These luxuries included an education in literature of the time, and also the experiences of the mannerisms and expectations of royalty. He also gained a good perspective of the prevalence of hypocrisy and vanity that was rampant at that time period in France and would use this for material in his plays. As a child he would frequently go to the Pont-Neuf and also the Hotel Borgogne to see acts of theatre performed and soon fell in love with the art. At the age of twenty-one Jean-Baptiste Poquelin started the troop named The Illustrious Theatre and started going by the name Moliere.
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The troops debut and following acts turned out to be pure failures as the troop was full of people with little experience. After the two years of failure several members dropped out. The remaining members decided to go on tour in the various provinces of France to practice their acting skills. They would be a traveling acting troop for the next twelve years. While traveling Moliere started to perfect his art and started writing his own works that he and his troop would regularly perform. His first notable work came from this time period and was called The Blunderer.
In search of better work and lifestyle Moliere and his troop went back to the city of lights and started performing their own works with much success. After some time they worked their way into the privilege of performing for King Louis the fourteenth and his brother the Duke of Anjou, who was looking for an acting troop to support and call his own. In 1658 at the guard room of the old Louvre Moliere and his troop performed for King and Court for the first time with two works. The first play was a tragedy written by Cornielle called Nicomede.
This did not impress anyone in the room and left the King and his Court disappointed. Deciding to roll the dice the next play performed was one written by Moliere’s own hand called The Love Sick Doctor. Fortunately everything worked out perfectly and everyone in the room fell in love with Moliere’s work. Shortly after Moliere was given a commission by royalty to be called the Troupe de Monsieur and was given permission to perform in the Hotel du Petit Bourbon which was one of the largest theatres in Paris.
Afterwards Moliere set out writing several plays one of which The Pretentious Ladies ended up being a huge success even among the King who demanded a private showing. However, some of the aristocracy did not appreciate Moliere’s sense of humor that was prevalent throughout his work, and thus decided to shut down his theatre. Thankfully the King liked Moliere’s works enough that he commissioned Moliere and his actors as The Troop of the King and allowed him to perform at the Theatre du Palais-Royale. On February 17, 1673 Moliere was performing in his work The Imaginary Invalid when he started to hemorrhage.
Later after the performance Moliere passed away. Unfortunately the Church back in that time did not recognize actors, as they had been excommunicated, and it seemed to be impossible for Moliere to have a normal Christian burial. However, the King was displeased with this and stepped in mandating to the priests that Moliere was to be properly buried. Moliere was finally laid to rest in Saint Joseph’s Cemetery. After death Moliere’s works were continually performed in France until the start of The French Revolution.
During this time period his works were translated to English by Baker and Miller and were performed all over England. Moliere had a rebirth in France in the late seventeen hundreds and early eighteen hundreds. Later on, as any thing of value is that stands the test of time, his works were dissected into the deeper meanings behind the work, and the style and depth found in the comedy. Author Martha Bellinger points out that Moliere “has been accused of not having a consistent, organic style, of using faulty grammar, of mixing his metaphors, and of using unnecessary words for the purpose of filling out his lines.
All these things are occasionally true, but they are trifles in comparison to the wealth of character he portrayed, to his brilliancy of wit, and to the resourcefulness of his technique. He was wary of sensibility or pathos; but in place of pathos he had “melancholy — a puissant and searching melancholy, which strangely sustains his inexhaustible mirth and his triumphant gaiety” (4). Throughout his career Moliere set the standard for French Comedy. His works have been printed in almost every language and are performed throughout the world still today.
