Forever Paris by Christina Henry de Tessan

Author:Christina Henry de Tessan
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-1-4521-1350-0
Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC

MOLIÈRE

“The duty of comedy is to correct men by amusing them.”

“Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for money.”

“I assure you that a learned fool is more foolish than an ignorant fool.”

Known for his prodigious wit, Molière is equally famous for his shameless skewering of the upper classes. Though devilishly skilled at pointing out the buffoonery of the rich, he was also an astute observer of human nature. Buried amid all the jokes were kernels of truth about the cynical motivations of human beings and the follies of Parisian society.

Becoming France’s most celebrated playwright was hardly a natural trajectory for young Molière. For one thing, he was born into a family of upholsterers in Paris, and it was assumed that he would simply carry on the business. Second, there was only one permanent theater in Paris when Molière was growing up in the first half of the seventeenth century, so few Parisians were ever exposed to any acting at all. He was fortunate to have a grandfather who loved the theater and who brought him regularly to performances. He was instantly hooked and sought out theater in any form in the city—watching, for example, the street performers who plied their trade on the Pont Neuf near his house.

Despite a dearth of theaters in his early life, Molière was fortunate to come of age during a Golden Age in France. Louis XIV actively supported the arts, Cardinal Richelieu was busy building royal theaters and gallery spaces, and theater blossomed thanks to their influence. All the same, Molière’s career got off to a rocky start—the first theater troupe he led dissolved when Molière went to prison (briefly) for amassing debts. He left for the countryside, where he toured as part of an itinerant troupe for the following twelve years. But he knew he would never make a name for himself in the provinces, so he returned to Paris, the influential center of the artistic world. There, he eventually managed to perform one of his comedies before the king himself.

Although he still attracted no end of controversy (riling up the upper classes that he mocked so adeptly, as well as the Catholic Church, which spent a great deal of time trying to get his plays banned), he succeeded in securing the lifelong protection of Louis XIV, even being granted permanent use of one of the royal theaters. Although Molière was brazen about his attacks on a wide array of social mores, he quite strategically never criticized the monarchy itself. With the king’s support, his success as a playwright was guaranteed. He wrote, acted, directed, and devoted his life to the theater until his death, which occurred only hours after an evening of acting in Le Malade Imaginaire, in 1673. As he said himself, “We die only once, and for such a long time.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.