MOLIERE

MOLIERE'S LIFE

• His real name is Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, but he uses Moliere as his stage name.
• Born on January 15, 1622 in Paris, France.
• His mother died when he was 10.
• When Moliere was 21 he decided to pursue a career on the stage joining actress Madeleine Béjart.
• He wrote comedic plays.

MOLIERE'S LIFE

• Later they were imprisoned along with Madeleine's brother and sister because of debt from renting theatres.
• King Louis XIV offered him to preform at the Petit-Bourbon, where he performed his first 2 plays.

MOLIERE'S DEATH

• In 1673, he gave his last stage performance in ‘Le MaladeImaginaire’, after which he collapsed and breathed his last.
• Molière suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis, possibly contracted when he was imprisoned for debt

MOLIERE'S WORK

• Among Molière's best known works are The Misanthrope, The School for Wives, Tartuffe, The Miser, The Imaginary Invalid, and The Bourgeois Gentleman.

THE SCHOOL FOR WIVES

• first staged at the Palais Royal theatre on 26 December 1662 for the brother of the King
• considered by some critics to be one of his finest achievements.

ARNOLPHE

• Arnolphe believes that men are naturally smarter and more capable than women, yet he spends so much of his life working to create a completely ignorant woman.

ARNOLPHE

• main protagonist, is a man of 42 years who has groomed the young Agnès since the age of 4
• Arnolphe is basically a sexist, controlling, paranoid fool.

ALAIN

• a peasant, Arnolphe's manservant

GORGETTE

• a peasant woman, servant to Arnolphe

CLOTHING

• Women wore big dresses with a hoop skirt.
• Men wore capes.