or Everything Is Out of Place” (L’Étourdi ou les Contretemps, 1655) and “Love’s Annoyance” (Le dépit amoureux, 1656), written in the manner of Italian literary comedy. The main plot, which represents a free imitation of Italian authors, is layered here with borrowings from various old and new comedies, in accordance with the principle attributed to Moliere “to take his goodness wherever he finds it.” The interest of both plays lies in the development of comic situations and intrigue; the characters in them are still developed very superficially.
Molière's troupe gradually achieved success and fame, and in 1658, at the invitation of 18-year-old Monsieur, the king's younger brother, they returned to Paris.
In Paris, Moliere's troupe made its debut on October 24, 1658 at the Louvre Palace in the presence of. The lost farce “The Doctor in Love” was a huge success and decided the fate of the troupe: the king provided her with the Petit-Bourbon court theater, where she played until 1661, until she moved to the Palais Royal theater, where she remained until Moliere’s death.
From the moment Moliere was installed 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, Moliere created all his best plays, which, with few exceptions, provoked fierce attacks from social groups hostile to him.
The Parisian period of Moliere's activity opens with the one-act comedy “Funny Primroses” (French: Les précieuses ridicules, 1659). In this first, completely original, play, Moliere made a bold attack against the pretentiousness and mannerism of speech, tone and manner that prevailed in aristocratic salons, which was greatly reflected in literature and had a strong influence on young people (mainly its female part). The comedy hurt the most prominent simpers. Moliere's enemies achieved a two-week ban on the comedy, after which it was canceled with double success.
On January 23, 1662, Moliere signed marriage contract with Armande Bejart, Madeleine's younger sister. He is 40 years old, Armande is 20. Against all the decency of that time, only the closest ones were invited to the wedding. The wedding ceremony took place on February 20, 1662 in the Parisian church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois.
The comedy "The School for Husbands" (L'école des maris, 1661), which is closely related to the even more mature comedy that followed it, "The School for Wives" (L'école des femmes, 1662), marks Moliere's turn from farce to socio-psychological comedy education. Here Moliere raises questions of love, marriage, attitudes towards women and family structure. The lack of monosyllabicity in the characters’ characters and actions makes “School for Husbands” and especially “School for Wives” the biggest step forward towards creating a comedy of characters that overcomes the primitive schematism of farce. At the same time, “School of Wives” is incomparably deeper and subtler than “School of Husbands,” which in relation to it is like a sketch, a light sketch.
Such satirically pointed comedies could not help but provoke fierce attacks from the playwright’s enemies. Moliere responded to them with a polemical play, “Critique of the School of Wives” (La critique de “L’École des femmes”, 1663). Defending himself from reproaches of being a jerk, he with great dignity set out here his credo as a comic poet (“to delve deeply into the funny side of human nature and amusingly depict on stage the shortcomings of society”) and ridiculed the superstitious admiration for the “rules” of Aristotle. This protest against the pedantic fetishization of “rules” reveals Moliere’s independent position in relation to French classicism, to which he nevertheless adhered in his dramatic practice.
In “The Reluctant Marriage” (Le mariage force, 1664), Moliere raised the genre to greater heights, achieving an organic connection between the comedic (farcical) and ballet elements. In “The Princess of Elide” (La princesse d’Elide, 1664), Moliere took the opposite path, inserting clownish ballet interludes into a pseudo-antique lyrical-pastoral plot. This was the beginning of two types of comedy-ballet, which were further developed by Moliere.
"Tartuffe" (Le Tartuffe, 1664-1669). Directed against the clergy, this mortal enemy of the theater and the entire 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 festival “Enjoyments of the Magic Island” on May 12, 1664 under the title “Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite” (Tartuffe, ou L’hypocrite) and caused discontent among religious organization"Society of the Holy Sacrament" (Société du Saint Sacrement). In the image of Tartuffe, the Society saw a satire on its members and achieved the prohibition of “Tartuffe”. Moliere defended his play in “Placet” addressed to the king, in which he directly wrote that “the originals achieved the prohibition of the copy.” But this request came to nothing. Then Moliere weakened the harsh parts, renamed Tartuffe 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.
Written by a terminally ill Moliere, a comedy "The Imaginary Sick"- one of his most fun and cheerful comedies. At its 4th performance on February 17, 1673, Moliere, who played the role of Argan, felt ill and did not finish the performance. He was carried home and died a few hours later. The Archbishop of Paris forbade the burial of an unrepentant sinner (actors had to repent on their deathbed) and lifted the ban only on the instructions of the king. The greatest playwright France was buried at night, without rites, behind the fence of the cemetery where suicides were buried.
Plays by Moliere:
The Jealousy of Barboulieu, farce (1653)
The Flying Doctor, farce (1653)
Shaly, or Everything Is Out of Place, comedy in verse (1655)
Love's Annoyance, Comedy (1656)
Funny primps, comedy (1659)
Sganarelle, or the Imaginary Cuckold, comedy (1660)
Don Garcia of Navarre, or the Jealous Prince, comedy (1661)
School for Husbands, comedy (1661)
Pesky, comedy (1661)
School for Wives, comedy (1662)
Criticism of "The School for Wives", comedy (1663)
Versailles impromptu (1663)
Reluctant Marriage, Farce (1664)
The Princess of Elis, a gallant comedy (1664)
Tartuffe, or the Deceiver, comedy (1664)
Don Juan, or the Stone Feast, comedy (1665)
Love is a healer, comedy (1665)
Misanthrope, comedy (1666)
The reluctant doctor, comedy (1666)
Melicert, 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)
The Miser, comedy (1668)
Monsieur de Poursonnac, comedy-ballet (1669)
Brilliant Lovers, Comedy (1670)
The Tradesman in the Nobility, comedy-ballet (1670)
Psyche, tragedy-ballet (1671, in collaboration with Philippe Quinault and Pierre Corneille)
The Tricks of Scapin, farce comedy (1671)
Countess d'Escarbagna, comedy (1671)
Learned Women, Comedy (1672)
The Imaginary Invalid, a comedy with music and dancing (1673)
Unsurvived plays by Moliere:
The Doctor in Love, farce (1653)
Three Rival Doctors, Farce (1653)
The Schoolmaster, farce (1653)
Kazakin, farce (1653)
Gorgibus in a bag, farce (1653)
Gobber, farce (1653)
The Jealousy of Gros-René, farce (1663)
Gros-René schoolboy, farce (1664)
born in Paris on January 15, 1622. His father, a bourgeois, a court upholsterer, did not at all think about giving his son any great education, and by the age of fourteen the future playwright had barely learned to read and write. The parents ensured that their court position passed to their son, but the boy discovered extraordinary abilities and a persistent desire to learn; his father’s craft did not attract him. At the insistence of his grandfather, Poquelin the father reluctantly enrolled his son in a Jesuit college. Here, for five years, Moliere successfully studied the course of science. He was fortunate to have as one of his teachers the famous philosopher Gassendi, who introduced him to the teachings of Epicurus. They say that Moliere translated Lucretius’s poem “On the Nature of Things” into French (this translation has not survived, and there is no evidence of the authenticity of this legend; evidence can only serve as a sound materialist philosophy, which runs through all of Moliere’s works).
Since childhood, Moliere was passionate about theater. The theater was his dearest dream. After graduating from Clermont College, having completed all the duties of formally completing his education and receiving a law degree in Orleans, Moliere hastened to form a troupe of actors from several friends and like-minded people and open the “Brilliant Theater” in Paris.
Moliere had not yet thought about independent dramatic creativity. He wanted to be an actor, and an actor of a tragic role, and then he took a pseudonym for himself - Moliere. One of the actors already had this name before him.
It was an early time in the history of French theater. Only recently a permanent troupe of actors appeared in Paris, inspired by the dramatic genius of Corneille, as well as the patronage of Cardinal Richelieu, who himself was not averse to tragedies.
The undertakings of Molière and his comrades, their young enthusiasm, were not crowned with success. The theater had to be closed. Moliere joined a troupe of traveling comedians, which had been traveling around the cities of France since 1646. It could be seen in Nantes, Limoges, Bordeaux, Toulouse. In 1650, Moliere and his comrades performed in Narbonne.
Wanderings around the country enrich Moliere with life observations. He studies the customs of various classes, hears the living speech of the people. In 1653, in Lyon, he staged one of his first plays, “Madcap.”
The talent of a playwright was discovered in him unexpectedly. He never dreamed of being independent literary creativity and took up the pen, compelled by the poverty of his troupe’s repertoire. At first, he only remade Italian farces, adapting them to French conditions, then he began to move more and more away from Italian models, bolder to introduce them into original item and, finally, completely discarded them for the sake of independent creativity.
Thus was born the best comedian in France. He was a little over thirty years old. “Before this age it is difficult to achieve anything in the dramatic genre, which requires knowledge of both the world and the human heart,” wrote Voltaire.
In 1658, Moliere was again in Paris; he is already an experienced actor, playwright, a person who has known the world in all its reality. The performance of Moliere's troupe in Versailles in front of the royal court was a success. The troupe was left in the capital. The Molière Theater initially settled in the Petit-Bourbon premises, performing three times a week (on other days the stage was occupied by the Italian Theater).
In 1660, Moliere received a stage in the hall of the Palais Royal, built under Richelieu for one of the tragedies, part of which was written by the cardinal himself. The premises did not at all meet all the requirements of the theater - however, France did not have the best at that time. Even a century later, Voltaire complained: “We do not have a single tolerable theater - truly Gothic barbarism, of which the Italians rightly accuse us. In France there are good plays, and good ones theater halls- in Italy."
During the fourteen years of his creative life in Paris, Moliere created everything that was included in his rich literary heritage(more than thirty plays). His talent unfolded in all its splendor. He was patronized by the king, who was, however, far from understanding what a treasure France possessed in the person of Moliere. Once, in a conversation with Boileau, the king asked who would glorify his reign, and was quite surprised by the strict critic’s answer that this would be achieved by a playwright who called himself Moliere.
The playwright had to fight off numerous enemies who were not at all occupied with literary issues. Behind them were hidden more powerful opponents, touched by the satirical arrows of Moliere's comedies; enemies invented and spread the most incredible rumors about the man who was the pride of the people.
Moliere died suddenly, at the fifty-second year of his life. Once, during the performance of his play “The Imaginary Invalid,” in which a seriously ill playwright played the main role, he felt ill and died a few hours after the end of the performance (February 17, 1673). Archbishop of Paris Harley de Chanvallon forbade the body of the “comedian” and “unrepentant sinner” to be buried in Christian rites (Molière was not given unction, as required by the church charter). A crowd of fanatics gathered near the house of the deceased playwright, trying to prevent the burial. The playwright's widow threw money out the window to get rid of the offensive interference of the crowd excited by the clergy. Moliere was buried at night in the Saint-Joseph cemetery. Boileau responded to the death of the great playwright with poems, telling in them about the atmosphere of hostility and persecution in which Moliere lived and worked.
In the preface to his comedy “Tartuffe,” Moliere, defending the right of a playwright, in particular a comedian, to intervene in public life, the right to depict vices in the name of educational purposes, wrote: “The theater has great corrective power.” “The best examples of serious morality are usually less powerful than satire... We deal vices a heavy blow by exposing them to public ridicule.”
Here Moliere defines the meaning of the purpose of comedy: “It is nothing more than a witty poem that exposes human shortcomings with entertaining teachings.”
So, according to Moliere, comedy faces two tasks. The first and main thing is to teach people, the second and secondary thing is to entertain them. If comedy is deprived of its edifying element, it will turn into empty ridicule; if you take away its entertainment functions, it will cease to be a comedy and its moralizing goals will also not be achieved. In short, “the duty of comedy is to correct people by amusing them.”
The playwright perfectly understood the social significance of his satirical art. Everyone should serve people to the best of their talents. Everyone should contribute to the public welfare, but each does this depending on his personal inclinations and talents. In the comedy "Funny Primroses" Moliere very transparently hinted at what kind of theater he liked.
Moliere considers naturalness and simplicity to be the main advantages of an actor’s performance. Let us give the reasoning of the negative character in Mascarille's play. “Only the comedians of the Burgundy Hotel are able to show the product face to face,” argues Mascarille. The Burgundy Hotel troupe was the royal troupe of Paris and, therefore, recognized as the first. But Moliere did not accept her theatrical system, condemning the “stage effects” of the actors at the Burgundy Hotel, who could only “recite loudly.”
“Everyone else is ignorant, reading poetry as they say,” Mascarille develops his theory. These “rest” include the Moliere Theater. The playwright put into the mouth of Mascarille the opinions of Parisian theater conservatives, who were shocked by the simplicity and ordinariness of stage embodiment author's text at the Moliere Theater. However, according to the deep conviction of the playwright, one must read poetry exactly “as they say”: simply, naturally; and the dramatic material itself, according to Moliere, must be truthful, to put it modern language– realistic.
Moliere's thought was correct, but he failed to convince his contemporaries. Racine did not want to stage his tragedies at Moliere's theater precisely because the method of stage disclosure by actors of the author's text was too natural.
In the 18th century, Voltaire, and after him Diderot, Mercier, Seden, and Beaumarchais stubbornly fought against the pomposity and unnaturalness of classicist theater. But also to educators XVIII century failed to achieve success. Classicist theater still adhered to old forms. In the 19th century, romantics and realists opposed these forms.
Moliere's attraction to stage truth in its realistic interpretation is very obvious, and only time, tastes and concepts of the century did not allow him to develop his talent with Shakespearean breadth.
Moliere expresses interesting judgments about the essence of theatrical art in “Criticism of “A Lesson for Wives.” Theater “is a mirror of society,” he says. The playwright compares comedy with tragedy. Obviously, already in his time, the pompous classical tragedy began to bore the audience. One of the characters in the aforementioned play by Moliere declares: “at the presentation of great works there is a terrifying emptiness, at the nonsense (meaning Moliere’s comedies) - all of Paris.”
Moliere criticizes classic tragedy for its isolation from modernity, for the schematic nature of its stage images, for the far-fetched nature of its situations. In his day, no attention was paid to this criticism of the tragedy, meanwhile, in the embryo there was hidden the future anti-classicist program, which was put forward by French enlighteners in the second half of the 18th century (Diderot, Beaumarchais) and the French romantics of the first half of the 19th century.
Before us are realistic principles, as they could have been conceived in the time of Moliere. True, the playwright believed that “working from life,” “resemblance” to life, are necessary mainly in the comedy genre and do not go beyond it: “When portraying people, you write from life. Their portraits should be similar, and you have achieved nothing if they are not recognized as people of your century.”
Moliere also expresses guesses about the legitimacy of a peculiar mixture of serious and comic elements in the theater, which, in the opinion of his contemporaries and even subsequent generations, right up to the war between the romantics and the classicists in the 19th century, was considered unacceptable.
In short, Moliere is paving the way for future literary battles; but we would be sinning against the truth if we declared him the herald of theatrical reform. Moliere's ideas about the tasks of comedy do not fall outside the circle of classicist aesthetics. The task of comedy, as he imagined it, was “to give on stage a pleasant portrayal of common shortcomings.” He shows here a characteristic tendency among classicists towards the rationalistic abstraction of types.
Moliere does not at all object to the classicist rules, seeing in them a manifestation of “common sense”, “casual observations of sensible people on how not to spoil their pleasure from this kind of plays.” It was not the ancient Greeks who suggested to modern peoples the unity of time, place and action, but sound human logic, argues Moliere.
In a small theatrical joke “Impromptu Versailles” (1663), Moliere showed his troupe preparing the next performance. The actors talk about the principles of the game. We are talking about the theater of the Burgundy Hotel.
The purpose of comedy is to “accurately portray human flaws,” he says, but comedic images not portraits at all. It is impossible to create a character that does not resemble someone around him, but “you have to be crazy to look for your doubles in comedy,” says Moliere. The playwright clearly hints at the collective nature of the artistic image, saying that the features of a comedic character “can be noticed in hundreds of different faces.”
All these true thoughts, thrown in passing, will subsequently find their place in the system of realistic aesthetics.
Moliere was born for realistic theater. The sober materialistic philosophy of Lucretius, which he studied in his youth, and rich life observations during the years of his wandering life prepared him for a realistic type of creativity. The dramaturgical school of his time left its mark on him, but Moliere continually broke the shackles of the classicist canons.
The main difference between the classical system and Shakespeare's realistic methods is manifested in the method of character construction. The stage character of the classicists is predominantly one-sided, static, without contradictions or development. This is a character-idea, it is as broad as the idea embedded in it requires. The author's bias manifests itself completely straightforwardly and nakedly. Talented playwrights - Corneille, Racine, Moliere - were able to be truthful within the limits and narrow tendentiousness of the image, but the normativity of the aesthetics of classicism still limited them creative possibilities. They did not reach the heights of Shakespeare, and not because they lacked talent, but because their talents often conflicted with established aesthetic norms and retreated before them. Moliere, who worked on the comedy “Don Juan” hastily, not intending it to last for a long time stage life, allowed himself to violate this basic law of classicism (staticity and one-linearity of the image), he wrote in accordance not with theory, but with life and his author’s understanding, and created a masterpiece, a drama in highest degree realistic.
THE LIFE AND CREATIVE WAY OF MOLIERE
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (01/15/1622, Paris - 02/17/1673, Paris), who went down in literary history under the name Moliere, was born in 1622 in Paris. His father, Jean Poquelin, who owned a shop and workshop on one of the Parisian streets, had the hereditary title of court upholsterer. Moliere's mother also came from an old family of artisans. The father hoped that his son would continue family traditions and will become a court upholsterer - loyal servant of the king .
But the son was drawn to other paths. Already as a child he fell in love with the theater. While walking with his grandfather in Paris, the boy more than once saw performances by traveling actors on fairgrounds, folk farces full of cheerful fun and fighting fervor. The successful peasant left the selfish priest and the rapist - the aristocrat - in the cold. The young wife cleverly deceived the old despot - her husband. There were ringing slaps in the face, bursts of laughter were heard, and a biting and free “buffoonish word” rushed over the crowd.
Sometimes young Jean-Baptiste came with his father to the king's palace, where court performances were often performed. There, a completely different kind of spectacle unfolded before the boy. The poetic tirades of exalted heroes draped in antique cloaks flowed rhythmically, elegant ladies in powdered wigs performed majestically and smoothly. At this time, the glory of the “incomparable Corneille”, the author of “The Cid”, the creator of classical examples of French tragedy, began to flourish.
And the upholsterer’s son had a bold dream - to become one of these majestic stage heroes himself - to become an actor. He hid this dream from everyone, because professional actors were then treated as outcasts, pitiful vagabonds.
Moliere studied at Clermont College, one of the best educational institutions of that time. Already at school, the future playwright became acquainted with the ancient Roman comedies of Plautus and Terence. At the same time, he became deeply interested in the works of ancient materialist philosophers and even independently translated Lucretius’ poem “On the Nature of Things” into French. After graduating from college, the young man continued to educate himself. By this time, he had his first acquaintance with the philosophy of Pierre Gassendi, which had a deep influence on him.
Trying in every possible way to avoid the “hereditary” business of an upholsterer and merchant, young Slander passed the exam to become a licensee of rights. But a legal career also did not interest him, and he finally decided to openly announce to his father about his desire to become an actor. Having renounced all hereditary rights and titles, he entered into new way and chose a new name for himself - stage name - M o l e r (Moliere). Having organized a troupe of 9 people and giving it the pompous name “Brilliant Theater”, he began touring in Paris. However, the fate of Moliere's first theatrical enterprise was far from brilliant. The young troupe was unable to compete with the rich big theaters. There was a lack of money and suitable plays that could attract the attention of the public. Molière more than once had to serve short-term sentences in the Chatelet debtor's prison. Soon the “Brilliant Theater” had to be closed. But the first failure did not discourage the young enthusiast. He decided to try his luck in the provinces, where he went in 1645, joining a troupe of traveling actors.
A difficult period began in Moliere's life - thirteen years of wandering, continuous work and the unsecured existence of a wandering comedian. But these years served as a true school of life, a rich source of experience for the future playwright.
In those years, there was intense political struggle in France. Deprived of their previous liberties, the feudal lords made a last attempt to oppose absolutism. However, royal power won and became even stronger.
Moliere, observing the life around him, made his own conclusions and generalizations; he saw that the willful rapists - feudal lords and obscurantists - churchmen were deeply hostile to the people. However, in his first dramatic experiments, dating back to the early 50s, the writer’s satirical gift had not yet fully developed; it reached its peak a decade later.
Moliere began his career as a playwright, wanting to improve the affairs of his troupe, which was constantly suffering from a lack of repertoire. His first works were written in the spirit of folk farces. They did not reach us, since the plays were not yet published then. All that remains of them are their names and reviews from contemporaries. Apparently, some of them were just an outline for theatrical performance, small scripts that left room for actor improvisation.
But soon Moliere began to create independent comedies. True, he borrowed their plots from folk theater, from folk tales, and sometimes from the works of ancient authors. The playwright told his friends: “I take my goodness where I find it.” But he colored this plot outline with such bright everyday features, into conventional comic images - masks, he put such a living modern content that completely new works were obtained, distinguished by their sharpness and freshness. And the public received them with delight. The author himself talentedly performed the main comic roles their plays. The troupe's fame grew, and reviews of the theater reached the capital. Moliere's friends began to persuade the young King Louis XIV to summon the playwright and his troupe to Paris. In 1658, the first performance of Moliere's theater took place in the royal palace.
The tragedy, which was staged by a provincial troupe, did not evoke much praise, but the comedy that followed it, the farce “Doctor in Love,” was so full of cheerful fun and, moreover, so well played that it delighted the audience and aroused the approval of the king. It was decided to leave the theater in Paris.
In 1659, Moliere created his first satirical comedy, “Funny Primroses.” In this play, he sharply ridicules the passion for salon-aristocratic literature and high society morals, showing the harm that it brings to society.
The growing success of Moliere's theater contributed to the fact that this mute enmity gradually turned into a real war, declared by the reactionaries against the playwright - the accuser. They are trying to harm Moliere, to silence him. In 1660, taking advantage of the king's absence, they expel the troupe from the premises it occupied. However, these attempts came to nothing.
In 1661, Moliere wrote and staged a new comedy, “A Lesson for Husbands,” and the next year, 1662, “A Lesson for Wives.” In both of these plays, and especially poignantly in the second of them, Moliere rebels against the despotism of husbands, based on material dependence and oppression of women, against the suppression of natural inclinations in the name of monetary interest.
The play “A Lesson for Wives” provoked fierce attacks from Moliere’s enemies, whose number was increasing. Literary battles broke out around comedy. The playwright's enemies tried in every possible way to discredit her, attacking her realistic features. The authors of numerous lampoons and parodies of Moliere's play tried to prove that it was rude, written to please the low mob.
But the playwright gave a worthy rebuff to his enemies, striking them with literary weapons. One after another, with extraordinary speed, he created two comic plays: “Criticism of a Lesson for Wives” and “Impromptu at Versailles.” Responding to slanderers and ill-wishers in them, Moliere shows the inconsistency of their attacks and at the same time expresses his views on the tasks of comedy, emphasizing the social educational role this genre and giving it a new social understanding. “If in all old comedies you can always find a cheerful servant who makes the audience laugh, then in modern plays a hilarious marquis is needed for general entertainment,” says Moliere.
The enemies, defeated in literary battles, began to pester the playwright with personal attacks and dirty slander on his private life. But they failed to break Moliere. In struggle and polemics, his satirical talent developed more and more widely and became stronger.
In 1664, Moliere created his great comedy “Tartuffe”, in which he directs his attack against the clergy, selfish and predatory hypocrites who oppress and corrupt French society under the pretext of its moral correction. The comedy was staged at Versailles during the magnificent palace festivities, called “The Amusements of the Magic Island.” Moliere was also involved in the design of these royal entertainments. But the playwright used the Versailles gardens as a platform for his new bold satirical performance. The indignation of the churchmen and reactionaries was indescribable. A whole “conspiracy of saints” was organized against the playwright, and they achieved the banning of comedy.
Moliere's long struggle for Tartuffe began. He writes a petition addressed to the king, in which he states: “The Tartuffes managed to cleverly ingratiate themselves into the trust of Your Majesty, and the originals achieved the prohibition of the copy.” But the statement did not help, Moliere remade the play.
The king allowed the comedy to be staged in its new version. But the Archbishop of Paris banned the performance and viewing of the “heretical” comedy under threat of excommunication.
In the midst of the struggle for Tartuffe, Moliere wrote two wonderful comedies - satires: Don Juan (1665) and The Misanthrope. In the first of them, under the guise of the legendary seducer of women's hearts, Don Juan, he painted a typical image of a French aristocrat, exposing his moral corruption.
“Don Juan” is one of the most realistic works of Moliere, despite the features of convention and even fantasy that pass into the play from the legend (the invitation of the statue of the Commander and the death of Don Juan). In this comedy, the playwright significantly deviates from the “rules”: he does not observe three unities; the images of the characters, and especially the main character, are depicted in many ways, and do not differ in the same quality characteristic of the works of representatives of classicism. In the play, Moliere raises his voice against “class morality,” which allows a noble gentleman to oppress and humiliate ordinary people with impunity. At the same time, Moliere in this comedy again directs his attacks against religious bigotry and hypocrisy.
MOLIERE (POCLIN), JEAN-BAPTISTE(Molière (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 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 the poem into French About the nature of things Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius. In 1640 he studied legal sciences at the University of Orleans, and 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 royal valet. On January 6, 1643 he refused the title of royal upholsterer. On June 30, 1643, he organized the “Brilliant Theater” together with the Bejart family; staged tragedies, tragicomedies, and pastorals; adopted the surname Molière. After a series of failures, the theater ceased to exist. With the remnants of the troupe he left for the provinces.
In 1645–1658 the troupe performed in the cities and castles of Normandy, Brittany, Poitou, Gascony and Languedoc. By 1650 Moliere had become its recognized leader. Gradually, comedy performances took a leading place in her repertoire. In competition with Italian comedians, Moliere began to compose small plays (divertimentos) 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 Is Out of Place(L'Etourdi, ou Les Contretemps); she was followed in 1656 Love spat(Le Dépit amoureux).
By 1658, Moliere's troupe had become the most popular in the French province. Thanks to the patronage of the Duke of Orleans, brother of Louis XIV, she had the opportunity to perform on October 24, 1658 in front of the royal court with the tragedy of P. Corneille Nycomed and Moliere's farce Doctor in love; Nycomed was greeted coldly, but Doctor in love created a sensation that decided the fate of the troupe: it was awarded the title of “The King's Brother Troupe” and was given the stage of the Maly Bourbon Theater. From that time on, Moliere finally abandoned tragic roles and began to play only comedic characters.
In 1659 he staged a one-act comedy in prose Funny cutesy girls(Les Précieuses 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 (). It was a resounding success, but at the same time it gave rise to many enemies in the world. From that day on, Moliere's life turned into a constant struggle with them. In 1660, the sitcom was performed with no less success. Sganarelle, or the Imaginary Cuckold(Sganarelle, ou le Cocu imaginaire), which treated the traditional theme of adultery. In the same year, the king provided the Molière troupe with the building of the Palais Royal theater.
The theater season on the new stage opened on February 4 with 1661 plays Don Garcia of Navarre, or the Jealous Prince(Dom Garcie de Navarre, ou le Prince Jaloux), but her philosophical comedy was not accepted by the general public. Successfully held in June Husband school(L'Ecole des maris), who ridiculed paternal despotism and defended the principles of natural education; it marked the author's turn to the genre of comedy of manners; The features of high comedy were already discernible in her. The first truly classic comedy was School of Wives(L'Ecole des femmes), delivered in December 1662; she was distinguished by a deep psychological elaboration of the traditional theme of family and marriage. Moliere responded to accusations of plagiarism, weak plot and bad taste in 1663 with 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 sneered at his ill-wishers (marquises, salon ladies, distinguished 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); the support of Louis XIV, who became the godfather of his first son, put an end to the gossip.
From 1664 he began to constantly participate in the organization of court festivities, writing and staging comedies and ballets: in January 1664 he was performed Forced marriage (Le Mariage force), in May - Princess of Elis(La Princesse d'Elide) And Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite(Le Tartuffe, ou l "Hypocrite), a cruel parody of religious bigotry. A scandal broke out; the king banned the performance. They even demanded that the author be sent to the stake. In the spring of 1665 he was banned and Don Juan, or the Stone Feast(Dom Juan, ou le Festin de Pierre), which had a sharply anti-clerical character. In 1666 Moliere staged a high comedy Misanthrope(Le Misanthrope), indifferently received by the general public. He continued to compose comedies, ballets and pastoral plays for court festivities. On the stage of the Palais Royal, two comedies in the style of folk farces were performed with great success, where medical science and its servants were ridiculed - Love is a healer(L'Amour médecin) And A reluctant doctor (Le Médecin malgré lui).
In August 1667, Moliere decided to present a softened version at the Palais Royal Tartuffe under a new name Deceiver(L"Imposteur), however, immediately after the premiere it was banned by the Paris Parliament. In February 1668 a comedy was played Amphitryon(Amphitryon). Then followed Georges Dandin, or The Fooled Husband(George Dandin, ou le Mari confondu), to the famous folk story about a cunning wife and a gullible husband (July 1668), and Stingy(L"Avare), in which the objects of ridicule were usury and the thirst for enrichment (September 1668).
At the beginning of 1669, Moliere achieved the lifting of the ban on Tartuffe. In 1669–1671 he staged several comedies-ballets one after another: Monsieur de Poursogniac(Monsieur de Pourceaugnac), Brilliant Lovers(Amants magnifiques), Countess d'Escarbaria(La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas) and the best of them – Tradesman in the nobility(Le Bourgeois gentilhomme), as well as tragedy-ballet Psyche(Psyche). Farcical comedy performed in May 1671 Scapin's tricks(Les Fourberies de Scapin) caused a new round of controversy - the author was accused of indulging plebeian tastes and deviating from classicist rules. In March 1672, Moliere presented the public with a high comedy Scientists women(Les Femmes savantes), ridiculing the salon's passion for science and philosophy and women's neglect of family responsibilities.
1672 turned out to be a difficult year for Moliere. Many of his friends and relatives passed away, his relationship with the king cooled; health has deteriorated significantly. In the winter of 1672–1673 he wrote his last comedy-ballet Imaginary patient(Le Malade imaginaire), where he returned to the topic of quack doctors 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 Christian rites. Only after the king's intervention was Moliere's body buried on February 21 in St. Joseph's cemetery. In 1817, his remains were transferred to the Père Lachaise cemetery.
Moliere left a rich legacy - more than 32 dramatic works written in the most various genres: farce, divertissement, comedy-ballet, pastoral, comedy of situations, comedy of manners, domestic comedy, high comedy, etc. He constantly experimented, created new forms and transformed old ones. His first experience as a playwright was a divertissement, combining medieval farce with Italian commedia dell'arte. Madcap And Love spat became the first major ones (in five acts) verse comedies with a detailed 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 big comedies ( Tartuffe, Monsieur de Poursogniac, Tradesman in the nobility), but also constantly returned to the farcical form in one-act and three-act comedies ( Funny cutesy girls, Scapin's tricks, Forced marriage, Love is a healer, A reluctant doctor).
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, which meets classicist rules: five-act structure, poetic form, unity of time, place and action, intrigue based on a clash of views, intellectual characters ( School of Wives, Tartuffe, Don Juan, Misanthrope, Stingy, Scientists women). Scientists women considered an example of classicism comedy genre, whereas Don Juan goes beyond the classical rules - it is written in prose, all three unities are violated in it. The essential feature of high comedy was the tragic element, 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 poetic word, music and dance. He gave a comic interpretation to ballet allegories, dramatized dance numbers and organically included them in the action of the play ( Obnoxious, Forced marriage, Princess of Elis,Tartuffe and many others). He is seen as the herald of French opera.
Molière's comedies touch on wide circle problems modern life: relations between fathers and children, education, marriage and family, the moral state of society (hypocrisy, greed, vanity, etc.), class, religion, culture, science (medicine, philosophy), etc. This complex of topics is solved using Parisian material, with the exception of Countess d'Escarbagna, whose action takes place in the provinces. Moliere takes plots not only from real life; he draws them from ancient (Plautus, Terence) and Renaissance Italian and Spanish drama (N. Barbieri, N. Secchi, T. de Molina), as well as in French medieval folk tradition(fabliaux, farces).
The main feature of Moliere's characters is independence, activity, the ability to arrange their own happiness and their destiny in the fight against the old and outdated. Each of them has their own beliefs, own system the views that he defends before his opponent; the figure of an opponent is obligatory for a 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 as the action progresses, their characters become more complex or change (Agnès in School of wives, Argon in Tartuffe, Georges Dandin). But everyone negative characters united by one thing - violation of the measure. Measure is the main principle of classicist aesthetics. In Moliere's comedies it is identical to common sense and naturalness (and therefore morality). Their bearers are often representatives of the people (a maid in Tartuffe, Jourdain's plebeian wife The tradesman in the nobility).
By showing the imperfection of people, Moliere implements the main principle of the comedy genre - to harmonize the world and human relationships through laughter. However, in Tartuffe, Don Juan, Misanthrope(partly in School of wives And Stingily) he deviates from this principle. Evil triumphs in Misanthrope; V Tartuffe And Don Juan, although its carriers are punished, it remains essentially undefeated, because it is too deeply rooted in people’s lives. This is the deep realism of Moliere.
The work of Moliere, the great comedian, creator of classic comedy, had a huge influence not only on the dramatic art of France (Lesage, Beaumarchais), but also on the whole world dramaturgy(Sheridan, Goldoni, Lessing, etc.); in Russia his followers were Sumarokov, Knyazhnin, Kapnist, Krylov, Fonvizin, Griboyedov.
Latest publications in Russian: Moliere Jean Baptiste. Comedy. M., 1997; Plays. M., 2001.
Evgeniya Krivushina
Molière (French Molière, real name Jean Baptiste Poquelin; French 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 giving his son an education. It’s 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 became 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 theater. From several friends, the young man organized a troupe in Paris and called it “Brilliant Theater.” At that time, our own plays were not yet included in the project. Poquelin took the pseudonym Moliere and decided to try himself as a tragic actor.
The new theater was not successful and had to be closed. Moliere sets off to travel around France with a traveling troupe. Travel enriches life experience. Moliere studied the life of various classes. In 1653, he staged one of his first plays, The Madcap. The author did not yet dream of literary fame. It’s just that the troupe’s repertoire was poor.
Moliere returns to Paris in 1658. He is already an experienced actor and a mature writer. The troupe's performance in Versailles in front of the royal court was a success. The theater is left in Paris. In 1660, Moliere received 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 Moliere.
The satirical nature of Moliere's truthful comedies created many enemies for him. So, for example, both the nobility and the clergy were offended by the comedy “Tartuffe,” which denounces hypocritical saints. The comedy was either banned or allowed to be staged. Throughout his life, Moliere was haunted by intriguers. They even tried to prevent his funeral.
Moliere died on February 17, 1673. He was playing the main role in his play “The Imaginary Invalid” and felt unwell on stage. A few hours later, the great playwright died. The Archbishop of Paris prohibited the body of a “comedian” and an “unrepentant sinner” from being buried according to Christian rites.
He was buried secretly, at night, in the Saint-Joseph cemetery.
Moliere's comedies “The Misanthrope”, “Don Juan”, “The Pranks of Scapin”, “The Miser”, “The Schoolboy” and others still do not leave the stage of world theaters.
Source http://lit-helper.ru and http://ru.wikipedia.org