Molière

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French satirical dramatist and actor. Modern French comedy developed from his work. After the collapse of the Paris-based Illustre Théâtre (of which he was one of the founders), Molière performed in the provinces 1645–58. In 1655 he wrote his first play, L'Etourdi/The Blunderer, and on his return to Paris produced Les Précieuses ridicules/The Affected Ladies (1659). His satires include L'Ecole des femmes/The School for Wives (1662), Le Misanthrope (1666), Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme/The Would-Be Gentleman (1670), and Le Malade imaginaire/The Imaginary Invalid (1673). Other satiric plays include Tartuffe (1664) (banned for attacking the hypocrisy of the clergy; revised in 1667; banned again until 1699), Le Médecin malgré lui/Doctor in Spite of Himself (1666), and Les Femmes savantes/The Learned Ladies (1672).

Molière's art marked a new departure in the French theatre away from reliance on classical Greek themes. In his comedies the ideal hero of classical tragedy gave way to the flawed human individual with all his or her foibles and vices. Molière presents his characters firmly planted in their surroundings, not detached from them, and thus illuminates the whole group to which the character belongs. His chief aim seems to have been to amuse by depicting things as they really were, in strict truthfulness to life. It is uncertain whether he had any deliberate moral designs on his audiences by his exposure of hypocrisy and cant. However, there is little room for sympathy in the amusement evoked by his characters, and this made Molière vulnerable to many attacks (from which he was protected by Louis XIV).

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