The film Moliere, while loosely based on actual historical facts from the life of Jean Baptiste Poquelin, gave the viewer a clear idea of how his comedic genius shaped up French literature and consequently, Western literature. After performing for 13 or so years in provinces, Moliere and his troupe returned to Paris as they were slated to do a satire for aristocrats and higher class people. His reluctance at first to play another satire gave the impression that he was burned out from sticking to one genre which is comedy. Poquelin seemed to want to diversify his work and explore more of his abilities in his chosen craft. He told his troupes that they were going to perform a tragedy and subtly begged the monsieur to let them veer away a little from the usual subject matter.
This did not materialize as the movie flashes back to his early days as a playwright actor. Moliere was known as not being too popular with the Roman Catholic Church, as some of his famous works portrayed Church officials as
…show more content…
But while it was his talent that led to his troupe’s large theater debts, his talent was also what gave him amnesty. His services were required by a certain wealthy man by the name of Mr. Jourdain. Jourdain was already married and had a daughter, but he wanted to hire Moliere as his acting coach in order to perform for a lady named Célimène that he wanted to court. The unique style of Moliere was exemplified in the film, through Jourdain’s acting lessons from the playwright. While Jourdain preferred to utilize big and dramatic words in composing content for his play, Moliere showed him how being as simple as possible in expressing himself can make his performance more special. He told Jourdain of a story about writing the proper way: “Beware of the itch to write. An excess of enthusiasm sometimes leads to exaggeration and affectedness. When it comes to writing, simplicity is often your best
In the plot, Cleante is Orgon’s brother-in-law and his main characteristic is being the person who plays the voice of reason in the chaotic situation. To prove this, the journal article titled “The Explicator,” describes Cleante as having the “‘ability to see things clearly is reflected in his ironic comments to Tartuffe’” (Saur 10). Because of this characteristic, Cleante can be viewed as the character who channels Moliere’s thoughts regarding religion. In the journal article, Saur discusses the extent to which Cleante is a “‘mouthpiece of the author’” (9). Saur’s comment can be proven true with relative ease. For example, Cleante discusses with Orgon about Tartuffe, stating “I’m talking about those sanctimonious fellows who use religious zeal to fatten their bank accounts, who attach themselves to the Court while preaching austerity, who adjust their piety to fit their vices. (Moliere 18). In this excerpt, Cleante refers to Tartuffe as a deceptive person who manipulate others by using religion as an excuse. As discussed previously, Moliere makes reference to the real life counterpart, the Cabale des Devots, who uses Christianity as an excuse to carry out their devious plans. In addition, The author inserts himself indirectly into the story by utilizing Cleante as a way to address his opponents’ criticism.
The Return of Martin Guerre, written by Natalie Zemon Davis, is the tale of a court case that takes place in sixteenth century France. Martin Guerre is a peasant who deserted his wife and family for many years. While Martin Guerre is gone, a man named Arnaud du Tilh arrives at Martin’s village and claims to be Martin Guerre. Bertrande, who is Guerre’s wife, Guerre’s sisters, and many of the villagers, accepts the imposter. After almost three years of being happily married, Bertrande takes the fraud to court under pressure of Pierre Guerre, her stepfather and Guerre’s brother. Arnaud du Tilh is almost declared innocent, but the real Martin Guerre appears in the courthouse. Throughout this tale, many factors of the peasant life are highlighted. The author gives a very effective and detailed insight to a peasant’s life during the time of Martin Guerre. Davis does a successful job of portraying the peasant lifestyle in sixteenth century France by accentuating the social, cultural, and judicial factors of everyday peasant life.
In Molière’s play, Tartuffe, there is a sense of honor that the king receives although he is not in the actual play. Often times in the 17th century, when this play was published, the king of the country had to sponsor the plays in order for them to be performed. Tartuffe conforms to this because Molière nearly writes the entire last scene to honor King Louis XIV. This shows that he wanted to flatter the king and therefore achieve his approval. By flattering the king, Molière even achieved overriding Cardinal Chigi, who hated the play. He does this by providing examples of King Louis XIV’s strength, experience and attentiveness. Overall, the king was Molière’s strongest supporter. Molière shows how the play is monetary dependent on the King
The “beautiful young woman” began to show her stubborn ways early. According to the reading, Bertrande was concerned more about putting aside her wifely duties than to ruin her reputation and independence (27-28). When Martin abandoned Bertrande, she was left without a defined position in the village social structure. Being the honest women that Coras said she was, Bertrande would not separate from Martin, and under Catholic law she could not remarry unless there was strong proof of death. The values that Bertrande grew up with showed that she never saw herself leaving village customs (32). Though the devastating experience of Martin leaving left her weak and yearning for a husband, she lived “virtuously and honorably” through her “stiff-necked sense of herself and her reputation” (34).
He may even have been the first to sing the tragic love of Tristan and Isolde. One of Chretein de Troyes’ works, Chevalier de la Charette (The Knight of the Cart) expresses the doctrines of courtly love in its most developed form. The plot of this story is believed to have been given to him by Marie of Champagne and has been called “the perfect romance” for its portrayal of Queen Guinevere’s affair with Lancelot of the Lake.1
Bertrande de Rols and Martin Guerre got married for the benefit of their families (Davis 17). Bertrande and Martin were not interested in each other, which caused their relationship to be so unfulfilling that the village began to humiliate them for their lack of conceiving a child (Davis 20). Bertrande also had to face Artigat customs, which were made in favor of men. For example, the marriage contract was based on the husband’s wishes and a woman expected to be “a good farm wife” (Davis 31). Despite the terrible experience with Martin, she refused “to have her marriage dissolved,” which in turn did not lead to another arranged marriage and “wifely duties” (Davis 28). Thus, her terrible experience with Martin influenced her to make the best out of the marriage and to keep a virtuous reputation. Her actions allowed her to have more personal choice and time to enjoy the life she lost at an early age, because she did not try to conceive with Martin for some
In speeches such as these, Moliere wanted to get across the fact that it was false piety he was condemni...
Cyrano De Bergerac by Edmond Rostand was a brilliant comedic, satiric play based on the intense romantic literature in 1600s France. Rostand mocked dozens of human frailties and social issues. Rostand really hit hard when he criticized issues like love, pride, war, and poetry. At the time Cyrano De Bergerac was written, France was riddled with over-romanticized literature. Rostand wrote a classic, beloved play, while also criticizing the major social and human issues of the time. People were overly concentrated on looks and pride, and that demeaned their character. Rostand realized this, and mocks it, showing people that they were too caught up on meaningless things. Rostand used Cyrano De Bergerac to mock human and social issues like love, poetry, war, and pride.
In Simone de Beauvoir's The Woman Destroyed, the reader is given a deep psychological portrait of a women's failing marriage. Not only does Beauvoir show us the thoughts and confidences of one beset by inner turmoil, she also portrays for us the marriage as it appears from the outside. The main character in The Woman Destroyed is the narrator Monique. She has been married to her husband Maurice for over twenty years and is trying to keep herself emotionally together after the realization that he is having an affair. Other characters the author introduces are the couple's two daughters, Colette and Lucienne. Colette has recently married and moved out of her parent's house. Lucienne, the younger of the two children, has moved to America to live an independent life from her family.
“Ten years later he had consolidated his position by obtaining sole rights over all dramatic performances with singing.”(Sadie 2000 pg. 166) “Any production not affiliated with The Academie Royale was limited to two singers and six players.” (Jean Baptiste Lully)
Martineau clearly had a strong political agenda in writing this story, however in doing so, she addresses the fundamental difference she sees in the roles of responsibility in marriage. In her mind, the husband and the wife have clearly defined roles, not so much along lines of production, but rather in terms of the household. That which is in the household, whether it is the domestic duties or financial responsibility, falls to the wife while it is the husband who is responsible for the income stream.
It is in the duality of Orgon, the believing subject, and Tartuffe, the manipulating hypocrite (or impostor), that Moliere takes his digs at the extremes of enthusiastic belief. Tartuffe plays the role of a man whose greedy actions are cloaked by a mask of overwhelming piety, modesty and religious fervor. Orgon is the head of a household who has taken Tartuffe in. We laugh at Orgon because everyone else (except his mother) knows that Tartuffe is a fake. All of Orgon's relatives warn him of Tartuffe's gluttony and of the false nature of his pious proclamations.
A satirical comedy is an attempt to ridicule a certain aspect of government, religion, or another aspect of society to bring about change through the use of comedy to lighten the blow. Tartuffe is a prime example of a satirical comedy. Molière used this play to point out one of the biggest flaws of organized religion during his time, religious hypocrisy. Although he may not have directly intended it to be about the Catholic Church, it was interpreted by them as such so they made the king ban it for a period of time. By making it into a play, Molière was able to reach a larger audience. People tend to enjoy plays more so due to their quick, lively nature. Plays are always changing, and they are stories being brought to life. A reader may not be interested by a short story or novella, but a play could be the very thing to draw in their attention. Molière was able to reach more people by making this into a play, therefore making the problem of religious hypocrisy more widely
The story begins with the Marquise de Merteuil corresponding with Vicomte de Valmont regarding a luscious new act of ‘revenge’, as she describes it, against the Comte de Gercourt. The young Cecile de Volanges has just come home from the convent and her marriage to Gercourt has been arranged. However, before he can wed the innocent child, Merteuil proposes Valmont ‘educate’ her, thus spoiling Gercourt’s fancy for untarnished convent girls. Valmont is uninterested in such an easy seduction and is far more aroused by the thought of lulling The Presidente’ de Tourvel, the very epitome of virtue, into submission. And so the tale unfolds.
Molière also uses Cléante to teach the importance of moderation. Cléante calls to Orgon’s attention the foolishness of his extreme actions by telling him to “Listen to yourself! You’re over the top, / Getting carried away again. Just stop. / “Moderation.” Is that a word you know? / I think you’ve learned it, but then off you go.” ( ) Orgon has not only gone to the extreme of believing in Tartuffe but after learning the truth he flipped to the extreme of believing in no one. Cléante responds to Orgon’s reaction of religion being the cause of all his troubles by questioning, “…Rather than change your ways, you turned / Like that. [Snaps fingers] Attacking holy men who’ve earned / the right to stand among the true believers. / So now all holy men are base deceivers?” Molière demonstrates with these lines that one should recognize there are truly devout religious men in the world, even though there are men like Tartuffe, who are religious impostors and take advantage of faith to deceive others. Tartuffe’s character is a representation of how Satan deludes people. In the Bible, Jesus tells his followers that Satan is out to deceive and turn people away from him. Consequently, Tartuffe’s purpose was to deceive Orgon and take everything from him, resulting in his turning against religion completely. There are people who pretend to be righteous, but this is not a reason to classify all righteous people as imposters since overreactions can lead to the wrong conclusion and disastrous results. Molière’s intent is to show that moderation is important in all areas of