Molière’s “L’École des maris,” “The School for Husbands” (The End)

21 Sunday Jul 2019

Posted by michelinewalker in Comedy, Molière

Tags

Carte de Tendre, L'École des maris, l'honnête homme, le Jaloux, Molière, The Final Ruse, The School for Husbands, Two Brothers

L’École des maris (théâtre-documentation.com)

“Yes, death seems to me a hundred times less dreadful than this fatal marriage into which I am forced; all that I am doing to escape its horrors should excuse me in the eyes of those who blame me. Time presses; it is night; now, then, let me fearlessly entrust my fate to a lover’s fidelity.” (Isabelle, III. i, p. 33)
Translator Henri van Laun

Oui le trépas [death] cent fois, me semble moins à craindre,
Que cet hymen fatal où l’on veut me contraindre;
Et tout ce que je fais pour en fuir les rigueurs,
Doit trouver quelque grâce auprès de mes censeurs;
Le temps presse, il fait nuit, allons sans crainte aucune,
À la foi d’un amant, commettre ma fortune.
Isabelle (III. i, p. 38)
Molière

L’École des maris

ACT THREE

When Valère and Isabelle leave at the curtain falls on Act Two, Valère has let Isabelle know that he will free within three days, or three days from the moment they part.

Isabelle cannot wait three days. Sganarelle will marry her the next day. What will she do? Once again, a forced marriage justifies the means, but these are not evil means. Isabelle has to lie. Molière’s ladies are very clever.

The Final Ruse

As soon as she hears that Sganarelle will marry her the very next day, Isabelle comes up with her best ruse. She tells Sganarelle that her sister is in love with Valère and that both are locked in her (Isabelle’s) room.

Sganarelle is pleased because he can now show his older brother, Ariste, that he knows best, that he was the better brother. He has raised Isabelle by confining her to a room. He believed that by locking Isabelle in her room, he would raise a virtuous spouse. But Isabelle has learned to despise Sganarelle. He expects Ariste to find Léonor in bed with Valère. No, Léonor is at a ball.

Isabelle runs to Valère’s house, so Sganarelle is perplexed:

Au logis du galant, quelle est son entreprise?
Sganarelle, seul (III. ii, p. 41)
[(Aside). To the gallant’s house! What is her design?]
Sganarelle, alone (III. 2, p. 36)

So, Isabelle frees herself, but although Sganarelle is surprised, his most important concern is to let his brother Ariste know that he has brought up une mondaine who is now in bed with Valère inside Isabelle’s room.

Ah je te promets bien, que je n’ai pas envie,
De te l’ôter l’infâme à ses feux asservie,
Que du don de ta foi je ne suis point jaloux,
Et que si j’en suis cru, tu seras son époux,
Oui, faisons-le surprendre avec cette effrontée,
La mémoire du père, à bon droit respectée;
Jointe au grand intérêt que je prends à la sœur,
Veut que du moins l’on tâche à lui rendre l’honneur;
Holà.
Sganarelle à Isabelle (III. iii, p. 42)
[Oh, I can assure you I do not want to take from you a shameless girl, so blinded by her passion. I am not jealous of your promise to her; if I am to be believed, you shall be her husband. Yes, let us surprise him with this bold creature. The memory of her father, who was justly respected, and the great interest I take in her sister, demand that an attempt, at least, should be made to restore her honour. Hulloa, there!(Knocks at the door of a magistrate).]
Sganarelle (III. 4, p. 36)

Sganarelle does knock on the Commissaire‘s door, who happens to be with a notary. How convenient, a contract can be signed that will restore Léonor’s honour. Sganarelle then knocks on his brother’s door (III. v).

Votre Léonor où, je vous prie est-elle?
Sganarelle à Ariste (III. v, p. 44)
[Where is your Léonor, pray?]
Sganarelle to Ariste (III. 6, p. 37)

Pourquoi cette demande? Elle est comme je croi,
Au bal chez son amie.
Ariste à Sganarelle (III. v, p. 44)
[Why this question? She is, as I think, at a friend’s house at a ball.]
Ariste to Sganarelle (III. 6, p. 37)

Sganarelle then tells his brother that Léonor is in bed with Valère.

L’énigme est que son bal est chez Monsieur Valère.
Que de nuit je l’ai vue y conduire ses pas,
Et qu’à l’heure présente elle est entre ses bras.
Sganarelle à Ariste (III. v, p. 45)
[The riddle is that her ball is at Valère’s; that I saw her go to him under cover of night, and that she is at this moment in his arms.]
Sganarelle to Ariste (III. 6, p. 38)

Ariste cannot believe what he has heard. Appearances are deceptive and Ariste would never have forced Léonor into a marriage.

L’apparence qu’ainsi sans m’en faire avertir,
À cet engagement elle eût pu consentir,
Moi qui dans toute chose ai depuis son enfance,
Montré toujours pour elle entière complaisance,
Et qui cent fois ai fait des protestations,
De ne jamais gêner ses inclinations.
Ariste to all (III. v, p. 47)
[Is it likely she could thus have agreed to this engagement without telling me? me! who in everything, from her infancy, ever displayed towards her a complete readiness to please, and who a hundred times protested I would never force her inclinations.]
Ariste to all (III. 8, p. 38)

In Scene Seven, Valère enters the house and tells that he has made a commitment to Isabelle.

Enfin quoi qu’il advienne,
Isabelle a ma foi, j’ai de même la sienne,
Et ne suis point un choix à tout examiner,
Que vous soyez reçus à faire condamner.
Valère à tous (III. vii, p. 48)
[To be brief: whatever be the consequence, Isabella has my solemn promise; I also have hers; if you consider everything, I am not so bad a match that you should blame her.]
Valère to all (III. 8, p. 40)

Sganarelle is so certain that Valère is in bed with Léonor that he signs a contract that makes Valère the husband of the woman who might be in his lodgings. The notary leaves a blank space for the name.

In Scene Eight, Léonor returns from the ball rather disappointed. Ariste wants to know why she has played a trick on him. Sganarelle learns that she wasn’t with Valère, Isabelle was, who, by contract, is now married to Valère.

Ariste is surprised. Why did Léonor not discuss this matter with her? Their friendship goes back to childhood.

Léonor tells Ariste that she would marry him the very next day, if he asked. The discussion is over.

Je ne sais pas sur quoi vous tenez ce discours;
Mais croyez que je suis de même que toujours,
Que rien ne peut pour vous altérer mon estime,
Que toute autre amitié me paraîtrait un crime,
Et que si vous voulez satisfaire mes vœux,
Un saint nœud dès demain nous unira nous deux.
Léonor à Ariste (III. viii, p. 51)
[I know not why you speak to me thus; but believe me, I am as I have ever been; nothing can alter my esteem for you; love for any other man would seem to me
a crime; if you will satisfy my wishes, a holy bond shall unite us tomorrow.]
Léonor to Ariste (III. 9, p. 41)

In the final scene, Isabelle apologizes to Léonor for having used a stratagem that could, temporarily, dishonour her sister. It was despair. Isabelle did not want to be forced into a marriage with Sganarelle. She might have killed herself. In fact, she had found a good man who will marry her and, ironically, Sganarelle himself has signed the marriage contract. Again, in L’École des maris, irony is Molière’s main literary device.

The play ends on the prospect of a double marriage. “Tout est bien qui finit bien.” (“All’s well that end well.”) As for Sganarelle, he is hoisted by his own petard.

L’École des maris par François Boucher (théâtre-documention.com)

L’École des maris (Gravure Desenne)(théâtre-documention.com)

Conclusion

The main figure in this play is irony. Sganarelle himself makes it possible for his ward, whom he wishes to marry to meet Valère and to know that he is sufficiently honourable for her to take refuge in his house. But, once again, we have seen the jaloux as is own victim. Molière’s jaloux is his own victim. Sganarelle is Sganarelle’s worst enemy. He signs a contract that will allow Isabelle to marry Valère, which is how Molière expresses an inner drama. It is also interesting to note that Ariste doubts very much that Léonor is in bed with Valère. He is right in trusting her. Léonor may be forty years younger than Ariste, but he has brought her up gently. He has trusted her. The carte de Tendre proposes different kinds of love. If honnêteté there is, Ariste and Valère qualify. They are also examples of the galant homme, the gentleman.

Italy is the birthplace of refinement. Yet it could be that the Grand Siècle’s main achievement is l‘honnête homme. Salons were created in 17^th-century France and they endured. Préciosité went too far, which is what Molière mocked. Molière did not mock women. On the contrary. When Isabelle realizes that a lie can be put into the service of a good end, she uses a lie and shows resolve. Isabelle’s life would be taken from her if Sganarelle married her. She would be his possession, his slave. There’s no evil in what she does. Nor does Molière vilify Sganarelle. Sganarelle boasted, which farce does not allow.

Molière mixes plot formulas. In L’École des maris, he uses the “all’s well that ends well,” the traditional happy ending of comedy. However, it is not, at least not immediately, a happy ending for Sganarelle. Ariste deflates a boasting Sganarelle, a farcical element. But ironically, Sganarelle approves of Valère. He finds in him an honnête homme and feels sorry for him, which is good news for Isabelle. She can trust Valère by Sganarelle own standards and testimonial. All the ruses confirm that Valère loves Isabelle. Sganarelle stands between Isabelle and Valère. He is the obstacle to a marriage between the young lovers, while promoting their marriage. He is the person Valère needed in Sganarelle’s household.

Sganarelle therefore combines several several comedic functions. He is the go-between in a love story, the senex iratus, or blocking character, in the same love story, not to mention the father, albeit a pater familias.

RELATED ARTICLES

Molière’s “L’École des maris,” “The School For Husbands” (Part Two) (21 July 2019)
Molière’s “L’École des maris,” “The School for Husbands ” (Part One) (18 July 2019)

Sources and Resources

The Theatre in Italy during the 17^th century
Toutmolière.net Notice
L’École des maris is a toutmolière.net publication
The School for Husbands is an Internet Archive publication
Molière21
théâtre-documentation.com
Images belong to the Bibliothèque nationale de France
The Decameron is Gutenberg’s [EBook #23700]

Love to everyone 💕

La Fille au Roi Louis
Claire Lefilliâtre (soprano)
Le Poème harmonique (dir. Vincent Dumestre)

480px-Jean_Honore_Fragonard_The_Love_Letter

The Love Letter par Jean-Honoré Fragonard

Molière’s “L’École des maris,” “The School for Husbands” (Part Two)

21 Sunday Jul 2019

Posted by michelinewalker in Comedy, Molière

≈ 26 Comments

Tags

Double-entendre, irony, Isabelle's Ruses, L'École des maris, Le Billet-doux, Molière, The Love letter, The School for Husbands

L’École des maris (II. ix) (théâtre-documentation.com)

Let him [Valère], without more sighing, hasten a marriage which is all I desire, and accept the assurance which I give him, never to listen to the vows of another. (She pretends to embrace Sganarelle, and gives her hand to Valère to kiss.)
Isabelle to Valère (II. 14, p. 32)

The image above shows Valère after he has learned that Isabelle loves him as much as he loves her. Sganarelle, her guardian, is holding her, but Valère kisses her hand.

L’École des maris

ACT TWO

Just before the beginning of Act Two, Ergaste, Valère’s valet, is surprised to hear that Valère has yet to tell Isabelle that he loves him. He has been looking at Isabelle for four months. Love may not have made him “inventif,” but he has not found, in Sganarelle’s house, servants who could help him. Traditionally, servants help the young couple. Léonor, Ariste’s ward, has a suivante, but Isabelle doesn’t and she is confined to her room.

Mais qu’aurais-tu pu faire?
Puisque sans ce brutal on ne la voit jamais,
Et qu’il n’est là dedans servantes ni valets,
Dont par l’appas flatteur de quelque récompense,
Je puisse pour mes feux ménager l’assistance.
Valère à Ergaste (I. iv, p. 16)
[Why, what could you have done? For one never sees her without that brute ; in the house there are neither maids nor men-servants whom I might influence to assist me by the alluring temptation of some reward.
Valère to Ergaste (I. 6, p. 19)

Knowing she will be forced to marry Sganarelle, her gardian, Isabelle, on the other hand, is very inventive, even if it means lying to Sganarelle and manipulating him.

Ô ciel, sois-moi propice, et seconde en ce jour,
Le stratagème adroit, d’une innocente amour.
Isabelle, à part (II. i, p. 17)
[Heaven, be propitious, and favour today
the artful contrivance of an innocent love.]
Isabelle, alone (II. 2, p. 20)
Je fais pour une fille, un projet bien hardi;
Mais l’injuste rigueur, dont envers moi l’on use,
Dans tout esprit bien fait, me servira d’excuse.
Isabelle, seule (II. i, p. 17)
[(As she goes in). For a girl, I am planning a pretty
bold scheme. But the unreasonable severity with which
I am treated will be my excuse to every right mind.]
Isabelle, alone (II. 2, p. 20)

The First Ruse: a Message to Valère

In Scene Two, Sganarelle goes to Valère’s house to tell him that he is Isabelle’s guardian and that he will marry her.

Savez-vous, dites-moi, que je suis le tuteur,
D’une fille assez jeune, et passablement belle,
Qui loge en ce quartier, et qu’on nomme Isabelle?
Sganarelle à Valère (II. ii, p. 20)
[Tell me: do you know that I am guardian to a
tolerably young and passably handsome girl who lives in
this neighbourhood, and whose name is Isabella?]
Sganarelle to Valère (II. 3, p. 21)

Valère says he does. He may not, but he has been admiring her.

Si vous le savez, je ne vous l’apprends pas.
Mais savez-vous aussi, lui trouvant des appas;
Qu’autrement qu’en tuteur sa personne me touche,
Et qu’elle est destinée à l’honneur de ma couche?
Sganarelle à Valère (II. ii, p. 20)
[As you know it, I need not tell it to you. But do you know, likewise, that as I find her charming, I care for her otherwise than as a guardian, and that she is destined for the honour of being my wife?]
Sganarelle to Valère (II. 3, p. 21)

He tells Valère, that he is speaking to him on her behalf. She has noticed Valère, but Sganarelle states that only he has access to her heart.

Oui, vous venir donner cet avis franc, et net,
Et qu’ayant vu l’ardeur dont votre âme est blessée,
Elle vous eût plus tôt fait savoir sa pensée;
Si son cœur avait eu dans son émotion,
À qui pouvoir donner cette commission;
Mais qu’enfin les douleurs d’une contrainte extrême,
L’ont réduite à vouloir se servir de moi-même
Pour vous rendre averti, comme je vous ai dit,
Qu’à tout autre que moi son cœur est interdit;
Que vous avez assez joué de la prunelle,
Et que si vous avez tant soit peu de cervelle,
Vous prendrez d’autres soins, adieu jusqu’au revoir,
Voilà ce que j’avais, à vous faire savoir.
(I. ii, p. 21)
[Yes, makes me come to you and give you this frank and plain message; also, that, having observed the violent love wherewith your soul is smitten, she would earlier have let you know what she thinks about you if, perplexed as she was, she could have found anyone to send this message by; but that at length she was painfully compelled to make use of me, in order to assure you, as I have told you that her affection is denied to all save me; that you have been ogling her long enough; and that, if you have ever so little brains, you will carry your passion somewhere else. Farewell, till our next meeting. That is what I had to tell you.] (II. 4, p. 22)

L’École des maris par Edmond Hédouin (théâtre-documentation.com)

L’École des maris (théâtre-documentation.com

The Second Ruse: the Letter

In Scene Three, when Sganarelle comes home after speaking with Valère, Isabelle tells him that she fears he hasn’t understood. He has thrown a gilded box containing a letter into her room. Sganarelle would like to read the letter, but if the letter is read it be returned unsealed, Valère might think that she has read the letter. Therefore, as he carries the letter back to Valère’s house, Sganarelle does not know that it is a billet-doux, a love letter, Isabelle is sending to Valère.

« Cette lettre vous surprendra, sans doute, et l’on peut trouver bien hardi pour moi, et le dessein de vous l’écrire, et la manière de vous la faire tenir; mais je me vois dans un état à ne plus garder de mesures; la juste horreur d’un mariage, dont je suis menacée dans six jours, me fait hasarder toutes choses, et dans la résolution de m’en affranchir par quelque voie que ce soit, j’ai cru que je devais plutôt vous choisir que le désespoir. Ne croyez pas pourtant que vous soyez redevable de tout à ma mauvaise destinée; ce n’est pas la contrainte où je me trouve qui a fait naître les sentiments que j’ai pour vous; mais c’est elle qui en précipite le témoignage, et qui me fait passer sur des formalités où la bienséance du sexe oblige. Il ne tiendra qu’à vous que je sois à vous bientôt, et j’attends seulement que vous m’ayez marqué les intentions de votre amour, pour vous faire savoir la résolution que j’ai prise; mais surtout songez que le temps presse, et que deux cœurs qui s’aiment doivent s’entendre à demi-mot. »
Isabelle (II. V, p. 25-26)

“This letter will no doubt surprise you; both the resolution to write to you and the means of conveying it to your hands may be thought very bold in me; but I am in such a condition, that I can no longer restrain myself. Well-founded repugnance to a marriage with which I am threatened in six days, makes me risk everything; and in the determination to free myself from it by whatever means, I thought I had rather choose you than despair. Yet do not think that you owe all to my evil fate; it is not the constraint in which I find myself that has given rise to the sentiments entertain for you; but it hastens the avowal of them, and makes me transgress the decorum which the proprieties of my sex require. It depends on you alone to make me shortly your own; I wait only until you have declared your intentions to me before acquainting you with the resolution I have taken; but, above all, remember that time presses, and that two hearts, which love each other, ought to understand even the slightest hint.” Isabelle (II. 8, pp. 25-26)

The Third Ruse: Abduction

Having delivered the unsealed love letter (billet-doux), Sganarelle returns to Isabelle’s room. He tells his ward that Valère, a honnête homme, is very much in love with her:

Tous ses désirs étaient de t’obtenir pour femme,
Si les destins en moi, qui captive ton cœur,
N’opposaient un obstacle à cette juste ardeur;
[…]
Je le trouve honnête homme, et le plains de t’aimer[.]
Sganarelle à Isabelle (II. vii, pp. 32-33)
[… his only desire was to obtain you for a wife, if destiny had not opposed an obstacle to his pure flame, through me, who captivated your heart; that, whatever happens, you must not think that your charms can ever be forgotten by him; that, to whatever decrees of Heaven he must submit, his fate is to love you to his last breath; …]
Sganarelle to Isabelle (II. 11. p. 28)

Mais il ne savait pas tes inclinations,
Et par l’honnêteté de ses intentions
Son amour ne mérite…
Sganarelle à Isabelle (II. vii, pp. 29-30)
[But he did not know your inclinations; and,
from the uprightness of his intentions, his love does not
deserve . . .]
Sganarelle to Isabelle (II. 11, p. 28)

Est-ce les avoir bonnes,
Dites-moi de vouloir enlever les personnes,
Est-ce être homme d’honneur de former des desseins
Pour m’épouser de force en m’ôtant de vos mains?
Comme si j’étais fille à supporter la vie,
Après qu’on m’aurait fait une telle infamie.
Isabelle à Sganarelle (II. vii, p. 30)
[Is it good intentions, I ask, to try and carry people
off? Is it like a man of honour to form designs for marrying me by force, and taking me out of your hands? As if I were a girl to live after such a disgrace!]

N’avez-vous point de honte, étant ce que vous êtes,
De faire en votre esprit les projets que vous faites,
De prétendre enlever une fille d’honneur
Et troubler un hymen [marriage] fait tout son bonheur?
Sganarelle à Valère (II. viii, pp. 22-23)
[Are you not ashamed, considering who you are, to form such designs as you do? To intend to carry off a respectable girl, and interrupt a marriage on which her whole happiness depends?]
Sganarelle to Valère (II. 8, p. 30)

Valère is unconvinced. Sganarelle decides to take Valère to his home so Isabelle can speak to him.

Voulez-vous qu’elle-même elle explique son cœur?
J’y consens volontiers pour vous tirer d’erreur,
Suivez-moi, vous verrez s’il est rien que j’avance,
Et si son jeune cœur entre nous deux balance.
(Il va frapper à sa porte.)
Sganarelle à Valère (II. viii, p. 33)
[To set you right, I willingly consent to it. Follow me; you shall hear if I have added anything, and if her young heart hesitates between us two. (Goes and knocks at his own door).]
Sganarelle to Valère (II. 14, p. 30)

Isabelle resists:

Et voulez-vous charmé de ses rares mérites,
M’obliger à l’aimer, et souffrir ses visites?
Isabelle à Sganarelle (II. ix, p. 33)
[And do you wish, charmed by his rare merits, to compel me to love him, and endure his visits?]
Isabelle to Sganarelle (II. 14, p. 31)

Quoi mon âme à vos yeux ne se montre pas toute,
Et de mes vœux encor vous pouvez être en doute?
Isabelle à Valère (II. ix, p. 33)
[What! Is not my soul completely bared to your eyes, and can you still doubt whom I love?]
Isabelle to Valère (II. 14, p. 31)

Oui tout ce que Monsieur, de votre part m’a dit,
Madame, a bien pouvoir de surprendre un esprit,
J’ai douté, je l’avoue, et cet arrêt suprême,
Qui décide du sort de mon amour extrême,
Doit m’être assez touchant pour ne pas s’offenser,
Que mon cœur par deux fois le fasse prononcer.
Valère à Isabelle (II. ix, p. 34)
[Yes, all that this gentleman has told me on your behalf, Madam, might well surprise a man ; I confess I doubted it. This final sentence, which decides the fate of my great love, moves my feelings so much that it can be no offence if I wish to have it repeated.]
Valère to Isabelle (II. 14, p. 31)

The following quotation is central to a discussion of the play.

Non non, un tel arrêt ne doit pas vous surprendre,
Ce sont mes sentiments qu’il vous a fait entendre,
Et je les tiens fondés sur assez d’équité,
Pour en faire éclater toute la vérité;
Oui je veux bien qu’on sache, et j’en dois être crue,
Que le sort offre ici deux objets à ma vue,
Qui m’inspirant pour eux différents sentiments,
De mon cœur agité font tous les mouvements.
L’un par un juste choix où l’honneur m’intéresse,
A toute mon estime et toute ma tendresse;
Et l’autre pour le prix de son affection,
A toute ma colère et mon aversion:
La présence de l’un m’est agréable et chère,
J’en reçois dans mon âme une allégresse entière,
Et l’autre par sa vue inspire dans mon cœur
De secrets mouvements, et de haine et d’horreur.
Me voir femme de l’un est toute mon envie,
Et plutôt qu’être à l’autre, on m’ôterait la vie;
Mais c’est assez montrer mes justes sentiments,
Et trop longtemps languir dans ces rudes tourments:
Il faut que ce que j’aime usant de diligence,
Fasse à ce que je hais perdre toute espérance,
Et qu’un heureux hymen affranchisse mon sort,
D’un supplice pour moi plus affreux que la mort.
Isabelle à Valère (II. ix, p. 34)
[No, no, such a sentence should not surprise you. Sganarelle told you my very sentiments ; I consider them to be sufficiently founded on justice, to make their full truth clear. Yes, I desire it to be known, and I ought to be believed, that fate here presents two objects to my eyes, who, inspiring me with different sentiments, agitate my heart. One by a just choice, in which my honour is involved, has all my esteem and love; and the other, in return for his affection, has all my anger and aversion. The presence of the one is pleasing and dear to me, and fills me with joy; but the sight of the other inspires me with secret emotions of hatred and horror. To see myself the wife of the one is all my desire; and rather than belong to the other, I would lose my life. But I have sufficiently declared my real very sentiments; I consider them to be sufficiently founded on justice, to make their full truth clear. Yes, I desire it to be known, and I ought to be believed, that fate here presents two objects to my eyes, who, inspiring sentiments ; and languished too long under this severe torture. He whom I love must use diligence to make him whom I hate lose all hope, and deliver me by a happy marriage, from a suffering more terrible than death.]
Isabelle to Valère (II. 14, p. 31)

At this point, it becomes clear in Valère’s mind that Isabelle wants Valère to take her away from Sganarelle. There is one more ruse, in Act Three.

Que sans plus de soupirs,
Il conclue un hymen qui fait tous mes désirs,
Et reçoive en ce lieu, la foi que je lui donne,
De n’écouter jamais les vœux d’autre personne.
Isabelle à Valère (II. ix, p. 35)
[Let him, without more sighing, hasten a marriage which is all I desire, and accept the assurance which I give him, never to listen to the vows of another. (She pretends to embrace Sganarelle, and gives her hand to Valère to kiss.)]
Isabelle to Valère (II. 14, p. 32)

Conclusion

I need to stop, because I have run out of space. Note the double entendre used by Isabelle. Isabelle is as clever as zanni and, ironically, she uses Sganarelle as go-between. This is the height of irony. She says the opposite of what she means, but the proof of her love is her constant presence in Valère’s home. Sganarelle goes back and forth between his house and Valère’s. Why would Isabelle/Sganarelle forever visit Valère if she did not love him? These are artful stratagems. There is considerable irony in Sagnarelle’s respect for Valère. It should be noted that Sganarelle has taught Isabelle law. This play is difficult to read. A mere performance does not allow one to see Molière’s artfulness.

RELATED ARTICLE

Molière’s “L’École des maris,” “The School for Husbands ”(Part One) (18 July 2019)

Sources and Resources

The Theatre in Italy during the 17^th century
Toutmolière.net Notice
L’École des maris is a toutmolière.net publication
The School for Husbands is an Internet Archive publication, translator Henri van Laun
Molière21
théâtre-documentation.com
Images belong to the Bibliothèque nationale de France
The Decameron is Gutenberg’s [EBook #23700]

Love to everyone 💕
Apologies, I was very tired and my eyesight was blurred. I have quoted this play at great length, which is necessary in a comédie d’intrigue: twists and turns.

Jan Petit qui danse (Occitania, after 1643)
Le Poème Harmonique (dir. Vincent Dumestre)