One of the most mysterious and eccentric personalities of the 17th century in France is Jean-Baptiste Molière. His biography consists of complex and at the same time majestic stages in his career and creativity.
Family
Jean-Baptiste was born in 1622 in an aristocratic family, which was a continuation of a very ancient bourgeois family of drapers. At that time, this kind of occupation was considered quite profitable and respected. The father of the future comedian was an honorary adviser to the king and the creator of a specialized school for court children, which Moliere later began to attend. In this educational institution, Jean-Baptiste diligently studied Latin, which helped him to easily understand and study all the works of famous Roman authors. It was Moliere who translated into his native French the poem "On the Nature of Things" by the ancient Roman philosopher Lucretius. Unfortunately, the manuscript with the translation was not distributed, and soon disappeared. Most likely, it burned down during a fire in Moliere's studio.
According to the will of his father, Jean-Baptiste received the then prestigious degree of licentiate of jurisprudence. Molière's life was complex and eventful.
Early years
In his youth, Jean was an ardent admirer andrepresentative of the then popular Epicureanism (one of the philosophical movements). Thanks to this interest, he made many useful contacts, because among the then Epicureans there were quite we althy and influential people.
A career as a lawyer was not as important for Moliere, just like his father's craft. That is why the young man chose the theatrical direction in his activity. Moliere's biography once again proves to us his desire for improvement and the desire to reach world heights in theatrical art.
It's worth noting that Molière was originally a theatrical pseudonym that Jean-Baptiste Poquelin chose for himself to make his full name sweet-sounding. But gradually, this name began to be called not only within the framework of theatrical activities, but also in everyday life. The meeting with the then very famous French comedians Béjarts turned the life of Jean-Baptiste upside down, because he later became the head of the theater. At that time he was only 21 years old. The troupe consisted of 10 novice actors, and Moliere's task was to improve the affairs of the theater and bring it to a more professional level. Unfortunately, other French theaters were in great competition with Jean-Baptiste, so the institution was closed. After such a first failure in life, Jean Baptiste with a wandering troupe began to travel around the provincial towns in the hope of gaining recognition at least there and earning money for further development and construction of his own building for performances.
Molière performed in the provinces for about 14 years(Unfortunately, the exact dates regarding this fact of his life have not been preserved). By the way, at the same time in France there was a civil war, mass protests and confrontations of the people, so the endless moving was even more difficult for the troupe, the official biography of Molière suggests that already at this period of his life he was seriously intending to start his own business.
In the provinces, Jean-Baptiste composed a large number of his own plays and theatrical scenarios, because the troupe's repertoire was rather boring and uninteresting. Few of the works from that period have survived. List of some songs:
- "Barboulier's Jealousy". Moliere himself was very proud of this play. The works of the nomadic period received positive reviews from critics.
- "Flying Doctor".
- "Pedant Doctor".
- Three Doctors.
- "Fake Goon".
- Gorgibus in a bag.
Private life
In 1622, Moliere officially tied the knot with his beloved Amanda Bejart. She was the sister of the very comedian Madeleine whom Jean-Baptiste met at the beginning of his career and thanks to whose husband he began to direct the theater of ten people.
The age difference between Jean-Baptiste and Amanda was exactly 20 years. At the time of his marriage, he was 40 years old, and she was 20. The wedding was not publicized, so only the closest friends and relatives were invited to the celebration. By the way, the bride's parents were not happy with the choice of their daughter, they tried in every possible way to force herbreak off the engagement. However, she did not succumb to the persuasion of her relatives, and soon after the wedding she stopped communicating with her mother and father.
Throughout their married life, Amanda gave birth to her husband three children, but we can say that the couple was not happy in their union. A huge age difference and different interests made themselves felt. Molière's work during his marriage reflected mostly stories close to his own family situations.
Personal characteristic
Jean-Baptiste can be described as a rather extraordinary person. He was devoted to his work to the end, his whole life is endless theaters and performances. Unfortunately, most researchers of his biography still cannot come to an unambiguous decision about his personal portrait, because there is no data left, therefore, just as in the case of Shakespeare, they relied only on stories and legends passed down from mouth to mouth. about this person and already on their basis they tried to determine his character using psychological methods.
Also, by studying the many works of Jean-Baptiste, one can draw some conclusions about his life in general. For some reason, Moliere did everything to ensure that very little data remained about his personality. He destroyed a large number of his works, so more than 50 of his plays and performance data have not come down to us. Moliere's characterization, based on the words of his contemporaries, suggests that he was a revered person in France, whose opinion was listened to by most of the court people and even a few individuals from the royalfamily.
He was extremely freedom-loving, so he wrote many works about personality, about how to rise above your consciousness and constantly rethink your values. It is worth noting that in none of the works about freedom is not said in a direct context, because such a step could be regarded at the time as a call for rebellion and civil war, which already continued constantly in medieval France.
Jean-Baptiste Moliere. Biography and creativity
Like the work of all writers and playwrights, Moliere's path is divided into certain stages (it does not have a clear time frame, but they are different directions and display a kind of polarity reversal in the playwright's work).
During the Parisian period, Jean-Baptiste was popular with the king and the elite of the country, thanks to which he received recognition. After a long wandering around the country, the troupe returns to Paris and performs at the Louvre theater with a new repertoire. Now the professionalism is evident: the time spent and the endless practice make themselves felt. The king himself attended that performance of The Doctor in Love, who, at the end of the performance, personally thanked the playwright. After this incident, a white streak began in the life of Jean Baptiste.
The next performance of "Funny Cossacks" was also a huge success with the public and received very good reviews from critics. Molière's plays were sold out at the time.
The second stage in the work of Jean-Baptiste is represented by the following works:
- "Tartuffe". The plot line of the novel is aimed at ridiculing the clergy, which at that time enjoyed low popularity among the inhabitants of France due to constant requisitions and complaints about the activities of some supreme representatives of the church. The play was published in 1664 and played on the stage of the theater for five years. The play had a sharp satirical to some extent comedic character.
- Don Juan. If in the previous play Jean-Baptiste negatively showed the theme of the church and ridiculed all its employees, then in this work he satirically displayed the laws of people's lives, their behavior and moral principles, which, according to the author, were very far from ideal and brought only negative things to the world. and depravity. With this play, the theater traveled almost all over Europe. In some countries there was such a full house that the performance was played two or three times. Jean-Baptiste Molière made many useful contacts during this trip through Europe.
- "Misanthrope". In this work, the author even more ridiculed the medieval foundations of life. This play is the most successful example of high comedy of the 17th century. Due to the seriousness and complexity of the plot, the production was not perceived by people in the same way as the past works of Jean Baptiste. This forced the author to rethink some aspects of his work and theatrical activities, so he decided to take a break from staging performances and writing scripts.
Molière's Theater
The performances of the author's troupe, in which he also participated, almost always caused a flurry of emotions in the audience. Glory about himproductions spread throughout Europe. The theater became in demand far beyond the borders of France. British connoisseurs of high theatrical art have also become Molière's big fans.
Molière's theater was notable for action-packed performances about contemporary human values. The acting has always been top notch. By the way, Jean-Baptiste himself never missed his roles, he did not refuse to perform even when he felt unwell and was sick. This speaks of a person's great love for his work.
Author's characters
Jean-Baptiste Molière presented many interesting personalities in his works. Consider the most popular and eccentric:
- Sganarelle - this character was mentioned in a number of works and plays by the author. In the play "The Flying Doctor" he is the main character, he was Valer's servant. Due to the success of the production and the work as a whole, Molière decided to use this character in his other works (for example, Sganarelle can be seen in The Imaginary Cuckold, Don Giovanni, The Reluctant Doctor, The School of Husbands) and other works of the early period of Jean Baptiste.
- Géronte is a hero that can be found in Molière's comedies of the Classical era. In plays, it is a symbol of insanity and dementia of some types of people.
- Harpagon is an old man who is distinguished by such qualities as deceit and a passion for enrichment.
Comedy ballets
Moliere's biography indicates that this type of work belongs to the mature stage of creativity. Thanks to the strengthened ties with the court, Jean-Baptiste creates a new genre, which is designed to present new plays in the form of a ballet. By the way, this innovation was a real success among the audience.
The first comedy-ballet was called "The Unbearable" and was written and presented to the general public in 1661.
Interesting legends about personality
There is an unconfirmed legend that Moliere's wife was actually his own daughter, born as a result of a connection with Madeleine Bejart. The whole story that Madeleine and Amanda were sisters was considered a lie by some people. However, this information has not been confirmed and is only one of the legends.
Another story says that in fact Molière was not the author of his works. He allegedly acted on behalf of Pierre Corneille. This story has been widely circulated. However, scientists argue that Molière's biography does not contain such a fact.
Late creative stage
A few years after the failure of The Misanthrope, the author decides to return to work and adds the story of The Unwilling Doctor to this play.
Jean Molière's biography says that during this period he ridiculed the bourgeoisie and the we althy class. The plays also de alt with the issue of non-consensual marriage.
Interesting facts about Moliere's activities
- Jean-Baptiste invented a new genre of comedy-ballet.
- He was one of the most controversial figures in France of that period.
- Moliere almost nevercommunicated with his family, preferring to travel the world with concerts without their accompaniment.
The death and memorials of Jean-Baptiste
Before the fourth performance of the play "Imaginary Sick" (1673), Moliere was ill, but decided to go on stage early. He played the role brilliantly, but a few hours after the performance, his condition worsened, and he suddenly died.
A street in Paris was named after the author and many memorial monuments were built throughout Europe.
