The Middle-Class Gentleman aka The Shopkeeper Turned Gentleman: Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme

By Molière

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin is better known to us by his stage name of Molière. He was born in Paris, to a prosperous well-to-do family on 15th January 1622.

In 1631, his father purchased from the court of Louis XIII the posts of "valet of the King's chamber and keeper of carpets and upholstery" which Molière assumed in 1641. The benefits included only three months' work per annum for which he was paid 300 livres and also provided a number of lucrative contracts.

However in June 1643, at 21, Molière abandoned this for his first love; a career on the stage. He partnered with the actress Madeleine Béjart, to found the Illustre Théâtre at a cost of 630 livres.

Unfortunately despite their enthusiasm, effort and ambition the troupe went bankrupt in 1645.

Molière and Madeleine now began again and spent the next dozen years touring the provincial circuit. His journey back to the sacred land of Parisian theatres was slow but by 1658 he performed in front of the King at the Louvre.

From this point Molière both wrote and acted in a large number of productions that caused both outrage and applause. His many attacks on social conventions, the church, hypocrisy and other areas whilst also writing a large number of comedies, farces, tragicomedies, comédie-ballets are the stuff of legend.

‘Tartuffe’, ‘The Misanthrope’, ‘The Miser’ and ‘The School for Wives’ are but some of his classics.

His death was as dramatic as his life. Molière suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis. One evening he collapsed on stage in a fit of coughing and haemorrhaging while performing in the last play he'd written, in which, ironically, he was playing the hypochondriac Argan, in ‘The Imaginary Invalid’.

Molière insisted on completing his performance.

Afterwards he collapsed again with another, larger haemorrhage and was taken home. Priests were sent for to administer the last rites. Two priests refused to visit. A third arrived too late. On 17th February 1673, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, forever to be known as Molière, was pronounced dead in Paris. He was 51.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stage Door
• Release date: Jul 21, 2018
• ISBN: 9781787800953

Molière

Molière was a French playwright, actor, and poet. Widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and universal literature, his extant works include comedies, farces, tragicomedies, comédie-ballets, and more.

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The Middle-Class Gentleman by Molière

aka The Shopkeeper Turned Gentleman

Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin is better known to us by his stage name of Molière. He was born in Paris, to a prosperous well-to-do family on 15th January 1622.

In 1631, his father purchased from the court of Louis XIII the posts of valet of the King's chamber and keeper of carpets and upholstery which Molière assumed in 1641. The benefits included only three months' work per annum for which he was paid 300 livres and also provided a number of lucrative contracts.

However in June 1643, at 21, Molière abandoned this for his first love; a career on the stage.  He partnered with the actress Madeleine Béjart, to found the Illustre Théâtre at a cost of 630 livres.

Unfortunately despite their enthusiasm, effort and ambition the troupe went bankrupt in 1645.

Molière and Madeleine now began again and spent the next dozen years touring the provincial circuit.  His journey back to the sacred land of Parisian theatres was slow but by 1658 he performed in front of the King at the Louvre.

From this point Molière both wrote and acted in a large number of productions that caused both outrage and applause.  His many attacks on social conventions, the church, hypocrisy and other areas whilst also writing a large number of comedies, farces, tragicomedies, comédie-ballets are the stuff of legend.

‘Tartuffe’, ‘The Misanthrope’, ‘The Miser’ and ‘The School for Wives’ are but some of his classics.

His death was as dramatic as his life.  Molière suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis. One evening he collapsed on stage in a fit of coughing and haemorrhaging while performing in the last play he'd written, in which, ironically, he was playing the hypochondriac Argan, in ‘The Imaginary Invalid’.

Molière insisted on completing his performance.

Afterwards he collapsed again with another, larger haemorrhage and was taken home. Priests were sent for to administer the last rites. Two priests refused to visit. A third arrived too late.  On 17th February 1673, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, forever to be known as Molière, was pronounced dead in Paris. He was 51.

Index of Contents

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

SCENE: Monsieur Jourdain's house in Paris.

THE MIDDLE-CLASS GENTLEMAN aka THE SHOPKEEPER TURNED GENTLEMAN (LE BOURGEOIS GENTILHOMME)

ACT ONE

SCENE I

SCENE II

DIALOGUE IN MUSIC

FIRST INTERLUDE

ACT TWO

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE IV

SCENE V

SECOND INTERLUDE

ACT THREE

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE IV

SCENE V

SCENE VI

SCENE VII

SCENE VIII

SCENE IX

SCENE X

SCENE XI

SCENE XII

SCENE XIII

SCENE XIV

SCENE XV

SCENE XVI

THIRD INTERLUDE

ACT FOUR

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE IV

SCENE V

FOURTH INTERLUDE

ACT FIVE

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE IV

SCENE V

SCENE VI

MOLIÈRE – A SHORT BIOGRAPHY

MOLIÈRE – A CONCISE BIBLIOGRPAHY

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Monsieur Jourdain, bourgeois.     

Madame Jourdain, his wife.     

Lucile, their daughter.     

Nicole, maid.     

Cleonte, suitor of Lucile.     

Covielle, Cleonte's valet.     

Dorante, Count, suitor of Dorimene.     

Dorimene, Marchioness.     

Music Master.     

Pupil of the Music Master.     

Dancing Master.     

Fencing Master.     

Master of Philosophy.     

Tailor.     

Tailor's apprentice.    

Two lackeys.     

Many male and female musicians, instrumentalists, dancers, cooks, tailor's apprentices, and others necessary for the interludes.

SCENE: Monsieur Jourdain's house in Paris.

THE MIDDLE-CLASS GENTLEMAN aka THE SHOPKEEPER TURNED GENTLEMAN (LE BOURGEOIS GENTILHOMME)

ACT ONE

SCENE I

MUSIC MASTER, DANCINGMASTER, MUSICIANS and DANCERS.

The play opens with a great assembly of instruments, and in the middle of the stage is a PUPIL of the MUSIC MASTER seated at a table composing a melody which Monsieur Jourdain has ordered for a serenade.

MUSIC MASTER [To MUSICIANS]

Come, come into this room, sit there and wait until he comes.

DANCING MASTER [To DANCERS]

And you too, on this side.

MUSIC MASTER [To PUPIL]

Is it done?

PUPIL

Yes.

MUSIC MASTER

Let's see... This is good.

DANCING MASTER

Is it something new?

MUSIC MASTER

Yes, it's a melody for a serenade that I set him to composing here, while waiting for our man to awake.

DANCING MASTER

May I see it?

MUSIC MASTER

You'll hear it, with the dialogue, when he comes.  He won't be long.

DANCING MASTER

Our work, yours and mine, is not trivial at present.

MUSIC MASTER

This is true. We've found here such a man as we both need. This is a nice source of income for us―this Monsieur Jourdain, with the visions of nobility and gallantry that he has gotten into his head. You and I should hope that everyone resembled him.

DANCING MASTER

Not entirely; I could wish that he understood better the things that we give him.

MUSIC MASTER

It's true that he understands them poorly, but he pays well, and that's what our art needs now more than anything else.

DANCING MASTER

As for me, I admit, I feed a little on glory. Applause touches me; and I hold that, in all the fine arts, it is painful to produce for dolts, to endure the barbarous opinions of a fool about my choreography. It is a pleasure, don't tell me otherwise, to work for people who can appreciate the fine points of an art, who know how to give a sweet reception to the beauties of a work and, by pleasurable approbations, gratify us for our labor. Yes, the most agreeable recompense we can receive for the things we do is to see them recognized and flattered by an applause that honors us. There is nothing, in my opinion, that pays us better for all our fatigue; and it is an exquisite delight to receive the praises of the well-informed.

MUSIC MASTER

I agree, and I enjoy them as you do. There is surely nothing more agreeable than the applause you speak of; but that incense does not provide a living. Pure praises do not provide a comfortable existence; it is necessary to add something solid, and the best way to praise is to praise with cash-in-hand.  He's a man, it's true, whose insight is very slight, who talks nonsense about everything and applauds only for the wrong reasons but his money makes up for his judgments. He has discernment in his purse. His praises are in cash, and this ignorant bourgeois is worth more to us, as you see, than the educated nobleman who introduced us here.

DANCING MASTER

There is some truth in what you say; but I find