“If I knew any French, I'd model my lifestyle after Molière's "Bourgeois Gentilhomme"!”
~ Oscar Wilde
“Writing is like prostitution. First, you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for money!”
~ Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, (baptised January 15, 1622 – February 17, 1673) was a French playwright and actor who brought French playwriting to unknown heights.
Influences
Molière admired the works of Walter, Igor, Ludwig, Leopold, Ingrid, Adolf and Moritz, Shakespeare. Their combined efforts had been translated and he had found a unique handwritten copy of it when still a teenager. His exquisite and particular sense of humour is often seen as the result of reading Shakespeare's comedies in French translation.
Due to a system similar to that of translating French authors' names' (like Jean de la Fontaine becoming "John Well") along with their works, Molière didn't know he was reading William Shakespeare, when he enjoyed the jokes in Guillaume Secoue-Javelot's plays, until 1671. His copy was a very peculiar one. It was entirely in manuscript!
Great authors influenced by Molière
Molière greatly influenced important playwrights such as Oscar Wilde, making their monologues sound more French than they ever wanted to admit.
Lyrics
Molière didn't limit his production to mere plays: he was half of the famous Molière/Lully songwriting duo. "Jean Bart's Body" was their biggest hit. He wrote the truly inspired lyrics to a melody Lully originally intended to use for a national anthem. Nobody ever asked Lully to write one: he offered it to King Louis XIV, who turned it down. So he decided to ask Molière to write lyrics to it, dedicated to the Pirate they both admired. But this song was really an exception because they mainly worked together on lullabies, their speciality.
When Moliere wrote the lyrics of "Legrand est arrivé", it said "Le Czar est arrivé". Neither Molière nor Lully lived long enough to see the Russian Revolution happen, but the lyrics were always adapted to suit the mood of the moment.
Catchy bits
“Tartuffe: "Avant que de parler, prenez-moi ce mouchoir." Dorine: "Comment?" Tartuffe: "Couvrez ce Thong, que je ne saurais voir."”
~ Molière in "Le Tartuffe, III, 3"
One of the Founding Fathers
Together with Jean Bart, Lully and Jean de la Fontaine, Molière belonged to the Founding Fathers of the French XVII Disciples Oval Table. His big surprise came during the Second Disciples' Convention of 1671, when he brought his "Secoue-Javelot" manuscript book with him, and learned that the original author was William Shakespeare, and the translator was none other than their co-Disciple Henry W. Longfellow!
Fashion
One of the reasons Moliere liked the theatre so, was that it could be used as an excuse for dressing up. And he did like to dress up! On one occasion he nearly broke his neck during a rehearsal of "Le Malade Imaginaire", because the groovy "Rabane" sunglasses he had purchased were too darkly shaded. Lighting in Paris' theatres was quite underdeveloped, back then. Although he didn't break his neck, something must have happened to him because he died during a performance of that play.
