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)

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)

© Micheline Walker
21 July 2019
WordPress