His plays have been staged for centuries: Who is Moliere?

The author, who discovered class differences during his life in the palace, intertwined with the royal family, and fearlessly wrote plays about these differences and the subjects that people were afraid to criticize after meeting with the theater, and brought a new dimension to the theater, giving life to the comedy genre; Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, aka Moliere's rebellious life and satirical art in his best-known plays.

Moliere's Life

Playwright, director, and actor, whose real name is Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, was born in Paris in 1662. Moliere loses his mother, the daughter of a wealthy bourgeois family, at a young age; He was raised by his father, a furniture maker who furnished the palace.

He studied Latin and Greek language and literature at Clermont College, one of the best schools in Paris, and studied law at the University of Orléans. Although he progressed towards becoming a lawyer for a while, Moliere has a passion that outweighs the law; theatre. But at that time, the Catholic Church equated actors and prostitutes, accusing them of poisoning the spirits and excommunicating them. For this reason, the players did not have the right to marry and to be buried with a ceremony. Making theater came at a heavy price, like being expelled from religion. Moreover, the only condition for their marriage or baptism was that they renounce their profession.

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (15 January 1622 (baptized) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world literature. His extant works include comedies, farces, tragicomedies, comédie-ballets, and more. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed at the Comédie-Française more often than those of any other playwright today. His influence is such that the French language is often referred to as the "language of Molière".

Despite all this, Molière's life takes a completely different turn when he meets Madeleine Béjart. First, he quits his profession as a lawyer, then he founded a theater company called Illustre Théâtre with Béjart and his friends (1643). Thus, he kind of turns his back on the social class he grew up in. He chose a stage name for himself due to an unwritten genre rule that could be called social oppression by the bourgeois who were dealing with theater at that time, and thus Jean-Baptiste Poquelin became Moliere. Unfortunately, the Illustre Théâtre ensemble, where he works as both an actor and a director, never gains fame. This ensemble, oppressed by other theaters, collapses due to debts and Moliere is imprisoned due to these debts but is released from prison in a short time.

This failure he experienced was not enough for Moliere to give up. It connects the Illustre Théâtre community with another community. Then Moliere and his band go on tour and begin touring the countryside and performing plays. Within the scope of this tour, they toured many cities such as Lyon, Montpellier, Montauban, and Toulouse for many years. They perform various games for the great lords and also for the public in public areas. The plays they play are the works of the famous playwright Pierre Corneille and other famous names of the age, arranged by Moliere. The author, who quickly became the judge of the theater community, has a unique experience with these travels, he is mature enough to start writing and writes his first comedy plays, "L'Etourdi" in 1655 and "Dépit Amoureux" in 1656.

The Moliere community, which had great success during its tour, returned to Paris in 1658. In the presence of the king, they played Corneille's tragedy "Nicomède" and Moliere's own plays called "Le Docteur Amoureux" (Doctor in Love) written by Moliere, and they are very popular. Thanks to this success, he took the king's brother Moliere and his community under his protection, and the community changed its name to "Monsieur's Community". The Petit-Bourbon Hall is reserved for the community, but it is demolished soon after. For this reason, the ensemble moves to the Palais-Royal Hall, and Moliere begins to write and exhibit his works, which remain popular even today.

In 1662, Molière married actress Armande Béjart. His play "Women's School", which was staged in the same year, created a scandal in its very first night. Molière staged another play before the reactions he received had not subsided yet; "Tartuffe". And this game gets the biggest reaction ever. Because his satires included religious elements this time. Before long, the backlash exploded, and under pressure from the church, the king forbade the performance of the play Tartuffe. This prohibition was only lifted in 1669.

Moliere brought a completely different innovation to the theater by breaking down the stereotyped structure of classical theatre. The author, who brings together the unreal theater, which is suffocated by the predictable characters and events, and one of the constant figures of commedia dell'arte, the dominant genre of Italian comedy in France, brings together the realities of the past, taking the subjects from daily life, choosing people from every segment of the society, and portraying the ridiculous aspects of society. satirizing with an instructive style, it almost gives a breath of fresh air to the theater genre. Bringing a universal dimension to the theater with his genius and unorthodox plays, Moliere is also considered the founder of modern comedy.

The last play, "La Malade Imaginaire" (Illness Sick), played in 1673 and written by Moliere, is actually a tragic ending. While playing this play on stage, Moliere gets sick and the audience does not understand the truth due to his role in the play. His friends, who are aware of the situation, run to Moliere as soon as the curtain falls, and he dies shortly after being taken to his home. After his death, the church refuses to bury him. The author can only be buried with the intervention of the king. However, the church allows burial only at night, and he is sent off on his last journey in silence, in darkness.

Moliere's Works and Satire

Returning to Paris after 13 years of touring with the theater company in the countryside, Moliere cannot find the city as he left it when he returns. Everyone had a sense of politeness, showmanship, exaggeration, and temptation (fr. préciosité) swept the whole city. The people of the bourgeoisie, detached from the people, have taken an excess under the name of aesthetics in order to separate themselves from the ordinary ones. A race to be better, smarter, and more ostentatious has started among people. Moliere, who makes accurate criticisms in line with his observations and uses them as comedy material, when he sees that the bourgeois class, which is already disconnected from the public, is getting weirder, suddenly has various materials and starts using them in his plays.

The Ridiculous Kinds (Les Précieuses ridicules – 1659)

Moliere wrote this work, which is considered to be the first example of the theater of observation, to satirize the wannabes who admire the bourgeois life, and the play achieved great success. It also causes reactions, but this appropriate criticism of the show-off frenzy that has surrounded the age manages to garner appreciation.

Tartuffe (Le Tartuffe – 1664)

"Tartuffe" is Moliere's play that received the most reaction and, as we mentioned, was even subject to bans. Moliere puts his signature to this play, which will make a big noise, while the reactions created by the "Women's School" in the society have calmed down. In this game, he draws attention to the fraudsters who can deceive people by using their religious beliefs as their material. These reactions are due to the use of religious elements in the theater by emphasizing bigotry. How a man who is too bigoted to listen to anyone, not even his family, is deceived, satirized with humorous fiction, is presented to the audience. However, the main reason for all these reactions is that the bigoted people we encounter in every age and in every society do not like to face the truth, who knows?

Finally

After Moliere's death, his wife takes over the management of the theater. The community is soon forced to leave the Palais-Royale. Then they try to get stronger by uniting with various ensembles and thus the French Theater (Comédie Française) was born, but the comedy genre took a big hit with this death. Original works cannot be removed, works are limited to a few simple repetitions and trials.

The comedy genre, which reached its peak in the time of Moliere and lived its golden age, will never reach the glory of those days in France. While various playwrights have emerged, none can rise above those days, none escape the curse of having a Moliere-like direction.