/ / / Analysis of Moliere’s comedy “The Bourgeois in the Nobility”
The comedy “The Tradesman in the Nobility”, written in 1670, - later work Moliere. The main theme of the plot of this work is the desire of the bourgeois to break out of the class circle to which he belongs from birth and enter high society.
The main character of the comedy is Mr. His admiration for the nobility is so strong that he tries to imitate them in everything: he dresses up in the same clothes, hires teachers to become more educated in the field of dancing, music, fencing, philosophy, and becomes a gallant admirer of one aristocratic lady. Mr. Jourdain, even at gunpoint, will not admit that his father is an ordinary merchant.
And in all of this he is insanely funny. How clumsy all these attempts to follow someone else's culture and customs look! His outfit is ridiculous: to dance classes he wears a hat right over his nightcap. And how absurd all his reasoning sounds! What makes me smile is Jourdain’s discovery that he, it turns out, speaks in prose. How accurately Moliere compares his hero, calling him a crow in peacock feathers.
Against the background of the eccentric Jourdain with his ridiculous inventions, the wife looks like a lady with a sober mind. She's even a little rude. She has no time for culture and is completely absorbed in household chores.
His family does not like this behavior of the hero: he finds a marquis groom for his daughter Lucille, completely disregarding the fact that she loves another person. But the mother stands for the happiness of the lovers, and an ingenious solution to the problem allows them to bypass the obstacle in the form of a father obsessed with the nobility.
Two servants, Koviel and Nicole, are of great importance in the play “The Bourgeois in the Nobility.” These cheerful characters bring gaiety and wit to the text. The maid critically looks at all the prejudices of her master. Koviel, Lucille’s groom’s lackey, is talented, loves to improvise and turn life into a theatrical scene. It is thanks to him that the entire action of the play resembles carnival fun. The relationship between young masters and their servants, love and quarrels, develops in parallel. The denouement involves two weddings.
Moliere's comedy corresponds to the trinity in it: place (the action takes place in the house of Mr. Jourdain), time (all events take one day) and action (in the center there is one event around which everything moves). And each of the characters is the bearer of one trait in its satirical reinterpretation.
But still, deviations from the classics can also be found. The unity of action is not maintained so clearly: love theme, which becomes peripheral, but no less interesting. The language of comedy is also noteworthy; it is close to folk. And the main difference is the ballet numbers. Moliere himself designated the genre of his work as comedy-ballet. Moreover, these numbers do not in any way affect the realism of the entire plot. They even emphasize it. All the characters in the play are artistic; in time with the text, they either approach each other, then move away and disperse in different angles rooms, as if performing some unusual dance.
So, the play “The Bourgeois in the Nobility” by Moliere - unusual work, going beyond the usual canons. And its production is difficult. Although it is based on an everyday plan, the comedy is difficult to compare with the plays of realist authors Ostrovsky and Balzac, even if written on similar themes. “A Philistine among the Nobility” is more reminiscent of improvisation than an exposure of vices. And when pressed on satire, all the incomparable notes of Moliere are lost. Its grand design can only be revealed by fully conveying the author’s unique style.
In 1670, Moliere wrote the comedy-ballet “The Tradesman among the Nobility.” Summary and characteristics of the main characters of the work are presented in this article. Let's start with a summary.
Jourdain decides to become a nobleman
One gentleman, an honorable bourgeois, seemingly has everything one could want - money, health, family. However, he decided to become a noble gentleman. "What is the main character's name?" - you ask. Mister Jourdain. It is he who main character works, begins the pursuit of aristocracy. To do this, he hires teachers and tailors, who must make him a nobleman. Moreover, each of them wants to cheat Jourdain, paying exorbitant compliments to his education, talent and taste.
Jourdain's activities from the comedy "The Tradesman in the Nobility" (Molière)
A summary of his activities is as follows. The author describes how Julien invites those present to evaluate his extravagant robe. There is, of course, no limit to the teachers’ admiration, because the amount of money he receives from him depends on what assessment he gives to the owner’s taste. Everyone invites Jourdain to dance and play music - what noble gentlemen do. The dancer begins to teach the minuet to the tradesman, and the musician insists on the need for weekly home concerts.
However, the graceful movements of the main character are interrupted by the fencing teacher. He says that his particular subject is the science of sciences. The teachers, carried away by the argument, came to the point of assault. The philosophy teacher, who arrived a little later, tried, at Jourdain’s request, to reconcile the fighting. However, as soon as he advised everyone to take up philosophy, the most important of the sciences, he himself found himself drawn into a fight.
The philosopher, rather shabby, nevertheless began his lesson. However, the tradesman refused to engage in logic and ethics. Then the teacher began to talk about pronunciation, and this caused Jourdain’s childish joy. His delight at discovering the fact that he spoke in prose was truly great. An attempt to improve the text of the note addressed to the lady of the heart failed. Bourgeois decided to leave his option, considering it the best.
New suit and failed attempts to impress
The tailor who came was more important than all the sciences, and the philosopher was forced to retreat. Jourdain had a new suit made according to the latest fashion. Generously seasoned with flattery (“Your Grace”), it significantly emptied Jourdain’s wallet.
His sober-minded wife spoke out decisively against her husband walking through the streets of Paris, since he had already become a laughing stock in the city. The desire to impress the maid and wife with the fruits of training did not bring success. Nicole calmly said “y”, and then, without any rules, pricked her master with her sword.
Visit of Count Dorant
Let's continue the retelling. "The Bourgeois in the Nobility" is a work that further describes the visit of Count Dorant, Jourdain's new "friend". This is a liar and a squandered rogue. Entering the living room, the count noticed that he was talking in the royal chambers about the owner of the house. Dorant has already borrowed 15,800 livres from a gullible bourgeois and has now come to borrow another 2,000. In gratitude for this, he decides to establish the amorous affairs of his “friend” with the Marchioness Dorimena, the woman for whom the dinner party is being held.
Unsuccessful matchmaking and Koviel's idea
The tradesman's wife is worried about the fate of her daughter. The fact is that the young man Cleonte asks for the girl’s hand, to whom Lucille reciprocates. Nicole (the maid) brings the groom to Jourdain. He sees his daughter as either a duchess or a marquise, so he refuses the young man. Cleont is in despair, but Koviel, his nimble servant, who, by the way, is vying for Nicole’s hand, volunteers to help his master. He is planning something that will lead the intractable tradesman to agree to marriage.
Pleasing the Marquise
Dorant and Dorimena enter. The count brings the widowed marquise to Jourdain’s house not at all to please the gullible tradesman. He has been pursuing her for a long time, and he benefits from the crazy spending of the crazy Jourdain, which he attributes to himself.
The Marquise happily sits down at a luxurious table and eats delicious dishes to the compliments of Jourdain, this strange man. The mistress of the house appears and disturbs the splendid atmosphere with her anger. Her husband assures her that it is the count who is giving lunch. However, Madame Jourdain does not believe her husband. Offended by the accusations made by the mistress of the house against her, Dorimena, and with her Dorant, decide to leave the house.
Initiation into "mamamushi"
What does Moliere talk about next in the comedy “The Bourgeois in the Nobility”? The summary will help you remember or learn about what happened after Dorimena and Dorant left. A new guest appears in the house. This is Koviel in disguise. He talks about how Jourdain's father was supposedly a real nobleman, and not a merchant. After this statement, he can safely hang noodles on the ears of the tradesman. Koviel talks about how the son of the Turkish Sultan came to the capital. Seeing Lucille, he is mad with love and certainly wants to marry this girl. However, before this, he longs to initiate his future father-in-law into a “mamamushi” (Turkish nobleman).
Cleontes, in disguise, appears as the son of the Turkish Sultan. He speaks in gibberish, and Koviel translates it into French. This is accompanied by songs, dances, and Turkish music. According to the ritual, the future "mamamushi" is beaten with sticks.
Final
What kind of ending has Moliere prepared for the reader of “The Bourgeois in the Nobility”? We will try to summarize it briefly, without missing the main thing. Dorimena and Dorant return to the house. They seriously congratulate the tradesman on the high title he has received. The “nobleman” wants to quickly marry his daughter to the son of the Turkish Sultan. Recognizing her lover in disguise as a Turkish jester, Lucille meekly agrees to carry out her father’s will. Koviel in a whisper introduces Madame Jourdain to the essence of the matter, and after that she changes her anger to mercy. Father's blessing received. A messenger is sent for a notary. Dorimena and Dorant also decided to use his services. While waiting for the legal representative required to register marriages, guests watch a ballet choreographed by a dance teacher.
The requirements of the era and the innovation carried out by Jean Baptiste Moliere
"The Tradesman in the Nobility" is a work that was written in the 17th century. It was an era that demanded compliance with the trinity of action, place and time. They were strictly followed by the classical literature of the time. In addition, genres were divided into “low” (comedies) and “high” (tragedies). Classic literature had to follow the following rule in the depiction of heroes: each of them fully illuminated one or another character trait (negative or positive), which was either ridiculed or elevated to virtue.
However, Moliere, observing in basic terms the requirements of the era, stepped into realism. Departing from the examples of classic literature of that time, he, in the person of Jourdain, ridiculed the huge layer of wealthy bourgeois who inhabited the cities, who were eager to upper classes society. In order to emphasize how absurd and funny these upstarts who strive to get into other people’s sleighs are, the satirist created a comedy-ballet, completely new genre. Like some other classics of literature (Pushkin, Gogol, etc.), he is an innovator of form.
An episode from the life of Louis XIV, which became the basis of the comedy
Moliere wrote "The Bourgeois among the Nobility" for Louis XIV, the French king, who was greatly offended by the Turkish ambassador’s remark that the Sultan’s horse was decorated much more elegantly and richly than the king’s horse. Jourdain's mocking and stupid initiation into "mamamushi", the dances of dancers dressed as Turks - all this makes you laugh at what vanity does to a person, what a fool it turns him into. It is especially ugly where people rely on accumulated wealth. In fact, no amount of capital will displace the nobility of the family and the born aristocracy from the first roles. This is what Moliere wanted to show ("The Bourgeois in the Nobility"). The heroes depicted by him serve to reveal this idea.
Jourdain's image
His vainglorious desire to become a member of the noble class makes money not only from false teachers who assure the protagonist of his success in education, but also from Dorant, a cunning and selfish count who borrowed substantial sums from a tradesman, blinded by his desire, and does not intend to return them. Jourdain, who believes that he is obliged to have a lady of his heart, gives the Marquise Dorimena a diamond through Dorant. Dorimena believes that this is a gift from the count. And it is to the Count that she attributes the ballet performance and the gourmet dinner.
This “philistine among the nobility” is especially funny in his uncomfortable, but supposedly noble, costumes. The main characters laugh at him, but not only them: the maid, the teachers, and everyone around him. The culmination is the initiation into "mamamushi", played out by Koviel, Jourdain's servant, disguised as a Turk. The newly-made “mamamushi” cannot refuse the “son of the Turkish Sultan” to celebrate. He agrees to the marriage of his daughter, as well as the marriage of the servants.
The merchant, prudent and energetic, dexterous and intelligent, seemed to have lost all these qualities when he decided to gain the nobility for himself. We feel sorry for him when he has to fight off ridicule and he explains that he is striving for the title for the sake of his daughter. Practically uneducated, who worked a lot in life, but did not have the opportunity to comprehend science, the tradesman realized the squalor own life and decided to provide a better future for his daughter. This effort, however, did not bring any good to her or Jourdain himself. The girl was almost separated from her lover. Vanity is a bad helper in the desire to improve one's position in society.
Jourdain's wife
Jourdain's wife always evokes a positive response from the reader. “The Bourgeois in the Nobility” is a work in which a true representative of the nobility is depicted in her person. She is a practical, sensible woman with self-esteem. She tries with all her might to resist her husband’s mania. All her actions are aimed at driving out uninvited guests who live at the expense of Jourdain and use his vanity and gullibility for their own purposes. Unlike her husband, she has no respect for the title of nobility and prefers to marry her daughter to common man, who would not look down on her bourgeois relatives.
Nobility in comedy
The nobility in the comedy is represented by two characters: Marchioness Dorimena and Count Dorant. The latter has a captivating appearance, refined manners, and noble origin. However, at the same time, he is a swindler, a poor adventurer, ready for any meanness for the sake of money, not excluding pimping. He calls Mr. Jourdain a dear friend. This man is ready to praise him appearance, manners. Dorant “admits” that he really wanted to see Jourdain. Then, having bribed him with crude flattery, he asks to borrow more money. Acting like a subtle psychologist, Dorant notes that many people would gladly give him a loan, but he was afraid of offending Jourdain by asking someone else. This conversation is overheard by the tradesman’s wife, so they won’t disclose it here. real reasons, which gave rise to a strange friendship between Jourdain and Dorant. Alone with the tradesman, the count reports that the marquise reacted favorably to his gift. It immediately becomes clear that Jourdain is trying to be like a nobleman not only in his manners and manners, but also in his “passion” for the Marquise, trying to attract her attention with gifts. However, the count is also in love with Dorimena and uses Jourdain’s means, his gullibility and stupidity in order to achieve the favor of the marquise.
So, in general outline the topic of interest to us has been revealed. “The Bourgeois in the Nobility” is a work that can be analyzed in more detail. Based on the information presented and the original comedy, you can do this yourself. Discover features works of art always interesting.
Gave the brightest satirical image the wealthy bourgeois Jourdain, who admires the nobility and dreams of infiltrating the aristocratic environment. He tries to dress up in noble clothes, hires teachers of music, dancing, fencing and philosophy; having lost all dignity, he does not want to admit that his father was a merchant; he makes friends with nobles and, what is funniest of all, tries to play the role of a gallant admirer of an aristocratic lady.
Moliere. A tradesman among the nobility. Teleplay. Episode 1
His whims threaten his family with troubles: he wants to marry his daughter Lucille to the marquis and refuses the man she loves because he is not a nobleman. Only a witty invention helps lovers overcome this obstacle.
The humor of the main character, outwardly, seems to lie in his ignorance and clumsy imitation of an alien culture: his tasteless outfit, the hat he puts on over his nightcap for dancing lessons, his naive reasoning during lessons are ridiculous. So, with great surprise, he learns that he has been speaking in prose for forty years. Moliere emphasizes his comic appearance as a crow in peacock feathers.
At the same time, the emptiness and worthlessness of the culture that Jourdain longs to join also clearly emerges. This is especially clearly expressed in the empty scholastic rantings of the philosophy teacher, in the cartoonishly pretentious style that he tries to impose on Jourdain by writing a love note with him.
The human characters presented by Moliere in this comedy are diverse.
Jourdain's absurd inventions are contrasted with the sobriety and common sense of his wife, Madame Jourdain. However, outraged by her husband’s admiration for high society, she herself is far from any cultural interests, rather rude; her whole world is closed in the circle of prosaic household chores.
The cheerful, mischievous servant Nicole, just as mockingly as Dorina in Tartuffe, treats her master’s prejudices. She also seeks to protect his daughter’s love from her father’s tyranny. Two servants play an important role in the play - she and Koviel, a witty, merry fellow, lackey of Cleonte, Lucille's fiancé. They bring a cheerful tone to the comedy. Moliere turns the theme of love and quarrels between Nicole and Coviel into a funny parallel to the relationship between their masters. As a denouement, two weddings are planned.
Moliere showed himself to be a master here comedic intrigue, providing rich opportunities for creating a fun scenic spectacle. Ballet was successfully introduced into the play. It's not easy dance number, but an organic part of the developing comedy action, to some extent conventional, theatrical.
We must not forget that “The Bourgeois in the Nobility” is a comedy of classicism, and not domestic comedy and everything in it develops according to the laws of this genre. The remarks exchanged between the participants in the play are witty, especially in those scenes where Jourdain performs. Many of these remarks have become part of everyday life. French speech, have become catchphrases.
The comedy "The Bourgeois in the Nobility" was written by Moliere at the request of Louis XIV. The background to its creation is as follows. When the Turkish embassy arrived in Paris in 1699, the king received it with fabulous luxury. However, the Turks, with their Muslim reserve, did not express any admiration for what they saw | splendor. Moreover, the Turkish ambassador stated that on his master’s horse precious stones more than the king of France.
The offended king wanted to see a spectacle on the theater stage in which Turkish ceremonies would be ridiculed. This was the external point to the creation of the play. Initially, Moliere came up with the scene of initiation into the rank of “mamamushi”, approved by the king, from which the entire plot of the comedy later grew. However, subsequently, the talented playwright changed the original plan and the comedy, ceasing to be a satire on Turkish customs, became a satire on the modern morals of the nobility and the ignorance of the petty bourgeois. At the center of the comedy is the narrow-minded and vain tradesman Jourdain, who at all costs wants to become a nobleman. He, like thousands of bourgeois like him, is trying to assimilate noble manners, language and morals, to get closer to those from whom his noble origin separated him.
The nobility, which was experiencing economic and moral decline at that time, still retained the authority that had developed over many centuries. The nobles remained masters of the situation in the state, having neither the moral right nor the material capabilities to do so. They could boast of their glorious ancestors, secular manners, closeness to the reigning person, but nothing more: in reality, over time, their place should have been taken by representatives of the bourgeoisie.
In the comedy, the nobility is represented by two characters: Count Dorant and the Marchioness of Dorimena. Count Dorant has a noble origin, refined manners, and captivating appearance. But at the same time, he is a poor adventurer, a swindler, ready for any meanness, even pimping, for the sake of money. He calls Mr. Jourdain a dear friend. He is ready to praise his manners, his appearance: “You look impeccable in this suit. We don't have one at our court young man, who would be as complex as you.” Dorant "admits" that he had an unusual strong desire to see Jourdain, moreover, he put in a word about him in the royal bedchamber. Then, having bribed him with rude flattery, the count kindly inquires about the size of his debt, and then shamelessly asks for another loan. Acting like a subtle psychologist, Dorant says that many people would gladly lend him money, “... but you are mine best friend“, he says to Jourdain, “and I was afraid that I would offend you if I asked someone else.” This conversation takes place in front of Jourdain’s wife, so the true reasons that gave rise to the friendship between the nobleman and the tradesman are not revealed here. Alone with Jourdain, Dorant reports that the marquise reacted favorably to his gift, and then it turns out that Jourdain not only strives to be like a nobleman in his manners and demeanor, in addition to everything, he was also inflamed with an “unearthly passion” for the most lovely marquise and, following the advice of the count pimp , tried to attract her attention with gifts. However, the count himself is in love with Dorimena, and, being strapped for money, uses Jourdain’s means and capabilities, as well as his stupidity and gullibility, with only one goal - to achieve the favor of the marquise himself.
Depicting the bourgeoisie, Moliere divides them into three groups: those who were characterized by patriarchy, inertia, and conservatism; people of a new type, with a sense of self-respect, and, finally, those who imitate the nobility.
The first group in the comedy includes Jourdain’s wife, a true representative of the nobility. She is a sensible, practical woman with self-esteem. She is trying with all her might to resist her husband’s mania, his inappropriate claims: “You are obsessed with all these fads, hubby. And this began for you from the moment you decided to associate with important gentlemen.” All efforts of Madame Jourdain are aimed at clearing the house of uninvited guests who live at the expense of her husband and use his gullibility and vanity for their own purposes: “That’s it, drive your teachers in the neck with all their gibberish.” Although Madame Jourdain did not take fencing lessons, she boldly fends off Count Dorant's sophisticated remarks and questions. “Where is your dear daughter? “Somehow you can’t see her,” the count panders. Madame Jourdain, not inclined to succumb to captivating flattery, replies: “My respected daughter is exactly where she is now.”
Unlike her husband, she does not have any respect for the title of nobility and prefers to marry her daughter to a man who would be her equal and would not look down on her bourgeois relatives:
* "From unequal marriage don't expect anything good. I don’t want my son-in-law to reproach my daughter with his parents and for their children to be ashamed to call me grandmother.” In this human desire for a wife, Mr. Jourdain sees the pettiness of the soul. “You should vegetate in insignificance forever,” he reproaches her.
The opportunity to get closer to noble people is happiness for him, all his ambition pushes him to achieve similarities with them, his whole life is a desire to imitate them. The thought of the nobility takes possession of him completely, and in his mental blindness he loses even the correct idea of the world, reaches spiritual baseness and begins to be ashamed of his parents. At the same time, Mr. Jourdain acts and argues to his own detriment. He is fooled by everyone he pleases: teachers, tailors and apprentices, Count Dorant, Cleont and his servant Koviel. The rudeness, bad manners, ignorance, vulgarity of language and manners of Mr. Jourdain contrast with his claims to noble grace and gloss. So, for example, after a philosophy lesson, without waiting for a suit from the tailor, Jourdain desperately screams:
* “May the fever torment him, this robber tailor! Damn that tailor! Damn him, this tailor!
Although just a few minutes before, Mr. Jourdain wrote a letter full of love to the marquise: “Beautiful marquise! Yours beautiful eyes they promise me death from love.” Despite all this, Jourdain evokes genuine laughter rather than disgust. Unlike other bourgeois upstarts, he worships the nobility disinterestedly, out of ignorance, as a kind of dream of beauty.
Jourdain's daughter Lucille and her fiancé Cleont are people of a new type. Lucille received good upbringing, she loves Cleontes for his virtues. Therefore, not knowing about the idea of her lover and his servant, she is sincerely indignant and resists her father’s attempt to marry her to the son of the Turkish Sultan: “No, father, I have already told you that there is no force that would force me to marry anyone.” anyone other than Cleont." Cleont is noble not by origin, but by character, he is honest, truthful, loving. He claims that being ashamed of your parents, pretending to be someone other than who you really are, is a sign of spiritual baseness. Cleont is sure that only a person’s spiritual nobility and his reasonable behavior in society are true. In his opinion, any deception casts a shadow on a person.
The image of Cleont embodied the ideal of classicism: only one who in his behavior was guided by the requirements of reason and proceeded from what was considered good could be a truly noble person. The fact that in the finale of the comedy Jourdain fell for the trick of the reasonable Cleont and his resourceful servant Koviel was supposed to indicate the superiority of reason: Jourdain agreed to his daughter’s marriage. Justice has prevailed.
1. Moliere and the traditions of classicism.
2. The background to the creation of the comedy “A Bourgeois in the Nobility.”
3. The image of the main character of the comedy.
4. Other comedy characters.
I know this kind of pompous asses:
Empty as a drum, and so many loud words!
They are slaves of names. Just make up a name for yourself
And any of them is ready to crawl in front of you.
O. Khayyam
Moliere is a writer of the 17th century. In art and literature at that time, the principles of classicism dominated, among which the most important were: adherence to the “three unities” - time, place and action - as well as the strict division of literary genres into “high” and “low”. In accordance with this, the speech of heroes of works of “high” genres, for example, tragedy, is very different from each other from the speech of heroes of comedy, which was considered a “low” genre. Characters literary works The era of classicism is not yet multifaceted characters, but the embodiment of some pronounced quality, positive or negative. According to the ideas of the classicists, the depiction of human vices was intended to expose and correct them.
Moliere, of course, was a son of his century and organically adopted some ideas of classicism; however, many of his works can be regarded as a step towards realism. Why? The fact is that in Moliere's comedies there is often a mixture of genres. Another innovation that the playwright introduced was comedy-ballet - it is to this genre that “The Bourgeois in the Nobility” belongs.
It is interesting to note that this comedy was created by Molière on the order of the French king Louis XIV, angry at the careless remark of the Turkish ambassador. He dared to declare that the horse of his master, the Turkish Sultan, was decorated richer and more elegantly than that of the King of France. The Sun King, as Louis XIV was nicknamed, first put the daring Turk under arrest, and then completely expelled him from his possessions. Wanting to expose the Turks to ridicule, the king commissioned Moliere to play a play with this plot.
The playwright carried out the orders of his king; however, Moliere went much further. The amusing dance of mummers portraying Turks and Jourdain’s ridiculous dedication to mamamushi is a funny scene that, of course, should have caused laughter among the king and his entourage. But Moliere chose human vanity as the main object for irony. In addition, the playwright shows in his comedy the ever-increasing power of capital, which over time will push the nobility into the background. But this is still somewhere in the distance, but for now the rich bourgeois Jourdain desperately dreams of being considered a nobleman. And whatever he would do, just to be noble! “I would allow two fingers on my hand to be cut off, if only I could be born a count or a marquis,” sighs Jourdain. However, such a transformation, naturally, is unlikely to take place. But Jourdain, with the tenacity of a successful businessman, rushes towards his goal - to enter the society of nobles. For this he does not feel sorry for any money. He constantly supplies Count Dorant with money, who, out of self-interest, indulges Jourdain’s eccentricities. The cunning count praises him, and he, already in seventh heaven, does not notice that he actually looks funny. But his family vying with each other keeps telling him about it! In fact: Jourdain is no longer a young man, since he has an adult daughter, and yet this venerable father of the family hires people who would teach him all the intricacies of court manners. Of course, there is nothing wrong with a thirst for knowledge, however, wanting to be elegant and irresistible, Jourdain looks funnier and funnier. Bowing to the Marquise Dorimena, Jourdain tries at all costs to do it the way the dance teacher taught him, so he asks the amazed lady to step back - otherwise he will not be able to make the third bow.
Vanity drowns out the voice of common sense in Jourdain; Moreover, he does not want to listen to those who are trying to bring him back to reality. He feels uncomfortable in tight stockings and tight shoes, and his family laughs at his new suit. But since the tailor and the count say that it is so fashionable at court, Jourdain willingly endures the inconvenience and brushes off the ridicule of his wife and maid.
But highest point Jourdain's grotesque vanity reaches after the clownish initiation into mamamushi. He seriously imagines that he has been given the title of nobility and is now a Turkish nobleman. But it is obvious that Jourdain was not always so divorced from reality and trusting of everyone who flattered him. If this person did not have such qualities as prudence, ingenuity, and practicality, it is unlikely that he would have been able to get rich by engaging in trade. But vanity has so blinded the clever merchant that he becomes a laughing stock for those around him and an easy prey for flatterers who use him for their own selfish purposes.
However, the satire of Molière's comedy is directed not only against arrogant bourgeois who are ready to acquire a noble title for money. Nobleman Dorant also does not look very attractive. Taking advantage of the eccentricity of his tradesman friend, the count not only constantly borrows money from him, all the time promising to repay the debt very soon. Noticing Jourdain's far-fetched passion for the Marquise Dorimena (for the respectable tradesman, her main charm is that she is a noble lady), the count offers his friend his help. Not a very honest move, given the fact that Dorant himself wants to earn Dorimena’s favor and marry her; Moreover, the count from own name presents the Marquise with a diamond, which Jourdain asked him to give her as a gift. The same goes for the dinner and ballet given in honor of the Marquise Jourdain. Through the efforts of the Count, the Marquis believes that he arranged all this himself. Of course, she likes Dorant and is worried that he spends so much on her, so she agrees to marry him. Meanwhile, the count not only did not spend anything from his own pocket, but also constantly borrows money from Jourdain. It must be admitted that the count knows how to gain the trust of people and deftly use it for his own purposes, but there is no smell of nobility, which was once customary to ascribe to nobles.
Jourdain's teachers are also depicted satirically. Everyone strives to assure others that what he is doing is the most necessary thing, and everything else is nonsense. In glorifying their craft, teachers reach the point of absurdity: “Without dancing, a person would not be able to do anything”; “All strife, all wars on earth arise solely from ignorance of music.” And it ends with the learned men - the dance teacher, the music teacher and the fencing teacher - starting a rough squabble. When a philosophy teacher intervenes in their dispute and declares that only philosophy brings the light of wisdom, and their studies “are not worthy of the honor of being called ... arts,” the indignant disputants unite and attack him with their fists. It is interesting to note that teachers, like Jourdain, are also driven by vanity. Just as Jourdain wants to rise above the people of his class and look down on them, so each of the teachers wants to be considered the best by his colleagues at work.