I was shocked when I realized the extent to which Covid-19 affected Montreal and decided one could not like a post containing the following information:
half of Canada’s victims of the Covid-19 pandemic live in Quebec;
the province of Quebec is failing its elderly citizens;
20,000 of Canadian cases of Covid-19 were Québécois.
Finding helpers
On the 8th of April, police found neglected seniors in a long-term facility: Herron. This facility is private, but private nursing homes are nevertheless subsidized, to a point, by the Quebec government. Conditions drew a parallel with concentration camps.
Given this emergency, Premier François Legault and Health Minister Danielle McCann called on teachers to help in nursing homes, the CHSLDs (Centre d’hébergement et de soins de longue durée [long term care facilities]).
Teachers
On Friday, the 10th of April, Quebec’s Premier, François Legault and Health Minister Danielle McCann tried to “force employees in the education sector to help in the health sector.” Schools were closed and the province had an emergency. Teachers did not enter long-term care facilities or nursing houses.
“Confédération des syndicats nationaux [Unions] did not take long to respond. It said it recognized the gravity of the crisis and the need to resort to exceptional measures, but is worried about how this decision would be implemented and the potential for abuse.”
“Forcing education personnel to work in the health network, without any form of consultation with those affected, is at the very least heartbreaking,” said CSN [Confédération des syndicats nationaux] president Jacques Létourneau.
However, it had been discovered that some of the elderly who had been transported to hospitals were not the victims of Covid-19.
Dr. Vinh-Kim Nguyen says the Jewish General is seeing more and more seniors admitted — not necessarily for COVID-19, but because of issues related to dehydration and starvation.
“We started to see a shift in the kinds of patients we’ve admitted to the hospital,” Nguyen told Global News.
“More and more patients are coming from old-age homes, nursing homes and CHSLD long-term care facilities, most of them coming in with dehydration, hypernatremia, high blood sodium, renal failure.”
After three days, Premier Legault thought he had not made himself clear.
“I think I am clear today: we need, ideally, 2,000 doctors — whether they are general practitioners or specialists — to come treat the people, wash patients, feed patients, to come and do the work of nurses.”
Danielle McCann was quite convincing:
“There are many GPs and specialists who go on humanitarian missions outside Quebec, to Africa and other countries,” added Health Minister Danielle McCann. “They go help. They are quite devoted. What I want to say to them today is that this time the humanitarian mission is in Quebec — it is in the CHSLDs.”
The Agreement
Doctors responded, but money talks. Two thousand doctors are working in nursing homes and seniors are losing their life to Covid-19. One doctor has died. However, it has been agreed that doctors “will be paid $211 an hour, regardless of their tasks, to a maximum of $2,500 a day. The average wage of an orderly now is $21.50 an hour.” It’s “danger pay.” I doubt very much that a Quebec doctor would have accepted to work in nursing homes without a generous danger pay.
The Military
Premier Legault’s has nevertheless requested further help from the military. He needs 1,000 soldiers who would work in a CHSLD (long term care facility.) I doubt that they will receive “danger pay.”
Similarly, Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario has also requested the assistance of the armed forces. So the military is becoming the “force … of last resort.”
One can count on a soldier’s sense of duty. They came, they assessed and they found a strategy. In other words, soldiers can organize, which is what the first group did. The request for one thousand soldiers is Quebec’s second request.
I have since read that the death toll in Quebec was 1,243, which means that “Quebec with 23 percent of Canada’s population, is home to 52% of cases and 57 percent of the death.” But the death toll has now risen to 1,446 and keeps rising.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2020.
Red Cross volunteer Stephane Corbeil adjusts an opening in a tent at a mobile hospital at the Jacques Lemaire arena in the Montreal suburb of LaSalle, Sunday, April 26, 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues in Canada and around the world. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Conclusion
There is more to tell: herd immunity, lifting the lockdown… But it suffices to say that one has very little respect for doctors in Quebec who will not come forward until their union negotiates a salary of $2,500 a day. There are good doctors, but, by and large, it’s all about money. They have a powerful syndicate and one fears being a snitch. The fact remains that in Quebec, half the victims of Covid-19 are the elderly. I suspect that the orderlies left because they feared contamination.
You may know that I lost fourteen brothers and sisters to a congenital blood disease. The Insurance Company ceased to contribute money, but my father’s employers footed the bill. It was small. These were the days when I could phone our doctor and say: “Dr Saine, Thérèse has a fever and she is in considerable pain. I don’t know what to do.” He said the magical words. “Don’t worry Micheline, I’m coming over.”
But I will stop here. I was kept away by a case of sadness. The videos show the Premier, Danielle McCann and Quebec’s top doctor: Dr Horacio Arruda. Canada’s top doctor is Dr Theresa Tam.
More than 2,500 coronavirus deaths in Canada as confirmed cases cross 46K.
Love to everyone 💕 I was not able to enter all captions. My post disappeared. I will try to enter captions and credit later.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault and Quebec Health Minister Danielle McCann, right, arrive at a news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic, Wednesday, April 15, 2020 at the legislature in Quebec City. (JACQUES BOISSINOT / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Quebec’s Premier François Legault said yesterday afternoon that the province had 19,319 cases of COVID-19, an increase of 963 from the day before. A total of 939 people have died. Quebec now has 20,000 cases.
(I hope the following links take you to the correct quotation. I had to leave my desk because of fatigue and illness. The last link I found today.)
Many Québécois would like to return to work, but several have yet to be tested. Social distancing helps considerably and it could also be that people exposed to the virus grow a degree immunity. Be that as it may, Quebec has not “flattened the curve” and I do not think it will in the foreseeable future. In fact, the Premier of Quebec, François Legault, requested that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau send medically-trained members of the Canadian Armed Forces to help fight Covid-19. A large proportion of victims live in long-term care facilities.
I have already mentioned that Quebec’s early March-break may have led to contamination. I went into self-isolation on 10 March, but nearly a week later, people were going on a holiday inside or outside Quebec. Other factors may have led to the rapid spread of the disease. Covid-19 is a pandemic and, by definition, contagious, but one should be careful.
Prime Minister Legault leads a party and a government that is devoting significant energy turning a lay society into a lay society. Québécois could not wear a veil that hid their face. But Coalition avenir Québec went further. One cannot display a sign of one’s religion. In other words, a Muslim woman cannot wear a veil, including a discrete veil. Quebec has welcomed North Africans, white and black, because they speak French. In 1974, Quebec became a unilingual province, but its birth rate was very low. Is laïcité (secularism) so important an issue? Finding a general practicioner is difficult in Quebec. The waiting-list is three years.
The Shortage of Tests
Moreover, the shortage of tests has been the bane of this Pandemic. It has led to massive self-isolation in many countries. If persons have not been tested, they cannot return to the workplace safely. Many would test negative, but many would test positive. Persons who would test positive could infect others. The pandemic could therefore grow more severe. However, people fear a recession and, possibly, another Great Depression.
In this regard, it may be useful to remember that the Spanish Flu Pandemic and Word War I were followed by the roaring 20s. The Great Depression occurred in the 1930s and was ended when World War II broke out. For the United States, war broke out on two fronts. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on Japan, after the surprise and devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, on Sunday, 7 December 1941. I would agree with Dr Fauci. Returning to work too soon could result in a second wave of contagion. It could “backfire and slow economic recovery.”
This topic is touchy. In Quebec, students do not need to complete a Bachelor of Science degree before entering medical school. They enter medical school after the CEGEP, their twelfth and thirteenth years of schooling. During the two years they attend a CEGEP, they prepare for the profession or trade they have chosen. They enter medical school three years earlier than they would if they studied outside Quebec. This may not make Quebec doctors lesser doctors, but…
More importantly, if a doctor’s patient needs to be hospitalized, he or she is treated by a hospital doctor. My mother was admitted to a hospital after a fall, and she was treated by a hospital doctor. She was taking Coumadin, a blood thinner, which was indicated on her chart. She was nevertheless given another blood thinner, which caused her to hemorrage. She nearly died and lost the ability to use her legs. The staff had made a mistake. They said they were too busy. Would this have happened had she been under the care of her own doctor? In this instance, the system failed a patient.
As for patients who enter a long-term care facility, or Nursing Home, similar to the one my mother lived in, they are treated by that facility’s doctor(s). My mother could not understand why her doctor never visited. It was a source of distress, which is not trivial. Distress is stress and stress leads to illnesses. However, seriously ill Covid-19 victims are treated in an intensive care unit, an ICU. Yet, they are infected in a long-term care facility.
So, one wonders.
How many patients are assigned to one caregiver?
Can patients be treated in nursing homes? These differ.
Moreover, if a doctor visits, does he or she visit patients regularly and establish a rapport with them?
Are these facilities sufficiently sanitized?
etc.
I may be wrong, but I am inclined to believe that the system might be failing older citizens in Quebec. There have been and there are outbreaks in nursing homes outside Quebec, but are these as overwhelming as they are in Quebec? The medically-trained members of the Armed Forces are assessing the situation.
In short, I am alarmed and doubt very much that the lockdown will be lifted before early June, not to mention that the lockdown itself is leading to health problems, such as addictions and domestic violence. Rich provinces, Alberta for instance, can help persons who are in self-isolation. Not all provinces are as rich as Alberta.
Love to everyone 💕
P. S. I have disabled the “like” button for this post. One likes to be informed, but the information is grim. During the night I kept thinking I had made an error and reported the wrong numbers. The “like” button tells me I have a community.
I reread my post and made a change. If one returns to work untested and works in a contaminated environment, one’s life is a stake and contagion will continue exponentially.
To liberate…
The Washington Post has stories and pictures that tell the unacceptable. President Trump is smiling as he encourages States to end the lockdown using the word “liberate.” “Liberate?” People may return to work because they have yet to receive money from Washington. What happened to the “stimulus” fund?
If a person has not received an income for two months, he or she may return to work at the cost of his or her life, which is scandalous. Before a person reënters the workplace, that person has to test negative and the workplace must be as safe an environment as possible.
There is enough money in the United States to keep people secure for a few more weeks. At the moment, returning to work is unsafe. Moreover, some people will have suffered emotionally and mentally. They require help.
In other words, Quebec has more than half the Canadian cases.
Last weekend, Premier François Legault solicited the help of all physicians in the Province of Quebec, including specialists. Moreover, he has also called on Canada’s government to send qualified members of the Canadian armed forces. As requested by François Legault, the Quebec Premier, Canada is sending 150 medically qualified members the Canadian Armed Forces to relieve a truly overburdened Quebec.
A large number of cases of the novel coronavirus in Quebec are in nursing homes, or long-term care facilities, which is also the case, to a lesser extent, in other provinces. It is believed that Quebecers returning from their March-break may have brought in the coronavirus. Quebec’s March-break occurred earlier than in other provinces. Moreover, many Quebecers travel to Florida to escape Quebec’s harsh winter. Several, retired persons in particular, own a home, in Florida. This could explain, Quebec’s plight.
However, as is well know, the world did not act swiftly when China reported its outbreak of coronavirus. Chinese Dr Li Wenliang, the whistleblower, was reprimanded in early January by Huwan authorities. He died on 7 February 2020. This matter will probably be investigated. Delay in reporting a contagious illness in Huwan did not do anyone any good, in or outside China, but China is not altogether to blame. Quebec locked itself down on 23 March and President Trump of the United States favours an early return to work. The economy is suffering. This could prompt a second wave of the disease.
Delays
Quebec physicians are unionized, but broke directives given by their union. A pandemic is an extraordinary event. The sick require the intervention of doctors.
The first American case was a man who had travelled to Wuhan. He returned to Seattle on 15 January 2020 and fell ill a day after his return. On 17 January, the US CDC (Centers for Disease Control) had alerted the authorities. Yet, the surgeon general of the United States, Dr Jerome Adams, has stated that this week: “more than five times as many Americans died from covid-19 last week than were killed in the World War II raid.”
In the United States, the lockdown has been eased. The President wanted to reopen the entire country, but, in the end, the matter was left to the Governor of each state to decide. Contagion has been far more severe in the state of New York. New York City is densely populated.
Yesterday, there were 31,642 confirmed and 11 presumptive cases in Canada. The latest (late yesterday) are higher:
Quebec has not announced an end of the lockdown. A partial and cautious return to work has been announced elsewhere.
Conclusion
When crises occur, political views seem no longer rigidly significant. As for an early and premature return to work, this may not be advisable. However, it may help the morale of persons whose income drops considerably or is terminated. But consider the cost: it could a person’s life and further contagion. Health care practices may also be revisited. One has the right to be treated and to live. Would that I could understand why Dr Li Wenliang was reprimanded. It doesn’t make any sense.
Prefatory miniature from a moralized Bible of “God as architect of the world”, folio I verso, Paris ca. 1220–1230. Ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum 1′ 1½” × 8¼”. Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna 2554. (See Bible moralisée, Wikipedia.)
The Spartan Cube, a Covid-19 testing device, is exclusive to Canada. I suspect that Spartan Bioscience is unable to manufacture an extremely large number of cubes. The Spartan Cube is a DNA analyzer that isn’t brand new. Spartan Bioscience adapted a test used to diagnose Legionnaire‘s disease. As I noted, in an earlier post, the cube is about the size of a large coffee mug, which makes it portable, and results are available in a half hour. It was developed in less than 25 days and could perhaps be improved. But it might suffice to replicate and manufacture the Cube in facilities outside Canada. The Spartan Cube will be available to Canadians at the beginning of May.
Distribution
At the moment, we are told to self-test according to symptoms and phone if symptoms are severe. This is a way of tending to the sick. But our economy cannot survive if the healthy cannot leave home and work.
I would propose taking the cubes to the people in unsophisticated, but disinfected buses. The test would be administered by health professionals and, for safety reasons, I don’t think people should enter the bus. However, people should be comfortable and could sit in a second bus.
For many health professionals, a half hour is too long. But, quite frankly, at the testing phase, most people will test negative. Care is not given at that time.
Residences for the Elderly & Hospitals
Covid-19 attacks the elderly who have entered a residence. These individuals cannot self-isolate easily. They eat in a dining-room. They use common areas and most do not have a private room. I believe wards are a mistake as are unlimited visiting hours and unlimited number of visitors. We have turned hospitals into institutions where people get sick.
We also need masks, gloves, ventilators, beds, people who disinfect the street, etc. These are in short supply. We therefore need businesses that would manufacture the materials needed by health-care professionals and the public.
The novel (new) coronavirus is an unknown. We learn something new every day. So, in no way should we allow persons who test positive not to be treated. Nor should those who have been hospitalized return to work prematurely. In North America, the disease has not peaked.
A long time ago, I posted articles on illuminated manuscripts. Jean de France, duc de Berry, had the Limbourg brothers ornament his Très Riches Heures. Jean de France died of the plague, so did the artists who made his Très Riches Heures de Jean de France, duc de Berry. All died in 1416.
Humanity has suffered too many natural disasters, but we have not been taking good care of Mother Earth or our societies. After this calimity, we will need to revisit many areas. The poor live in cramped quarters and the not-so-poor in areas that are simply too small.
The difficulty facing doctors is the scarcity of testing devices and the time it takes to obtain results. However, a new test device has just been approved by Health Canada. It was developed by Spartan Bioscience of Ottawa, Canada.
The testing device is called the Spartan Cube, le cube Spartan, and it does not differ considerably from the test used until now. However, it is smaller, the size of a coffee mug, portable and results are ready in less than an hour: a half hour. It is its own lab, which explains is rapidity.
I wouldn’t dare state that the nightmare is about to end, but I see hope. Spartan Bioscience has a contract with the Government of Quebec, the most severely affected province of Canada, but all Canadian Provinces are buying large supplies of the Spartan Cube. The previous test worked, but it was slow. A diagnostic will now be reached more rapidly.
The Spartan Cube is a testing device. It cannot cure individuals whose life is threatened by Covid-19.
Tiziano Vecellio, Tobiolo e l’Angelo, Olio su tavola, 1512-14, Gallerie dell’ Accademia, Venezia (Franco Canavesio blog)
I have been in love, so I understand that Meghan is everything in your eyes and that you want to be at her side and near Archie. Meghan is now in her country and among actors, and other celebrities. But she may follow you. Your country is Britain and Britain needs you. You are a British Prince and you are Archie’s father. He too is royalty and your family would love to see him.
May I urge you to go to Britain. The Palace is safe and your country needs you. I haven’t kept up with the Sussexes, but I know that you are in Malibu, California, which is quite a distance away from Britain. William and your entire family need you more than ever. You are in the military and so is William. The two of you are young and strong and both have duties.
Please fly home immediately and take Archie. He is British Royalty. It could well be that Meghan will accompany the two of you. She married a Prince of the United Kingdom. You also have a home: Frogmore. I heard that Meghan was taking acting lessons. These can be postponed. Britain needs your energy, your smile, and your love. Remember that you are an accomplished Prince. That is your job. Remember as well that today is the first day of the rest of your life. You are William’s brother and he needs you. Imagine how awful it is for him to be alone.
Your grandmother is showing considerable courage and leadership at this very dark hour, but she and your grandfather are ageing.
We have a monster to beat.
Purcell‘s Trumpet Voluntary Budapest Brass Quintet Petz Pál, Palotai István – trumpet Füzes Péter – horn Farkas István Péter – trombone
I would invite you to reread the article I posted yesterday.
I have not changed my mind. I believe that we have to test people and let the healthy return to the workplace. Self-isolation alone will not keep us safe. Not if we can no longer work and earn a living. There is no overnight miracle, but testing may allow the economy to recover more quickly.
Testing is much easier than discovering a vaccine. As I mentioned yesterday, there is an American group who is working with doctors and scientists and would send the healthy back to a safe workplace. Testing would be needed.
A vaccine will be produced, but it may not be produced in the foreseeable future, luck being a factor. Who will come up with the brilliant idea that will allow a cure and also allow the world to be as it should be. We can now see the magnificent Himalayan range of mountains.
Leaders, doctors and scientists must work together, but expertise must inform decisions made by elected officials. Mr Trump is ready to send people back to work to save the economy. But we cannot allow people who test positive to return to work. They must still self-isolate, or the pandemic will continue.
A Triage: Testing
What I am suggesting is a triage that would separate the healthy from the sick and allow those who test negative to return to work. The sick would be treated, but the healthy would keep the economy alive. We have new tools: Skype, etc. Although humanity has been scourged for millennia, it has survived.
I have a healthy nephew whose employees are healthy, but they are not allowed to work. So why do we not test them? Testing was carried out in Germany quite successfully.
We cannot close the future down. We cannot let massive unemployment follow the pandemic. That is a grim scenario. Scientists would continue to search for a vaccine, but the economy would not crumble. Testing may be difficult to organize, but it has to be organized. There is no other way.
Expertise is what world leaders need. I do not wish to trivialize world leaders, but they need guidance from doctors, scientists and economists, which is leadership in the days of the novel coronavirus.
Streets would still be disinfected as well as the workplace, but we would ensure economic stability and lift the world’s morale. Can we truly justify the self-isolation of my nephew and his healthy employees?
I am not a medical doctor, a scientist, or an economist. I am quite simply civic-minded. If we test and test, we will find those who test negative. I’m scared, because this virus may be airborne. Hence cleaning the workplace. But why isolate people who would test negative and create a new nightmare.
If the above numbers are accurate, I live in the province of Canada that is home to half the confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country.
The WHO (World Health Organisation) warned of a potential pandemic at the very end of 2019.
Dr Li Wenliang died on 7 February 2020.
Dr Li Wenliang
As soon as Dr Li Wenliang died, we knew. At that point, North-Americans needed to find the persons who had been in the immediate proximity of the first victims and test them. In other words, medical experts should have been mobilized. It didn’t happen. I need not remind anyone that President Trump reassured Americans. Yet, the time had come to test Americans and forbid the young from spending the March break on beaches and partying. Dr Jerome Adams, the surgeon general of the United States, has stated that Covid-19 was spread mainly by the young. Many Quebecers travel to Florida during the March break.
If an extremely dangerous and unknown virus surfaces, doctors must guide leaders. I read in theWashington Post, that Americans were organizing to map out a strategy the President cannot put forward. There are times when democracy fails us. The plan is to test the population and have the healthy occupy positions formerly held by persons who have fallen ill many of whom have yet to recover or have died, and other positions. There is a healthy population and there are experts: doctors, chemists, and economists. They and elected officials must work together.
No, we cannot count on Mr Trump. He is not qualified to deal with this matter, but the United States has other leaders and it has experts.
In other words, Quebec and other North-Americans have to find people who can keep the population safe and the economy afloat. We have to test people. Many of us are healthy and can work.
I have heard libertarians scream: this is a “free country.” Well, there is freedom and then there is freedom. No one is free to infect other persons. As I have written in several posts and taught my students, one’s freedom ends where the freedom of others begin and expertise overrides uneducated popularity.
I’m not suggesting mutiny and revenge. Violence is out of the question. I am simply sharing what I read in theWashington Post. But I would like to see fine and qualified human beings make sure that
the sick are sequestered and treated,
that a force is making sure doctors and other health professionals are fully protected,
After publishing Anselme on Love (4), I realised that in some copies, not all quotations were translated in full. That was a huge mistake. I believe the finished post was translated, but that drafts came to the surface. I hope all quotations have now been translated.
—ooo—
Dramatis Personæ (the cast)
LÉLIE, (son of) fils de Pandolphe.
CÉLIE, (slave to) esclave de Trufaldin.
MASCARILLE, (lackey to) valet de Lélie.
HIPPOLYTE, (daughter of) fille d’Anselme.
ANSELME, (old man) vieillard.
TRUFALDIN, vieillard.
PANDOLPHE, vieillard.
LÉANDRE, (son) fils de famille.
ANDRÈS, (believed to be) cru égyptien.
ERGASTE, valet.
UN COURRIER.
DEUX TROUPES DE MASQUES.
We will now read the remainder of Molière’s L’Étourdi, The Blunderer.
a doubling
Lélie always crosses Mascarille’s plan, but Molière has built a sub-plot which could be called a doubling. However, the rules of classical theater demand that elements of the play be introduced in Act One. No one knows Célie’s identity, which points to a discovery, an anagnorisis. Mascarille, however, knows details of Trufaldin’s life. There will be a discovery that will allow Lélie and Célie to marry. The play is entitled L’Étourdi ou les contretemps. Contretemps are unexpected events. Lélie blunders, but he is often misled by appearances and by his beliefs. We have seen that he will not allow Léandre to look upon Célie has a loose woman.
The beginning of Célie’s story
Almost as soon as the curtain lifts, we learn that Trufaldin’s slave, Célie, has parents. She is very beautiful, but Lélie, who is in love with her and knows her heart, suspects that she is of higher birth. Molière makes room for a redeeming recognition.
Pour moi, dans ses discours, comme dans son visage,/ Je vois pour sa naissance un noble témoignage,/ Et je crois que le Ciel dedans un rang si bas,/30 Cache son origine, et ne l’en tire pas. Lélie à Mascarille (I. ii)
[For my part, in her conversation as well as in her countenance, I see evidence of her noble birth. I believe that Heaven has concealed a lofty origin beneath such a lowly station.] Lélie to Mascarille (I. 2, p. 10).
When Lélie and Mascarille go to Trufaldin’s house to know their fortune and be certain Célie’s feelings are compatible with Lélie’s, Célie reassures Lélie, saying, however, that her heart has not hurt anyone:
Mon cœur, qu’avec raison votre discours étonne,/ N’entend pas que mes yeux fassent mal à personne;/ Et si dans quelque chose, ils vous ont outragé,/ Je puis vous assurer que c’est sans mon congé. Célie à Lélie (I. iii)
[My heart, which has good reason to be astonished
at your speech, does not wish my eyes to injure any one;
if they have offended you in anything, I can assure you I did not intend it.] Célie to Lélie (I. iii, p. 12)
When Trufaldin realizes that Célie is outdoors, he tells her that she is not allowed to leave the house. She comments that a long time ago, she knew this fine man, suggesting a life gone bye: autrefois (in the past).
Autrefois j’ai connu cet honnête garçon ; 130Et vous n’avez pas lieu d’en prendre aucun soupçon. Célie à Trufaldin (I. iv)
[I was once acquainted with this respectable young man; You have no reason to be suspicious of him.] Célie to Trufaldin (I. iv, p. 12)
Moreover, there is a ring.
Cette bague connue, Vous dira le sujet qui cause ma venue. Mascarille à Trufaldin (II. ix)
[This ring, which you know, will inform you what business brings me hither.] Mascarille to Trufaldin (II. 2, p. 12)
This is the ring he is to take to Nérine as a token of Anselme’s love.
Et l’on m’a mis en main une bague à la mode,/ Q’après vous payerez si cela l’accommode. Mascarille à Anselme (I. iii, v. 254)
[No, there is no need of your money ; without troubling yourself, I will make her a present ; a fashionable ring has been left in my hands, which you may pay for afterwards, if it fits her.] Mascarille to Anselme (I. 6, p. 16)
Lélie has a courier bring a letter in which a Spanish nobleman states that he is travelling to take his daughter back to Spain. Although Mascarille has the ring, Trufaldin believes the courier. There is a past, an autrefois.
The Visit to Trufaldin’s
In Act Four, Scene One, Mascarille tells Lélie, as much as he knows about Zanobio Ruberti. He and Lélie will have dinner with Trufaldin and Célie. As the image at the top of this post reveals, Lélie is disguised as an Armenian. He has to learn a role, but Lélie doesn’t think he needs tutoring.
Ces répétitions ne sont que superflues;/ Dès l’abord mon esprit a compris tout le fait. Lélie à Mascarille (IV. i)
[These repetitions are superfluous. From the very beginning I understood it all.] Lélie to Mascarille (IV. 1, p. 50)
They aren’t. Lélie cannot remember that he parted with Trufaldin’s son in Tunis. He says Turin. Consequently, Trufaldin knows Lélie has not met his son. This “comedy” incurs Trufaldin’s wrath because it is cruel. Moreover, Lélie cannot keep his eyes from admiring Célie and in the process, he pays no attention to Trufaldin’s niece Jeannette. This is yet another blunder. Therefore, Trufaldin has a stick made from an old oak tree. Lélie will be beaten and Mascarille joins in to keep his cover. Others must believe he is a friend.
We skip Scene Three because we have read Anselme on Love (4).
Blunders or Fate
In Scene Four, Lélie states that love misguides him and that Mascarille doesn’t know its force:
Qu’il est aisé de condamner des choses/ Dont tu ne ressens point les agréables causes!/ Je veux bien néanmoins, pour te plaire une fois,/ Faire force à l’amour qui m’impose ses lois./ Désormais… Lélie à Mascarille (IV. iv)
[Lack-a day! how easy it is for you to condemn things of which you do not feel the enchanting cause. In order to humour you for once I have, nevertheless, a good mind to put a restraint upon that love which sways me.
Henceforth . . .] Lélie to Mascarille (IV. 5)
Lélie also feels that his fate is cruel.
Faut-il que le malheur qui me suit à la trace/ Me fasse voir toujours disgrâce sur disgrâce. Lélie, seul (IV. vi, v. 1635)
[Will ill-luck always follow me, and heap upon me one misfortune after another?] Lélie, alone (IV. 8, p. 58)
A Second Rival: Andrès
In Scene Seven, Ergaste tells Mascarille that a young man, an Egyptian whose skin is white and seems prosperous, and an old woman have arrived.
À l’heure que je parle, un jeune Égyptien,/ Qui n’est pas noir pourtant, et sent assez son bien,/ Arrive, accompagné d’une vieille fort hâve,/ Et vient chez Trufaldin racheter cette esclave/ Que vous vouliez; pour elle il paraît fort zélé. Ergaste à Mascarille (IV. vii)
[At the very moment I am talking to you, a young gipsy, who nevertheless is no black, and looks like a gentleman, has arrived with a very wan-looking old woman, and is to call upon Trufaldin to purchase the slave you wished to redeem. He seems to be very anxious to get possession of her.] Ergaste to Mascarille (IV. 9, p. 59)
Lélie blundered, but destiny is unkind to both Lélie and Mascarille.
Lorsqu’un rival s’éloigne, un autre plus funeste/ S’en revient enlever tout l’espoir qui nous reste. Mascarille à Ergaste (IV. vii)
[As soon as one rival withdraws, another and a more dangerous one starts up to destroy what little hope there was left. However, by a wonderful stratagem, I believe I shall be as left.] Mascarille to Ergaste (IV. 9, p. 59)
Yet Mascarille comes up with a new stratagem. There has been a theft, so he will bribe some officers who will imprison all gypsies, including Andrès.
1665Il s’est fait un grand vol, par qui, l’on n’en sait rien;/ Eux autres rarement passent pour gens de bien:/ Je veux adroitement sur un soupçon frivole,/ Faire pour quelques jours emprisonner ce drôle;/ Je sais des officiers de justice altérés … Mascarille à Ergaste (IV. vii, v 1663-)
[A great robbery has lately been committed, by whom, nobody knows. These gipsies have not generally the reputation of being very honest; upon this slight suspicion, I will cleverly get the fellow imprisoned for a few days. I know some officers of justice, open to a bribe, who will not hesitate on such an occasion ; greedy and expecting some present, there is nothing they will not attempt with their eyes shut; be the accused ever so innocent, the purse is always criminal, and must pay for the offence.] Mascarille to Ergaste (IV. 9. p. 60)
This stratagem could have worked, but Lélie will not let anyone imprison a “respectable” man. Andrès is not a gypsy.
Par les soins vigilants de l’exempt balafré,/ Ton affaire allait bien, le drôle était coffré,/ Si ton maître au moment ne fût venu lui-même,/ 1680 En vrai désespéré rompre ton stratagème: «Je ne saurais souffrir, a-t-il dit hautement,/ Qu’un honnête homme soit traîné honteusement;/ J’en réponds sur sa mine, et je le cautionne»:/ Et comme on résistait à lâcher sa personne,/ 1685 D’abord il a chargé si bien sur les recors,/ Qui sont gens d’ordinaire à craindre pour leurs corps,/ Qu’à l’heure que je parle ils sont encore en fuite,/ Et pensent tous avoir un Lélie à leur suite. Ergaste à Mascarille (V.I, v. 1677-)
[The constable took great care everything was going on smoothly; the fellow would have been in jail, had not your master come up that very moment, and, like a madman spoiled your plot. “I cannot suffer,” says he in a loud voice, “that a respectable man should be dragged to prison in this disgraceful manner; I will be responsible for him, from his very looks, and will be his bail.”] Ergaste to Mascarille (V.I, p. 60)
Andrès buys Célie, who once loved him, and is about to take her away. She persuades Andrès to defer their trip because she has a violent headache and would like to rest until it has abated. Mascarille quickly turns himself into a Swiss who can rent a house he has quickly transformed into an inn by posting a sign. Mascarille once planned to take Célie to the same house while Léandre negotiated marrying Célie with his father.
This stratagem may also have worked, but enters Lélie who learns from Andrès that he has bought Célie who is resting in a house that belongs to Lélie’s father and is looked after by Mascarille. He believes Andrès will let him marry Célie, but Andrès has other plans.
The Anagnorisis
At this point, nothing can be done. The laws of comedy, its formulaic happy ending, and the hand of destiny must rescue Lélie.
In Scene Five, Lélie asks Mascarille to shed his disguise. He thinks matters have been dealt with. We revisit Act One, Scene Four where Lélie believes that all that remains to be done is negotiating the price that will allow him to marry Célie. Similarly, five acts later, Lélie believes Andrès will let him marry the woman he loves: Célie. He doesn’t know how to thank Andrès who tells him not to thanks him.
Non, ne m’en [remerciements] faites point, je n’en veux nullement. Andrès à Lélie (V.iv, v. 1806)
[No, give me none ; I will have none.] Andrès to Lélie (V. 6, p. 164)
In Scene Five, speaks about his success to Mascarille. He is proud.
J’aurai c’est honneur d’avoir fini l’ouvrage. Lélie à Mascarille (V.v, v. 1835) Soit; vous aurez été bien plus heureux que sage. Mascarille à Lélie (V.v, v. 1836)
[… mine will be the honour of having finished the work.] Lélie to Mascarille (V. 9, p. 65)
[You have been more lucky than wise.] Mascarille to Lélie (V. 9, p. 65)
In Scene Six, Andrès says that he will not give Célie to Lélie
1841 Mais enfin, ce bienfait aurait trop de rigueur, S’il fallait le payer aux dépens de mon cœur ; Jugez, dans le transport où sa beauté me jette
Si je dois à ce prix vous acquitter ma dette … Andrès à Lélie (V.vi)
[… but this kindness would be too dearly bought were I to repay it at the expense of my heart. Judge, by the rapture her beauty causes me, whether I ought to discharge my debt to you at such a price.] Andrès to Lélie (V. 9, p. 65)
Dénouement
Hippolyte and Célie
the gypsies fighting: good and bad
the Egyptian woman recognizes Zanobio Ruberti, Célie’s real father
Andrès has also found his father: Zanobio Ruberti
Hippolyte has joined the group. She tells Célie that her beauty has stolen hearts. She has lost Léandre. She can tell, however, the “irresistible sway of your [Célie’s] charms.” She does not begrudge Célie. In fact, she has not lost Léandre. It is Célie who has lost Lélie.
The moment we have awaited has come. Mascarille tells in a récit that a bad gypsy had taken Célie from her. These two gypsy women have just had a terrible fight. One was the woman who stole Célie and the other, the good gypsy, or the woman who has been looking for Zanobio Ruberti and finds him:
« C’est vous, si quelque erreur n’abuse ici mes yeux,/ Qu’on m’a dit qui viviezinconnu dans ces lieux»,/ A-t-elle dit tout haut, « ô! rencontre opportune!/ 1960Oui, seigneur Zanobio Ruberti, la fortune/ Me fait vous reconnaître … Votre femme, je crois, conçut tant de douleur,/ Que cela servit fort pour avancer sa vie:/ Si bien qu’entre mes mains cette fille ravie,/ Me faisant redouter un reproche fâcheux,/ Je vous fis annoncer la mort de toutes deux:/… 1975Mais il faut maintenant, puisque je l’ai connue,/ Qu’elle fasse savoir ce qu’elle est devenue ; Au nom de Zanobio Ruberti, que sa voix… Mascarille/l’Égyptienne (V.ix, v. 1955- )
[“It is you, unless my sight misgives me, who, I was informed, lived privately in this town; most happy meeting! Yes, Signer Zanobio Ruberti, fortune made me find you out at the very moment I was giving myself so much trouble for your sake.”
(…)
but now, as I have found out the thief, she must tell us what has become of your child.”] Mascarille/l’Égyptienne (V. 14)
Hearing Trufaldin’s real name, Andrès realizes that Trufaldin is Zanobio Ruberti and tells him that he has found his father.
Au nom de Zanobio Ruberti, que sa voix … [At the name of Zanobio Ruberti …] Horace/Andrés
1983 Oui, mon père, je suis Horace votre fils,/ D’Albert qui me gardait les jours étant finis,/ Me sentant naître au cœur d’autres inquiétudes/ Je sortis de Bologne, et quittant mes études,/Portai durant six ans mes pas en divers lieux,/Selon que me poussait un désir curieux … Andrès à Trufaldin (V. ix, v. 1983 – )
[I am Horatio, your son; my tutor, Albert, having died, I felt anew certain uneasiness in my mind, left Bologna, and abandoning my studies, wandered about for six years in different places, according as my curiosity led me.] Andrès à Trufaldin(V. 14, p. 68)
The Consequences: marriages
Enfin, pour retrancher ce que plus à loisir,/ Vous aurez le moyen de vous faire éclaircir,/ Par la confession de votre Égyptienne,/ Trufaldin maintenant vous reconnaît pour sienne; / 2005 Andrès est votre frère; et comme de sa sœur/ Il ne peut plus songer à se voir possesseur,/ Une obligation qu’il prétend reconnaître,/ A fait qu’il vous obtient pour épouse à mon maître;/ Dont le père témoin de tout l’événement,/ 2010 Donne à cette hyménée un plein consentement … Mascarille, surtout (V.ix) [… in one word (to tell you shortly that which you will have an opportunity of learning afterwards more at your leisure, from the confession of the old gipsywoman), Trufaldin owns you (to Celia) now for his daughter; Andres is your brother; and as he can no longer think of marrying his sister, and as he acknowledges he is under some obligation to my master, Lelio, he has obtained for him your hand. Pandolphus being present at this discovery, gives his full consent to the marriage; and to complete the happiness of the family, proposes that the newly-found Horatio should marry his daughter. See how many incidents are produced at one and the same time!
Mascarille, mostly (V. 14, p. 68)
Lélie will marry Célie. As for his rival Léandre, he apologizes to Hippolyte who crave[s] “nothing but a generous pardon.” As for Andrès/Horatio, he cannot marry his sister. He embraces Lélie. But Mascarille is empty-handed…
His own enemy …
Yes, Lélie crosses Mascarille’s stratagems, but fate plays a role in these failed attempts… So does virtue. Lélie returns his purse to Anselme, and does so spontaneously. Célie is his own enemy. For instance, when a courier prevents Mascarille, not Léandre, from purchasing Célie, can Lélie tell that the purchaser is Mascarille. Lélie realizes that he is his own enemy, but Mascarille forgives quickly and uses another ruse. Lélie does brandish a sword, only to drop it. But Mascarille stops him:
Fût-il jamais au monde un esprit moins sensé! Mascarille (III.iv, v. 1053) Was there ever in the world a creature so dull of understanding? Mascarille ( III. 4, p. 41)
Ancient roots: killing Pandolfe
virtue and virtuosity
“killing” Pandolfe: atavistic
As in other Molière plays, the threat to the marriage of the young lovers stems from within and, to a significant extent, from a conflict between virtue and virtuosity, or the immunity given the trickster. Mascarille’s stratagems are morally questionable. After killing Pandolfe, he fears Pandolfe. He therefore asks Lélie to make sure he and his father are reconciled. Comedy is rooted in ancient rituals which at times included the killing of an old king. The longest night called for a renewal. Pandolfe is not killed, but it could be said that l’Étourdi is somewhat atavistic, despite the two marriages of its dénouement.
In The Blunderer, the young lover and his valet are separate figures who seem to negate one another. However, one can foresee the juxtaposition in one character of the Lélie who will not accept that Célie be looked upon as a loose woman, and Mascarille who does whatever is needed to bring out the marriage(s) of the dénouement. Lélie inhabits a literal world, where the end does not justify the means, which it does for Mascarille. Mascarille calls himself virtuous, which he is, but upside down. He is a virtuoso among virtuosi, but a marriage there cannot be despite his finest stratagems. Hence, the arrival of Andrès and the old Égyptienne who recognizes and names Zanobio Ruberti, or the anagnorisis.
