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Molière Quotes
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Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière , was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature. Among Molière's best known works are The Misanthrope, The School for Wives, Tartuffe, The Miser, The Imaginary Invalid, and The Bourgeois Gentleman.

Born into a prosperous family and having studied at the Collège de Clermont , Molière was well suited to begin a life in the theatre. Thirteen years as an itinerant actor helped him polish his comic abilities while he began writing, combining Commedia dell'arte elements with the more refined French comedy.

Through the patronage of aristocrats including Philippe I, Duke of Orléans—the brother of Louis XIV—Molière procured a command performance before the King at the Louvre. Performing a classic play by Pierre Corneille and a farce of his own, The Doctor in Love, Molière was granted the use of salle du Petit-Bourbon near the Louvre, a spacious room appointed for theatrical performances. Later, Molière was granted the use of the theatre in the Palais-Royal. In both locations he found success among Parisians with plays such as The Affected Ladies, The School for Husbands and The School for Wives. This royal favour brought a royal pension to his troupe and the title Troupe du Roi . Molière continued as the official author of court entertainments.

Though he received the adulation of the court and Parisians, Molière's satires attracted criticism from moralists and the Catholic Church. Tartuffe and its attack on perceived religious hypocrisy roundly received condemnations from the Church, while Don Juan was banned from performance. Molière's hard work in so many theatrical capacities took its toll on his health and, by 1667, he was forced to take a break from the stage. In 1673, during a production of his final play, The Imaginary Invalid, Molière, who suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis, was seized by a coughing fit and a haemorrhage while playing the hypochondriac Argan. He finished the performance but collapsed again and died a few hours later.



✵ 15. January 1622 – 17. February 1673   •   Other names Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, Jean Molière
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Molière: 72   quotes 20   likes

Molière Quotes

“Although I am a pious man, I am not the less a man.”

Molière book Tartuffe

Pour être dévot, je n'en suis pas moins homme.
Act III, sc. iii
Tartuffe (1664)

“We have changed all that.”

Molière book Le Médecin malgré lui

Nous avons changé tout cela.
Le Médecin malgré lui (1666), Act ii, scene 6

Change

“Let's swear, my beauty, An eternal ardor.”

Molière

Act IV, sc. i
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (1670)
Original: (fr) Jurons, ma belle,
Une ardeur éternelle.

Beauty

“In your face, my brother, she is laughing at you.”

Molière book Tartuffe

Original: (fr) À votre nez, mon frère, elle se rit de vous.
Variant: She is laughing in your face, my brother.
Source: Tartuffe (1664), Act I, sc. v

“There are bundles and bundles.”

Molière book Le Médecin malgré lui

Original: (fr) Il y a fagots et fagots.
Source: Le Médecin malgré lui (1666), Act i, scene 6. In this context, a fagot is a bundle of sticks, twigs or small tree branches bound together.