文档介绍：TARTUFFE OR THE HYPOCRITE
TARTUFFE OR THE
HYPOCRITE
by JEAN BAPTISTE POQUELIN MOLIERE
Translated By Curtis Hidden Page
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
Jean Baptiste Poquelin, better known by his stage name of Moliere,
stands without a rival at the head of edy. Born at Paris in
January, 1622, where his father held a position in the royal household, he
was educated at the Jesuit College de Clermont, and for some time studied
law, which he soon abandoned for the stage. His life was spent in Paris
and in the provinces, acting, directing performances, managing theaters,
and writing plays. He had his share of applause from the king and from the
public; but the satire in edies made him many enemies, and he was
the object of the most venomous attacks and the most impossible slanders.
Nor did he find much solace at home; for he married unfortunately, and
the unhappiness that followed increased the bitterness that public hostility
had brought into his life. On February 17, 1673, while acting in "La
Malade Imaginaire," the last of his masterpieces, he was seized with
illness and died a few hours later.
The first of the greater works of Moliere was "Les Precieuses
Ridicules," produced in 1659. In this brilliant piece Moliere lifted French
comedy to a new level and gave it a new purpose--the satirizing of
contemporary manners and affectations by frank portrayal and criticism.
In the great plays that followed, "The School for Husbands" and "The
1
TARTUFFE OR THE HYPOCRITE
School for Wives," "The Misanthrope" and "The Hypocrite" (Tartuffe),
"The Miser" and "The Hypochondriac," "The Learned Ladies," "The
Doctor in Spite of Himself," "The Citizen Turned Gentleman," and many
others, he exposed mercilessly one after another the vices and foibles of
the day.
His characteristic qualities are nowhere better exhibited than in
"Tartuffe." Compared with such characterization as Shakespeare's,
Moliere's method of portraying life may seem to be lacking plexity;
b