Molière’s “La Princesse d’Élide”

14 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by michelinewalker in Comédie galante, Comédie-Ballet, Molière

Tags

argument, Comédie galante, Comédie-Ballet, Divertissement royal, Fête galante, jealousy, Marivaudage, Marriage, Molière, Plaisirs de l'île enchantée

La Princesse d’Élide par François Boucher, dessin, et Laurent Cars, gravure (Pinterest)

La Princesse d’Élide par Maurice Sand [1] (theatre-documention.com)

La Princesse d’Élide (The Princess of Elis) was first performed on 8 May 1664 during Louis XIV’s 1664 divertissement royal, known as Les Plaisirs de l’Île enchantée (The Pleasures of the Enchanted Island). The comedy was one of Louis XIV’s divertissements, gatherings of courtiers and comedians, entertainers, which usually took place at Saint-Germain-en Laye, or another royal castle located outside Paris. Louis XIV was entertaining Mlle de La Vallière, a reluctant mistress, and the Queens, Louis’ mother, Anne of Austria, and his wife, Maria Theresa of Spain. The festivities took place between 7 and 13 May 1664. However, in 1664, the King was also celebrating a relatively early stage in the building of Versailles. The play was later performed at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, in Paris.

Molière’s play is rooted in a Spanish comedy, El Desdén, con el desdén, (Scorn for Scorn) by Agustín Moreto. Desdén means disdain. La Princesse d’Élide is one of four plays Molière contributed to Louis’ lavish Versailles divertissement, two of which had been produced earlier: Les Fâcheux (The Bores; 1661) and Le Mariage forcé (The Forced Marriage; 29 January 1664). Tartuffe (12 May 1664) and La Princesse d’Élide (8 May 1664) premièred at Versailles’ fête. Tartuffe angered la cabale des dévôts.

Interludes consisting of ballets and music, sometimes performed by courtiers, are inserted between the five acts of the comedy. Moreover the comedy is a component of Les Plaisirs de l’Île enchantée. It is therefore embedded, in a somewhat loose form of “théâtre dans le théâtre,” a device explored recently by Georges Forestier and, earlier, by Swiss critic Jean Rousset, among others. The “play within the play,” un enchassement, is a frequently-used device which has prompted many fruitful reflections. However, our translator, Mr. Henri van Laun, looks upon the Princess of Elis as a lesser play compared to other plays by Molière. ‟…the genius of the adapter was cramped, and The Princess of Elis is certainly not one of his happiest efforts.” (Henri van Laun, p. 3.)

Molière’s genius was “cramped.” The beginning of La Princesse d’Elide’s Act One was written in verse, but Molière switched to prose before Act Two. He also shortened acts because of pressing engagements. The King needed him. Moreover, at times, the comedy, the interludes, and Les Plaisirs de l’Île enchantée, the entire festivity, tend to overlap, which makes for coherence as well as confusion. I will simplify matters by suggesting that spectators and readers of La Princesse d’Élide cannot always see the forest for the trees, but that the comedy is nevertheless a bijou, a jewel.

The statistics for the Princesse d’Élide are:

Versailles (location)
Les Plaisirs de l’Île enchantée
(divertissement royal)
five acts and six interludes
verse, nearly one act, and prose
8 May 1664
Comédie galante
Comédie-ballet
Jean-Baptiste Lully (composer)
fine scenic effects by Carlo Vigarini

La Princesse d’Élide par Edmond Hédouin (theatre-documention.com)

La Princesse d’Élide par Adophe Lalauze (theatre-documention.com)

Our dramatis personæ is:

LA PRINCESSE D’ÉLIDE Mlle de Molière
AGLANTE, cousine de la Princesse Mlle Du Parc
CYNTHIE, cousine de la Princesse Mlle de Brie
PHILIS, suivante de la Princesse Mlle Béjart
IPHITAS, père de la Princesse Le sieur Hubert
EURYALE , ou le prince d’Ithaque Le sieur de La Grange
ARISTOMÈNE, ou le prince de Messène Le sieur du Croisy
THÉOCLE, ou le prince de Pyle Le sieur Béjart
ARBATE, gouverneur du prince d’Ithaque Le sieur de la Thorillière
MORON, plaisant de la Princesse Le sieur de Molière
UN SUIVANT Le sieur Prévost.

The Comedy

First Interlude (intermède)

Morning, personified as Aurora, dogs, and gentlemen are waking people up because of a hunt. Lyciscas, one Molière’s two roles, does not wish to rise. Molière also plays Moron, a “plaisant,” or court jester, or fool.

We have already discussed the plot of La Princesse d’Élide. As you know, it is outlined before each act in a text called the argument. Was this the way in which Molière wrote his comedies? At any rate, the argument for Act One is that a father, Iphitas, prince d’Élide, has invited three princes to his court, la cour d’Élide, in the hope that his daughter, la princesse d’Élide, will fall in love with one of the princes: Euryale, Théocle, and Aristomène.

Interestingly, the princes and princesses, la princesse d’Élide and her cousins, Aglante and Cynthie, meet before Scene One. The princesse d’Élide and Euryale, prince d’Ithaque, fall in love at first sight. However, Euryale is a “loner” and the Princesse views marriage as debasing and no less than a form of death. To a large extent, the play is a debate between nature and nurture, or nature and culture. Will la princesse d’Élide overcome a view of marriage that precludes marrying, which would, most unusually, defeat nature?

La princesse d’Élide does not have jealous sisters, but she has two fine cousins: Aglante and Cynthie. A mere glimpse at the dramatis personæ reveals that three distinguished princes may each marry one of three lovely young princesses. Not only is it unlikely that the princesse will not fall in love, but la princesse d’Élide and Euryale fall in love before Act One. Moron will be our go-between. He is a bouffon, a king’s fool, but very clever, and he wishes for la princesse to marry Euryale, prince d’Ithaque. It remains to be seen whether she will overcome her view of marriage as crude and the death of a woman. Moron, a role played by Molière, is described as clever.

Ce choix t’étonne un peu;/ Par son titre de fou tu crois le bien connaître:/ Mais sache qu’il [Moron] l’est moins qu’il ne le veut paraître,/ Et que malgré l’emploi qu’il exerce aujourd’hui/ Il a plus de bon sens que tel qui rit de lui:/ La Princesse se plaît à ses bouffonneries,/ Il s’en est fait aimer par cent plaisanteries,/155 Et peut dans cet accès dire et persuader/ Ce que d’autres que lui n’oseraient hasarder(.)
Euryale à Arbate (I. i, p. 10)
[My choice rather astonishes you; you misjudge him because he is a court fool; but you must know that he is less of a fool than he wishes to appear, and that, not-withstanding his present employment, he has more sense than those who laugh at him. The Princess amuses herself with his buffooneries: he has obtained her favour by a hundred jests, and can thus say, and persuade her to, what others dare not hazard.]
Euryale, prince d’Ithaque, to Arbate, his governor (I. 1)

SCENE ONE
(Euryale prince d’Ithaque & Arbate, his governor)

In Scene One, Euryale, prince d’Ithaque, tells Arbate, his governor, that he has fallen in love with la Princesse d’Élide. Love is a feeling he has always avoided.

Si de l’amour un temps j’ai bravé la puissance,
Hélas! mon cher Arbate, il en prend bien vengeance!
Euryale à Arbate (I. i, p. 7)
[If, for a time, I defied the power of love, alas! my dear Arbates, it takes ample vengeance for it now.]
Euryale to Arbate (I. 1)

Destiny, he says, has brought them together:

Où le Ciel en naissant a destiné nos âmes.
Euryale à Arbate (I. i, p. 7)
[Heaven at our birth destined our souls.]
Euryale to Arbate (I. 1)

Knowing that she scorns marriage, le prince d’Ithaque has not told the princesse that he has fallen in love with her, which surprises Arbate, but le prince d’Ithaque knew she would turn him down. However, Moron has told the princesse that Euryale, le prince d’Ithaque, has fallen in love with her.

Cette chasse où, pour fuir la foule qui l’adore,/ Tu sais qu’elle est allée au lever de l’aurore, Est le temps dont Moron pour déclarer mon feu, a pris …
Euryale (Prince d’Ithaque) à Arbate (I. i, p. 10)
[This chase, to which she went, you know, this morning early, in order to avoid the crowd of her adorers, is the opportunity which Moron has chosen to declare my passion.]
Euryale to Arbate (I. 1)

We will learn, later, that the princesse d’Élide also fell in love the moment she saw Euryale. But, given her opinion of marriage, can anyone expect that love would make her change her mind. The suspense Molière creates in La Princesse d’Élide stems largely from our wondering whether love will cause the princesse to change her views on marriage.

SCENE TWO
(Moron, Arbate, Euriyale)

In Scene Two, Moron, a court jester, un bouffon, a court jester and a close friend of the princesse rushes in fearing he is followed by a boar, un sanglier. Later, the animal pursuing Moron will be a bear. At any rate, Moron tells Euryale that the princess prides herself in refusing to marry.

Le discours de vos feux est un peu délicat, 240/ Et c’est chez la Princesse une affaire d’Etat;/ Vous savez de quel titre elle se glorifie, / qu’elle a dans la tête une philosophie/ Qui déclare la guerre au conjugal lien,/ Et vous traite l’Amour de déité de rien.
Moron au prince (I. ii, p. 15)
[To talk of your flame is a delicate matter; it is a state affair with the Princess. You know in what title she glories, and that her brain is full of a philosophy which wars against marriage, and treats Cupid as a minor god.]
Moron to the prince (I. 2)

SCENE THREE

In Scene Three, the princesse, Euryale, Arbate and Moron are joined by Aristomène and Théocle, two of the three princes who were invited to visit le prince d’Élide. She was attacked by a boar and the two princes believe they saved her. She is thankful, but she says that she could have saved herself. They cannot understand, so she thanks them and says she will tell her father about their kindness and their love.

Je rends de tout mon cœur grâce à ce grand secours,/305 Et je vais de ce pas au Prince pour lui dire/ Les bontés que pour moi votre amour vous inspire.
La Princesse à tous (I. iii, p.17)
[Yes, without you I had lost my life. I heartily thank you for your grand assistance, and will go at once to the Prince to inform him of the kindness with which your love has inspired you for me.]
The Princess to all (I. 3)

Moron would like to help prince Euryale, but an idea has come the prince‘s mind, which reveals that galanterie will play a great role in this comedy.

Second interlude

A short intermède–argument follows. It contains two scenes: a praise of Philis and the tale about the bear. Moron is attacked by a bear and rescued by various courtiers.

ACTE TWO

Argument
SCENE ONE
(La princesse, Aglante, Cynthie)

La Princesse, Aglante, and Cynthie discuss love. Cynthie believes that one cannot live if one does not love.

Est-il rien de plus beau que l’innocente flamme/ Qu’un mérite éclatant allume dans une âme?/ Et serait-ce un bonheur de respirer le jour/ Si d’entre les mortels on bannissait l’amour?/ 365 Non, non tous les plaisirs se goûtent à le suivre,/ Et vivre sans aimer n’est pas proprement vivre.
Cynthie à Aglante et à la Princesse (II. i, p. 22)
[Is anything more beautiful than the innocent flame which brilliant merit kindles in the soul? What happiness would there be in life, if love were banished from among mortals? No, no, the delights which it affords are infinite, and to live without loving is, properly speaking, not to live at all.]
Cynthie to Aglante and the princess (II. 1)

Notice
Molière switches to prose. He is obeying the King.

Aglante shares Cynthie’s view:

Pour moi je tiens que cette passion est la plus agréable affaire de la vie, qu’il est nécessaire d’aimer pour vivre heureusement, et que tous les plaisirs sont fades s’il ne s’y mêle un peu d’amour.
Aglante à la Princesse et à Cynthie (II. i, p. 23)
[For my part, I think that this passion is the most agreeable business of life ; that, in order to live happily, it is necessary to love, and that all pleasures are insipid unless mangled with a little love.]
Aglante to the Princess and Cynthie (II. 1)

SCENE TWO

Moron is asked by the princesses to defend love. Moron loves Philis.

SCENE THREE
The Prince is coming with the princes. The Princesse is afraid.

Ô Ciel! que prétend-il faire en me les amenant? Aurait-il résolu ma perte, et
voudrait-il bien me forcer au choix de quelqu’un d’eux?
La Princesse (II. iii, pp. 24-25)
[Heavens! what does he mean by bringing them to me? Has he resolved on my ruin, and would he force me to choose one of them?]
The Princess (II. 3)

SCENE FOUR
(Iphitas, Euryale, Aristomène, Théocle, Cynthia, Philis, Moron)

The princesse is extremely afraid as she hears her father approaching.

Seigneur, je vous demande la licence de prévenir par deux paroles la déclaration des pensées que vous pouvez avoir. Il y a deux vérités, Seigneur, aussi constantes l’une que l’autre, et dont je puis vous assurer également: l’une que vous avez un absolu pouvoir sur moi, et que vous ne sauriez m’ordonner rien où je ne réponde aussitôt par une obéissance aveugle. L’autre que je regarde l’hyménée ainsi que le trépas, et qu’il m’est impossible de forcer cette aversion naturelle: me donner un mari, et me donner la mort c’est une même chose; mais votre volonté va la première, et mon obéissance m’est bien plus chère que ma vie: après cela parlez, Seigneur, prononcez librement ce que vous voulez.
La Princesse à son père (II. iv, p. 25)
[My lord, I beg you to give me leave to prevent,[1] by two words, the declaration of the thoughts which you may perhaps foster. There are two truths, my lord, the one as certain as the other, of which I can assure you ; the one is, that you have an absolute power over me, and that you can lay no command upon me which I would not blindly obey; the other is, that I look upon marriage as death, and that it is impossible for me to conquer this natural aversion. To give me a husband and to kill me are the same thing; but your will takes precedence, and my obedience is dearer to me than life. After this, my lord, speak; say freely what you desire.]
The Princess to her father (II. 5)

Third Interlude

An interlude separates ACT TWO from ACT THREE

It features Moron, Philis and a Satyr. It is a praise of love.

ACT THREE

In the “argument,” we are told avout races, songs and dances. The Princesse excelled, but the prince of Ithaque did not praise her, which she resents. The Prince of Ithaque tells Moron the following :

… elle en fit de grandes plaintes à la princesse sa parente; elle en parla à Moron, qui fit passer cet insensible pour un brutal: et enfin le voyant arriver lui-même, elle ne put s’empêcher de lui en toucher fort sérieusement quelque chose: il lui répondit ingénument qu’il n’aimait rien, et qu’hors l’amour de sa liberté, et les plaisirs qu’elle trouvait si agréables de la solitude et de la chasse rien ne le touchait.
[… she complains of it to the Princess, her relative; she also speaks of it to Moron, who calls that unfeeling Prince a brute. At last, seeing him herself, she cannot refrain from making some serious allusions to it; he candidly answers that he loves nothing except his liberty, and the pleasures of solitude and the chase, in which he delights.]

SCENE ONE
(The Princess, Aglante, Cynthie, Philis)

Cynthie notes that the Euryale, who is speaking with the Prince, is very skilled.

SCENE TWO
(Euryale, Moron, Arbate)

Euryale is smitten:

Ah! Moron, je te l’avoue, j’ai été enchanté, et jamais tant de charmes n’ont frappé tout ensemble mes yeux et mes oreilles. Elle est adorable en tout temps, il est vrai: mais ce moment l’a emporté sur tous les autres, et des grâces nouvelles ont redoublé l’éclat de ses beautés.
Euryale à Moron (III. ii, p. 30)
[Ah, Moron! I confess I was enchanted; never have so many charms together met my eyes and ears. She is, in truth, adorable at all times, but she was at that moment more so than ever. Ah, Moron! I confess I was enchanted; never have so many charms together met my eyes and ears. She is, in truth, adorable at all times, but she was at that moment more so than ever.]
Euryale to Moron (III. 2)

SCENE THREE
(La Princesse, Moron)

Moron tells the princess that she will not get anywhere with Euryale. Nothing will touch him. No, he has not praised her. The Princess has seen Moron speaking with the prince d’Ithaque. Believing that they know one another, she asks Moron to tell the prince that she wants to see him.

SCENE FOUR
(La Princesse, Euryale, Moron, Arbate)

He’s a loner, she says to Euryale, prince of Ithaque, prompting him to say that others are loners and that these “others” may be found nearby. She goes on to explain that men and women are different. Women do not want to marry, but they want to be loved. This statement is puzzling because she ignores men. She is at odds with herself.

Il y a grande différence, et ce qui sied bien à un sexe, ne sied pas bien à l’autre. Il est beau qu’une femme soit insensible, et conserve son cœur exempt des flammes de l’amour; mais ce qui est vertu en elle, devient un crime dans un homme. Et comme la beauté est le partage de notre sexe, vous ne sauriez ne nous point aimer, sans nous dérober les hommages qui nous sont dus, et commettre une offense dont nous devons toutes nous ressentir.
La Princesse à Euryale (III. iv, p. 33)
[There is a great difference. That which becomes well our sex does not well become yours. It is noble for a woman to be insensible, and to keep her heart free from the flames of love: but what is a virtue in her is a crime in a man; and as beauty is the portion of our sex, you cannot refrain from loving us without depriving us of the homage which is our due, and committing an offence which we ought all to resent.]
The Princess to Euryale (III. 4)

Je ne vois pas, Madame, que celles qui ne veulent point aimer, doivent prendre aucun intérêt à ces sortes d’offenses.
Euryale à la Princesse (III. iv, p. 33)
[I do not see, madam, that those who will not love should take any interest in offences of this kind.]
Euryale to the Princess (III. 4)

Ce n’est pas une raison, Seigneur, et sans vouloir aimer, on est toujours bien aise d’être aimée.
La Princesse à Euryale (III. iv, p. 33)
[That is no reason, my lord; for although we will not love, yet we are always glad to be loved.]
The Princess to Euryale (III. 4)

Non! Madame, rien n’est capable de toucher mon cœur, ma liberté est la seule maîtresse à qui je consacre mes vœux, et quand le Ciel emploierait ses soins à composer une beauté parfaite, quand il assemblerait en elle tous les dons les plus merveilleux, et du corps et de l’âme. Enfin quand il exposerait à mes yeux un miracle d’esprit, d’adresse et de beauté, et que cette personne m’aimerait avec toutes les tendresses imaginables, je vous l’avoue franchement, je ne l’aimerais pas.
Euryale à la Princesse (III. iv, p. 33)
[No, madam; nothing is capable of touching my heart. Liberty is the sole mistress whom I adore; and though Heaven should employ its utmost care to form a perfect beauty, in whom should be combined the most marvellous gifts both of body and mind ; in short, though it should expose to my view a miracle of wit, cleverness, and beauty, and that person should love me with all the tenderness imaginable, I confess frankly to you I should.]
Euryale to the Princess (III. 4)

The Princesse then seeks Moron’s help. She wants Euryale to love her, and she thinks Moron can help. Moron tells the princesse that Euryale will never yield.

Si faut-il pourtant tenter toute chose, et éprouver si son âme est entièrement insensible. Allons, je veux lui parler, et suivre une pensée qui vient de me venir.
La princesse à Moron (III. v. 35)
[We must, however, try everything, and prove if his soul be entirely insensible. Come, I will speak to him, and follow an idea which has just come into my head.]
La princesse to Moron (III. 5)

Fourth Interlude
A fourth interlude featuring Moron, Tircis and Philis follows Act Three.

ACT IV

SCENE ONE

In Act Four, Scene One, the princesse wants Euryale to tell her which of the three princes he thinks she would choose. He cannot tell, so she says that the Prince of Messène would be her choice. So, jealousy will now move the action forward. Moron encourages both the Princesse and the Prince to continue using their strategy, i.e. feigned indifference, that will lead to jealousy on her part. The Prince strikes back and says he has chosen Aglante, her cousin as a future bride. The play has reached its apex.

In Scene Two, Moron hears the princesse unveiling her despair. In Scene Three, she goes to Aglante and tells her not to accept the prince d’Ithaque. In Scene Four, Aristomène is delighted to the tell all that the princesse will marry him. Everyone is disoriented.

This is marivaudage, or games lovers play. It can be considered a form of galanterie. Servants would normally play an important role in bringing lovers together. In other words, in La Princesse d’Élide, Molière lets the lovers fare for themselves. Moron watches amused. He wants the Princesse to marry le Prince d’Ithaque, but thinks this confusion will make the lovers yield. We are now on the battlefield of love. The lovers are hunting and there are boars and bears.

The princesse says the prince is an étourdi. But in Scene Five, la princesse reminds Aglante that she must refuse the prince d’Ithaque. But Moron, the clever buffoon, tells the princesse that if the prince d’Ithaque loved her, she would refuse him, like the dog in a manger, yet she does not want him to love another person, Aglante.

Mais, Madame, s’il vous aimait vous n’en voudriez point, et cependant vous ne voulez pas qu’il soit à une autre. C’est faire justement comme le chien du jardinier.
Moron à la princesse (IV. iv, p. 42)
[But, madam, if he loved you, you would not have him, and yet you will not let him be another’s. It is just like the dog in a manger.]
Moron to the princess (IV. 5)

In Scene Six, the princesse reflects on her behaviour.

J’ai méprisé tous ceux qui m’ont aimée, et j’aimerais le seul qui me méprise? Non, non, je sais bien que je ne l’aime pas. Il n’y a pas de raison à cela: mais si ce n’est pas de l’amour que ce que je sens maintenant, qu’est-ce donc que ce peut être? et d’où vient ce poison qui me court par toutes les veines, et ne me laisse point en repos avec moi-même? Sors de mon cœur, qui que tu sois, ennemi qui te caches, attaque-moi visiblement, et deviens à mes yeux la plus affreuse bête de tous nos bois, afin que mon dard et mes flèches me puissent défaire de toi.
La Princesse, seule (IV. vi, p. 43)
[I have despised all those who have loved me, and shall I love the only one who despises me 1 No, no, I know well I do not love him; there is no reason for it. But if this is not love which I now feel, what can it be? And whence comes this poison which runs through all my veins, and will not let me rest? Out of my heart, whatever you may be, you enemy who lurk there! Attack me openly, and appear before me as the most frightful monster of all our forests, so that with my darts and javelins I may rid myself of you.]
The princesse alone, soliloquy (IV. 7)

Fifth Interlude

In the Fifth interlude Philis says:

Si de tant de tourments il accable les cœurs,/ D’où vient qu’on aime à lui rendre les armes?
[If it fills every heart with so much pain/ Whence comes it that we like to yield to it ?]
Philis to Clymène
Si sa flamme, Philis, est si pleine de charmes,/ Pourquoi nous défend-on d’en goûter les douceurs?
[If, Phillis, its flame is so full of charms/ Why forbid us its pleasures to enjoy?]

Molière has blended a reflection of love and acceptance of its pleasures that overrides the comédie, the interludes and Les Plaisirs de l’Île enchantée. Despite the division into acts and interludes, the Princesse d’Élide offers continuity and coherence.

ACT FIVE

Prince Iphitas, the Prince of Élide is with the Prince d’Ithaque. The Princesse is hurt (jealous) because she feels he has sought someone else’s love. She says she has been scorned.

Il m’a méprisée.
La Princesse à Iphitas, son père (V. ii, p. 47)
[He has despised me.]
La Princesse to Iphitas, her father (V. 2)

Yet, the princesse wants her father to prevent the prince d’Ithaque from marrying Aglante. Under such circumstances, the princesse’s father cannot deny Aglante a husband. The princesse, his daughter, cannot refuse the prince.

Mais afin d’empêcher qu’il ne puisse être jamais à elle, il faut que tu le prennes pour toi.
Iphitas to his daughter, the princesse (V. ii, p. 48)
But to prevent his ever being hers, you must take him for yourself.
Iphitas to his daughter (V. 2)

The prince d’Ithaque seems to have heard enough. He will speak for himself. Euryale, prince d’Ithaque has asked the prince d’Élide, Iphitas, to marry his daughter. The princesse has not quite recovered from the confusion that was created to elicit the truth. She loves Euryale, the prince d’Ithaque. However, she is not ready to marry.

As for Euryale, the prince d’Ithaque, he is ready to wait. Truth be told, if they married immediately, they would not have befriended one another and could not trust each other. For instance, the princesse is a friend of Moron and trusts him. The Prince d’Ithaque is not expressing an unrealistic endeavour. They may have fallen in love, but they barely know one another. In this play, galanterie is an imperative. Galanterie may involve feigned scorn, a stratagem than triggers jealousy. When Euryale says he has chosen Aglante, the Princess experiences the pain of unrequited love and calls on Moron to fetch Euryale. He will wait because he must wait.

Je l’attendrai tant qu’il vous plaira, Madame, cet arrêt de ma destinée, et s’il me condamne à la mort, je le suivrai sans murmure.
Euryale à Iphitas et à la princesse (V. ii. p. 48)
[I shall wait as long as you please, madam, for this decree of my destiny; and, if it condemns me to death, I shall obey without murmuring.]
Euryale to the princess (V. 2)

In Scene Three, Iphitas, le prince d’Élide, tells the two other suitors that he will not marry one of them to his daughter, but they may be happy to marry the princesse’s cousins who look forward to marriage.

In Scene Four

Philis tells everyone that Venus has announced a change of heart in the princesse d’Élide.

Sixth Interlude
a Pastoral

Conclusion

This post is much too long but it is a school for love. The story has been told. Next, we comment.

RELATED ARTICLES

victorugo.blogspot.com La Princesse d’Élide
“Les Amants magnifiques” as a comédie-ballet (4 October 2019)
Molière page

Sources and Resources

toutmoliere.net
Molière 21
theatre-documentation.com
Internet Archives, translator Henri van Laun
Molière Wikipedia

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[1] Illustrations by Maurice Sand and Edmond Geffroy may be quite similar.

[2] In seventeenth-century French, prévenir did not mean to prevent (empêcher). It meant to come before. I believe Mr. van Laun may be using an archaic English meaning of “to prevent,” which would be “to come before.”
Love to everyone

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Bergère rêvant par François Boucher

The Post that Posted itself

11 Friday Oct 2019

Posted by michelinewalker in Comédie galante, Comédie-Ballet, Molière

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Comédie galante, Comédie-Ballet, La Princesse d'Élide, Molière

La Lecture de Molière par François de Troy

I cannot post anything that requires more than one screen. In fact, I must use a keyboard that is placed on my screen. I cannot even scroll down properly. In short, I must wait for the new computer to be formatted. I may be away for a few days.

My post on the Molière’s Princess of Ellis has been written. As a wrote, the princesse’s father has invited three princes in the hope his daughter would fall in love with one of them. She falls in love with the prince d’Ithaque who must ignore her in order to be loved by her. But her view of marriage prevents marrying. She compares marriage to death, which it is if a husband forces his wife into intercourse and pregnancies.

There is nothing wrong with making love and having children, but Molière recognized that marriage enslaved a woman unless a husband was very respectful of his wife’s privacy and intimacy.

Yet, most of us are almost nothing without “the other” and our beloved little ones.

So, we have at least two main themes:

love as jealousy.
marriage as enslavement and death.

The interludes feature an attack by a boar and an attack by a bear, but at the very beginning of the play, Molière has placed a carpe diem, or seize the day, as illnesses could be overwhelming and death was Pascal’s “last and bloody act.” “Le dernier acte est toujours sanglant.” The play is embedded in interludes: dancing, singing, and the start and the end are Les Plaisirs de l’Île enchantée (The Pleasures of the Enchanted Island).

La Princesse d’Élide is rooted in a play by Spanish author Moreto entitled Scorn for Scorn (El Desdén, con el desdén), (le dédain, le mépris).

Let this little post be.

Love to everyone

Jean-Baptiste Lully, Aria de “La Princesse d’Elide”
Carlos Jaime (violín barroco)

Bergère rêvant par François Boucher (victorugo.blogspot.com)

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex

08 Tuesday Oct 2019

Posted by michelinewalker in kindness, respect, Sharing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Duchess of Sussex, Duke of Sussex, Harm, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, sharing

Image result for images of meghan markle and prince harry

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (MSN)

I will write on The Princess of El(l)is, but I can’t resist mentioning Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex.

When I was a child in a very Catholic Quebec, we were taught that one could not speak ill of others. It was called médisance, and it was considered a sin. In fact, my parents would not allow us to engage in any form of gossiping and to judge others. We had to report mistreatment and were protected, but there were rules of conduct.

So, given the education I received, I have looked upon the negative comments about the Duchess of Sussex as uncharitable, and since it has been said, among other falsehoods, that she faked her pregnancy, the word uncharitable fails to describe the villainy of her detractors.

It started with the price of her clothes. As you know, Meghan is African-American, divorced, and a former actress. She may therefore have feared rejection from the Royal family of Britain and fought this fear by dressing impeccably. As a matter of fact, dressing well is expected of Britain’s Royals. Meghan’s beauty and elegance are assets to the Crown, and so is her engaging personality. She may not continue to purchase very expensive clothes at the rate she did, but she is unlikely to stop wearing lovely clothes.

Moreover, given that the Duchess of Sussex was in her mid-thirties and had a successful career when she and Prince Harry met, it was to be expected that she would combine certain personal endeavours and her duties as a Royal.

Meghan may not be perfect. Who is? But those who are defaming her are harming a human being and may destroy their prey, which is very wrong.

I admire Prince Harry and love Meghan’s spontaneity and warmth.

Love to all of you.

Image result for picture of meghan markle

The Duchess of Sussex (Time)

Comments and a Glimpse at “La Princesse d’Élide”

07 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by michelinewalker in Comédie galante, Comedy, Molière

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Comédie galante, Henri van Laun book form, La Princesse d'Élide, Les Plaisirs de l'Île enchantée, Molière, The Princess of Ell

La Princesse d’Élide (théâtre-documentation.com)

Henri van Laun’s translation of The Princess of El(l)is (La Princesse d’Élide), and other plays by Molière, are available from bookstores. The volumes are facsimile reprints. I will continue to read Mr. van Laun’s exceptional translations online, because I can copy quotations.

https://www.amazon.ca/Dramatic-Works-Moliere-V2-Princess/dp/0548858594

Rating

I should also explain that the Internet “boxes” that contain a photograph of me do not ask that I be rated, but that the play be rated. This may have been a Google initiative. The positive side is that attention is brought to Molière’s plays.

As you know, my posts are a reading of Molière’s plays. They provide insights on Molière, but I write as though I were teaching a course on Molière. A class is more informative and more general. It is the first step. Scholarly articles are more analytical and authors embed their article in the literature on the subject.

Using Internet Archives

I have used Internet Archives‘ publication of Mr. van Laun’s translations of Molière. Volumes appear in book form, which means that one can turn the pages. In order to copy a quotation, one scrolls down the page. There is a PDF version and other versions of the play. Using a PDF version does not cause the page to disappear.

So, we will carry on.

Here are a few words on our subject. In The Princess of E(l)lis, a princess does not want to marry. Her father invites three princes hoping she will change her mind. She falls in love with le prince d’Ithaque, but when the play ends, she has yet to accept marriage.

The princess loves le prince d‘Ithaque as much as he loathes marriage.

The play, a comédie galante, has interludes. In one interlude, Moron is attacked by a bear, but he is saved. This reminds us of the Amants magnifiques‘ boar. To a large extent, La Princesse d’Élide‘s interludes are an apology of love, but the Princess cannot face the reality of marriage. At the end of the sixth interlude, the third day of the divertissement royal, Les Plaisirs de l’Île enchantée, begins. The comedy galante is preceded by the first day of Les Plaisirs de l’Île enchantée, during which Tartuffe was also performed and condemned.

The Princess of Elis was not completed. It is une comédie inachevée. In fact, at the beginning of the play Molière uses verses, but, at one point, he says that he will henceforth use prose as demands are being made on him.

Love to everyone 💕

(I’m feeling very sick, but will do La Princesse d’Élide. I can’t believe that a translation of Molière’s plays made in the 19th century is probably the best translation of Molière into English to date, not to mention Mr. van Laun’s scholarship.)

Moron and the Bear par Adolphe Lalauze (theatre-documentation.com)

“Les Amants magnifiques” as a comédie-ballet

04 Friday Oct 2019

Posted by michelinewalker in Comedy, Molière

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Comédie-Ballet, Destiny, Divertissements royaux, Henri van Laun (traducteur), Les Amants magnifiques, Molière, Six interludes

Le Roi danse (opera online)

The Interludes

In my last post, I noted that Les Amants magnifiques (The Magnificent Lovers) was a comédie-ballet héroïque. We discussed the comedy only. The interludes, I wrote, would be discussed separately. In fact, the video I showed was based on Les Amants magnifiques. Therefore, we saw a very short part of Apollo’s entrée, which follows the end of the “comedy.”

I also mentioned that the interlude separating Act One and Act Two of the comedy was a long interlude featuring a pastorale, shepherds and shepherdesses, as well as a scene of dépit amoureux, “love-tiff.” I wondered whether one could find a translation into English of the interludes. One can. Henri van Laun’s translation of Dramatic Works of Molière (Volume 5) contains the relevant translation. It is an Internet Archive publication and very precious. For Henri van Laun, there are five interludes. In the Pléiade edition, there are six.

According to toutmoliere.net, or members of the Molière 21 research group, Louis XIV did not dance in Molière’s Amants magnifiques. Therefore, if he fell, it could not have been at the very end of Act Five of the Amants magnifiques. In the video’s Apollo entrée and the divertissement, Apollo, was played by a person other than Louis XIV. The video I used is very short, but it encapsulates Louis XIV’s rather “inflated” opinion of himself: the Sun King. However, these words could be flattery. A divertissement royal was commissioned by the king and it provided a fine income. But the video’s message is clear. No one is God on this earth.

Les Fâcheux

Molière, with the participation of Jean-Baptiste Lully and Pierre Beauchamp, introduced the comédie-ballet at Vaux-le-Vicomte. Molière’s Les Fâcheux was performed when Nicolas Foucquet, hosted France’s “who’s who,” including a very young Louis XIV. It was a fête no one could match easily and it included Molière’s Les Fâcheux. It was performed successfully and Molière had dedicated the play to Louis XIV, a very young Louis. Molière was one of Fouquet’s numerous protégés, as was Jean de La Fontaine, who would be a friend of Molière until the dramatist’s early death from tuberculosis.

Imitating Fouquet

You probably remember that Louis suspected embezzlement on the part of Fouquet and asked a musketeer to arrest him. Foucquet/Fouquet was tried, convicted, and spent the rest of his life, nineteen years, in the prison where the Man in the Iron Mask was also detained.

Louis’ Divertissements

Since Louis would not have a lesser castle than one of his subjects, he hired Foucquet’s architects and their teams, and had Versailles built. The event called for a divertissement royal, Les Plaisirs de l’Îsle enchantée. The fête occurred at an early point in the building of Versailles. Louis hoped he could outperform Fouquet’s fête, but he didn’t. We have also mentioned another divertissement royal which occurred after the period of mourning that followed the death of Anne d’Autriche. Isaac de Benserade‘s Ballet des muses included two plays by Molière, but a third was added and performed on 13 or 14 February 1667. It was Le Sicilien ou l’Amour peintre or Love makes the painter.

Les Amants magnifiques was also part of a divertissement royal. It was so lavish a divertissement that performing it in Paris would be too expensive. Molière wrote the play and the interludes and did very well. He was a good imitator and I believe he rose to the occasion.

The Interludes (Les Intermèdes)

There are six interludes in the 2010 Pléiade edition of Molière’s Œuvres complètes. Henri van Laun’s translation has five interludes.

Les Amants magnifiques

opens to the sound of Lully’s music with lyrics by Molière.
A second intermède occurs at the end of Act One. The dancers were Messieurs Beauchamp, Saint-André and Favier.
The third interlude, the longest, follows Act Two and consists of a Prologue introducing a pastoral featuring Lycaste, Ménandre and Tircis, and a scene of Dépit amoureux, translated as “love-tiff” by Henri van Laun.
A fourth interlude follows Act Three, and
a fifth separates Acts Four and Five.
a sixth is the Jeux pythiens where Apollo is Louis XIV. The video at the foot of my last post forms part of the Amants magnifiques. It may be that Molière expected Louis to dance, but he didn’t (see the Notice in toutmolière.com).

At the end of Act Five, most, in not all, the play’s characters are on their way to the Pythian Games. I wrote most, because the two princes threatened vengeance. In fact, Cléonice had told Aristione that Anaxarque abused the princes.

Madame, je viens vous dire qu’Anaxarque a jusqu’ici abusé, l’un et l’autre
prince, par l’espérance de ce choix qu’ils poursuivent depuis longtemps, et qu’au bruit qui s’est répandu de votre aventure, ils ont fait éclater tous deux leur ressentiment contre lui, jusque-là que, de paroles en paroles, les choses se sont échauffées, et il en a reçu quelques blessures dont on ne sait pas bien ce qui arrivera. Mais les voici.
Cléonice to Aristione (V. i. p. 33)
[Madam, I am come to tell you that Anaxarchus had till now deceived both the princes, with the hope of favouring the choice upon which their souls were bent; and that, hearing what has taken place, they have both given way to their resentment against him, and things growing worse, he has received several wounds, from which it is impossible to say what may happen. But here they are both coming.]
Cléonice to Aristione (V. 3)

The following is a quotation from the very last part of Les Amants magnifiques, Apollo’s entrée:

Je suis la source des clartés,
Et les astres les plus vantés
Dont le beau cercle m’environne,
Ne sont brillants et respectés
Que par l’éclat que je leur donne.
Du char où je me puis asseoir
Je vois le désir de me voir
Posséder la nature entière,
Et le monde n’a son espoir
Qu’aux seuls bienfaits de ma lumière.
Bienheureuses de toutes parts,
Et pleines d’exquises richesses
Les terres où de mes regards
J’arrête les douces caresses.
(sixth interlude)
[I am the source of all delight ; And the most vaunted stars, Whose beauteous circle is around me,/ Are only brilliant and respected,/ By the splendour which I give them,/ From the car on which I sit,/ I see the wish to behold me/ Shared by the whole of nature;/ And the wide world has but its hope/ In the sole blessings of my light./ Very happy everywhere,/ And full of exquisite wealth,/ The lands on which I throw/ The sweet caresses of my glances.]
(Henri van Laun, p. 192)

“Dormez, dormez,” a video inserted at the foot of this post, also quotes Les Amants magnifiques. Tirsis, Lycaste and Ménandre sing together while Caliste sleeps.

Tirsis, Lycaste and Ménandre
Dormez, dormez, beaux yeux, adorables vainqueurs,
Et goûtez le repos que vous ôtez aux cœurs,
Dormez, dormez, beaux yeux.
[Sleep on, sleep on, fair eyes, lovely conquerors; And taste that peace which you wrest from all hearts; Sleep on, sleep on, fair eyes.]

Tirsis
Silence, petits oiseaux,
Vents, n’agitez nulle chose,
Coulez doucement, ruisseaux,
C’est Caliste qui repose.
Intermède (III. iv, p. 19)
[Now silence keep, ye little birds; Ye winds, stir nought around ; Ye stream, run sweetly on: For Caliste is slumbering.]
Interlude
(Henri van Laun, p. 171)

Reading from Molière by Jean-François de Troy (Paris 1679 – Rome 1752) c. 1728 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

La Princesse d’Élide

Our next play is La Princesse d’Élide, first performed at Versailles during Les Plaisirs de l’Îsle enchantée, is a divertissement royal.

I do not think Molière’s plays are now considered either farces or grandes comédies. Such was the case when I was a student. But we also have the divertissements. La Princesse d’Élide is une comédie galante. I may bring up the notion of “galant music.”

We must also discuss love. Ériphile has been asked to choose a spouse. She loses this privilege, but the comedic “will,” ensures she marries the man she loves. It’s a form of destiny. But Anaxarque was plotting her demise and our “princes” knew. However, they did not know which prince Anaxarque, our charlatan “astrologer,” would choose. It was Iphicrate.

RELATED ARTICLES

Molière’s “Les Amants magnifiques” (30 September 2019)
Vaux-le-Vicomte: Fouquet’s Rise and Fall (30 August 2013)
Molière page

Sources and Resources

—ooo—

Love to everyone 💕

Les Amants magnifiques – Lully/ Molière

Personne n’est Dieu sur cette terre. No one is God on this earth.

Molière’s “Les Amants magnifiques”

30 Monday Sep 2019

Posted by michelinewalker in Comédie-Ballet, Comedy, Molière

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Carnival Season 1670, Comédie-Ballet, Comédies à machines, Divertissement, Les Amants magnifiques, Lully, Madame de Montespan, Molière

Ériphile par Maurice Sand (théâtre-documentation.com)

In this post, we read the comedy. However, the comedy has interludes written by Molière. Every stage effect was used to please the King and his Court. Excluding the intermèdes (interludes) seems inappropriate, but I felt we should read the comedy first.

In Les Amants magnifiques, we are in the Vale of Tempe, the location where the events of Mélicerte and La Pastorale comique take place. The location was suggested by Louis XIV and so was the subject: rival lovers. You may remember that these two plays were incomplete. Molière may have looked upon these plays as pièces de circonstances, or plays that would not be needed once the festivities were over. When the obligatory period of mourning for Anne d’Autriche, Louis’ mother, drew to a close, the Court moved to Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a royal residence. At the heart of festivities was Isaac de Benserade‘s Ballet des Muses FR. Molière’s contribution was the ballet’s third entrée. Mélicerte was played from 2 December 1666 to 5 January 1667 when La Pastorale comique was first performed. A third play, Le Sicilien, ou l’Amour peintre was staged on 13 or 14 February, at Saint-Germain. It was a late entry, the fourteenth. It would not be played for a wider audience until 10 June 1667. Molière had fallen ill.

Molière’s “Mélicerte” (4 May 2019)
Molière’s Pastorale comique (The Comic Pastoral) (10 May 2019)
Molière’s “Sicilien,” or “Love makes the Painter” (14 May 2019)

Les Amants magnifiques, The Magnificent Lovers, is described as a five-act comédie héroïque and a comédie-ballet, in prose. It was part of a grand divertissement commissioned by Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. It was a pièce à machines that incorporated every stage effect. The play was meant to dazzle the audience.

Various members of the Court played roles in The Magnificent Princes‘ intermèdes: singers and dancers. They are named in La Pléiade‘s 1956 edition of Molière’s Œuvres complètes. Louis didn’t dance and would never dance again.

Until Les Amants magnifiques FR, the King had commissioned Isaac de Benserade to write divertissements. However, Isaac de Benserade had displeased Madame de Monstespan. So, considerable trust was invested in Molière. Les Amants magnifiques, including the interludes. was written by Molière to music by Jean-Baptiste Lully. The lavish play was too expensive to be performed in Paris. It premièred on 4 February 1670, at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, during Carnival season, and it closed after five performances. Linked to this play is La Princesse d’Élide (1664), written for another divertissement: Les Plaisirs de l’Île enchantée, festivities that took place early during the construction of Versailles.

par François Boucher (dessin) et Laurent Cars (gravure), 1734 (commons.wikimedia.org)

In short, Les Amants magnifiques is:

a comédie héroïque,
a comédie à machines,
and a comédie-ballet,
in five acts and in prose with intermèdes.
Its music was composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully.
It was first performed on 4 February 1670 at Saint-Germain,
before the King and his Court.

Our dramatis personæ is:

Iphicrates & Timocles, princes in love with Eriphyle.
Sostratus, a general, also in love with Eriphyle.
Anaxarchus, an astrologer.
Cleon, his son.
Chorœbus, in the suit of Aristione.
Clitidas, a court jester, one of the attendants of Eriphyle.
Aristione, a princess, mother to Eriphyle.
Eriphyle, a princess, daughter to Aristione.
Cleonice, confidante to Eriphyle.

Les Amants magnifiques par Edmond Hédouin

Les Amants magnifique par Adolphe Lalauze

Les Amants magnifiques par Edmond Hédouin (théâtre-documentation.com)
Les Amants magnifiques par Adolphe Lalauze (théâtre-documentation.com)

The Plot

La Princesse Ériphile graces the image at the top of this post. Her mother, Princesse Aristione, has asked her to choose her own husband. Two princes are courting her: Iphicrate and Timoclès. They are the “amants magnifiques” (the magnificent lovers). She must choose between the two, which is impossible. Ériphile does not love the princes and would reject both. Her dilemma resembles Psyché’s who is also incapable of choosing between two princes. Choosing one would hurt the other. Moreover, neither Psyché nor Ériphile love their princes.

ACT ONE

Sostrate tells Clitidas that he is in love
Rank: an obstacle
Sostrate is asked to find out which prince she has chosen

In Act One, Clitidas notices that Sostrate, a general in the army, is buried in his own thoughts. After much prying, on the part of Clitidas, Sostrate tells him that he loves Ériphile, but that his rank and fortune do not allow him to reveal his feelings and hope to marry her. How can he, a general, compete with two princes. Sostrate will therefore die without revealing his feelings:

Mourir sans déclarer ma passion.
Sostrates à Clitidas (I. i, p. 4)
[To die without telling my love.]
Sostrates to Clitidas (I. 1)

However, in Scene Two, Sostrate is asked by Aristione, Ériphile’s mother to see which of the two princes Ériphile loves, a source of irony. Sostrate would like to refuse, but must serve Aristione:

Puisque vous le voulez, Madame, il vous faut obéir, mais je vous jure que dans toute votre cour vous ne pouviez choisir personne qui ne fût en état de s’acquitter beaucoup mieux que moi d’une telle commission.
Sostrate à Aristione (I. ii, p. 7)
[Since it is your wish, Madam, I must obey; but I assure you that there is not one person in the whole of your court who would be less qualified for such a commission than myself.]
Sostrate à Aristione (I. 2)

Ériphile missed a divertissement planned by the one of the rival princes.

Madame, elle s’est écartée, et je lui ai présenté une main qu’elle a refusé d’accepter.
Timoclès à Aristione (l. ii, p. 6)
[She is gone away, Madam. I offered her my arm, which she refused to accept.
Timoclès to Aristione (I. 2)

Later, Cléonice, Ériphile’s confidante says:

On trouvera étrange, Madame, que vous vous soyez ainsi écartée de tout le monde.
Cléonice à Ériphile (I. v, p. 9)
[It will be thought strange, Madam, that you should keep away from everybody]
Cléonice to Ériphile (I. 6)

Sostrate also missed the entertainment. Why did Ériphile and Sostrate stay away?

Pour moi, Madame, connaissant son indifférence et le peu de cas qu’elle fait des devoirs qu’on lui rend, je n’ai voulu perdre auprès d’elle, ni plaintes, ni soupirs, ni larmes.
Sostrate à Aristione (I. ii, p. 6)
[For my part, Madam, knowing her indifference and the little value she sets upon the homage that is paid to her, I did not mean to waste either sighs or tears upon her.]
Sostrate to Aristione (I. 2)

So, from the beginning of the play, Ériphile shows little interest in her suitors. An interméde separate Act One and Act Two. It is a gift from Cléonice, Ériphile’s confidante, and it features three Pantomines.

ACT TWO

Sostrate has placed Ériphile above everything.
marivaudage prefigured
the confession: no one and nothing is above Ériphile

In Act Two, Scene Two, Clitidas tells Ériphile that Sostrate has placed her above everything else and loves her:

Il m’a demandé si vous aviez témoigné grande joie au magnifique régale que l’on vous a donné; m’a parlé de votre personne avec des transports les plus grands du monde, vous a mise au-dessus du Ciel, et vous a donné toutes les louanges qu’on peut donner à la princesse la plus accomplie de la terre, entremêlant tout cela de plusieurs soupirs qui disaient plus qu’il ne voulait. Enfin, à force de le tourner de tous côtés, et de le presser sur la cause de cette profonde mélancolie, dont toute la cour s’aperçoit, il a été contraint de m’avouer qu’il était amoureux.
Clitidas à Eriphile (II. ii, p. 11)
[He asked me if you were very pleased with the royal entertainments that are offered to you. He spoke of your person with the greatest transports of delight, extolled you to the sky, and gave you all the praises that could be given to the most accomplished princess in the world, and with all this uttering many sighs which told me more than he thought. At last, by dint of questioning him in all kinds of ways, and pressing him to tell me the cause of his melancholy, which is noticed by everyone at court, he was forced to acknowledge that he is in love.]
Clitidas to Ériphile (II. 3)

Ériphile is miffed. This is marivaudage, a form of galanterie found in the works of Pierre de Marivaux. It governs the action of Marivaux’s Le Jeu de l’amour et du hasard. In fact, Ériphile is not miffed. Clitidas tricks her by changing his statement. Sostrate is in love with Arsinoé, not Ériphile. Clitidas realizes that Ériphile is not pleased. He has, therefore, elicited the truth by provoking jealousy.

Non, non, Madame, je vois que la chose ne vous plaît pas. Votre colère m’a obligé à prendre ce détour, et pour vous dire la vérité, c’est vous qu’il aime éperdument.
Licidas à Ériphile (II. ii, p. 11)
[No, no, Madam; I see that this offends you. Your anger forced me to make use of this subterfuge; and, to tell you the truth, it is you he loves to distraction.]
Licidas to Ériphile (II. 3)

In Act Two, Scene Three, Sostrate does as he has been told. He asks Ériphile which of the two princes she prefers.

Whom would Sostrate chose between her rival princes? Sostrate so loves Ériphile that only a god would qualify to marry Ériphile.

Si l’on s’en rapporte à mes yeux, il n’y aura personne qui soit digne de cet honneur. Tous les princes du monde seront trop peu de chose pour aspirer à vous; les Dieux seuls y pourront prétendre, et vous ne souffrirez des hommes que l’encens, et les sacrifices.
Sostrate à Ériphile (II. iii, p. 13)
[If I were to be judge, I should find no one worthy of that honour. All the princes of the world would be too mean to aspire to you; the gods alone can pretend to you, and you would have from men but incense and sacrifice.]
Sostrate to Ériphile (II. 4)

In short, it is for Ériphile to choose between the rival princes. As for Sostrate, although he loves Ériphile, he remains a mere general.

Acts Two and Three are separated by a rather long intermède that includes a lovely scene of dépit amoureux, spite between lovers, a pastoral shepherds and shepherdesses. The interludes also feature satyrs, dryads, fauns, nymphs, etc. It will be discussed separately.

ACT THREE

Aristione chooses Sostrate to know which of the two princes she prefers.

J’estime tant Sostrate, que soit que vous vouliez vous servir de lui pour expliquer vos sentiments, ou soit que vous vous en remettiez absolument à sa conduite, je fais, dis-je, tant d’estime de sa vertu et de son jugement, que je consens de tout mon cœur à la proposition que vous me faites.
Aristione à tous (III. i, p. 24)
[I have such a high regard for Sostratus that, whether you mean to employ him to explain your feelings or to leave him entirely to decide for you, I consent heartily to this proposition.]
Aristione to all (III. 1)

Sostrate wishes to refuse, but he can’t. This request comes from a princess:

Par quelle raison donc, refusez-vous d’accepter le pouvoir qu’on vous donne, et de vous acquérir l’amitié d’un prince qui vous devrait tout son bonheur?
Timoclès à Sostrate (III. i, p. 24)
[For what reason could you have had, Sostratus, for refusing it?]
Timoclès to Sostrate (III. 4)
Par la raison que je ne suis pas en état d’accorder à ce prince ce qu’il souhaiterait de moi.
Sostrate à Timoclès (III. i, p. 24)
[The fear of not acquitting myself well.]
Sostrate to Timoclès (III. 4)

At this point, Anaxarque propose that Heaven, le Ciel, choose between the two suitors.

En est-il un meilleur, Madame, pour terminer les choses au contentement
de tout le monde, que les lumières que le Ciel peut donner sur ce mariage? J’ai commencé comme je vous ai dit, à jeter pour cela les figures mystérieuses que notre art nous enseigne, et j’espère vous faire voir tantôt ce que l’avenir garde à cette union souhaitée. Après cela pourra-ton balancer encore? La gloire et les prospérités que le Ciel promettra, ou à l’un, ou à l’autre choix, ne seront-elles pas suffisantes pour le déterminer, et celui qui sera exclus, pourra-t-il s’offenser quand ce sera le Ciel qui décidera cette préférence?
Anaxarque à tous (III. i, p. 25)

Both princes agree with Anaxarque, but Ériphile is suspicious. If le Ciel chooses her future husband, she will not be able to refuse. How can one oppose le Ciel? She will no longer be free to choose her husband, which was her mother’s wish and sensible.

Mais, Seigneur Anaxarque, voyez-vous si clair dans les destinées, que vous
ne vous trompiez jamais, et ces prospérités, et cette gloire que vous dites que le Ciel nous promet, qui en sera caution, je vous prie?
Ériphile to Anaxarque (III. i, p. 25)

As for Sostrate, he disagrees with the proposed solution and Aristione, Ériphile’s mother is perplexed.

ACT FOUR

In Act Four, Scene One, Aristione would like her daughter to tell all. Ériphile cannot. The man she loves is of a rank her mother would deem acceptable. Ériphile knows that Sostrate is a man of merit, but a general, would not be considered a judicious choice by her mother. If le Ciel is to intervene, Ériphile requires a deus ex machina

Parlez à cœur ouvert, ma fille, ce que j’ai fait pour vous mérite bien que vous usiez avec moi de franchise. Tourner vers vous toutes mes pensées, vous préférer à toutes choses, et fermer l’oreille en l’état où je suis, à toutes les propositions que cent princesses en ma place écouteraient avec bienséance, tout cela vous doit assez persuader que je suis une bonne mère, et que je ne suis pas pour recevoir avec sévérité les ouvertures que vous pourriez me faire de votre cœur.
Aristione to Ériphile (IV. i, p. 28)
[Speak openly, daughter; what I have done for you well deserves that you should be frank and open with me. To make you the sole object of all my thoughts, to prefer you above all things, to shut my ears, in the position I am in, to all the propositions that a hundred princesses might decently listen to in my place—all that ought to tell you that I am a kind mother, and that I am not likely to receive with severity the confidences your heart may have to make.]
Aristione to Ériphile (IV. 1)
Si j’avais si mal suivi votre exemple, que de m’être laissée aller à quelques sentiments d’inclination que j’eusse raison de cacher, j’aurais, Madame, assez de pouvoir sur moi-même pour imposer silence à cette passion, et me mettre en état de ne rien faire voir qui fût indigne de votre sang.
Ériphile to Aristione (IV. i, p. 28)
[If I had so badly followed your example as to have allowed an inclination I had reason to conceal to enter my soul, I should have power enough over myself to impose silence on such a love, and to do nothing unworthy of your name.]
Ériphile to Aristione (IV. 1)

In Act Four, Scene Two, a false Venus arrives in her chariot and decrees that Aristione should consider giving her daughter to the person who saves her life.

Princesse, dans tes soins brille un zèle exemplaire,/ Qui par les Immortels doit être couronné,/ Et pour te voir un gendre, illustre et fortuné,/ Leur main te veut marquer le choix que tu dois faire;/ Ils t’annoncent tous par ma voix,/ La gloire et les grandeurs, que, par ce digne choix,/ Ils feront pour jamais entrer dans ta famille,/ De tes difficultés termine donc le cours;/ Et pense à donner ta fille/ À qui sauvera tes jours./
Vénus à Aristione (IV. ii, p. 28-29)
[Princess, in you shines a glorious example, which the immortals mean to recompense; and that you may have a son-in-law both great and happy, they will guide you in the choice you should make. They announce by my voice the great and glorious fame which will come to your house by this choice. Therefore, put an end to your perplexities, and give your daughter to him who shall save your life.]
Vénus to Aristione (IV. 2)

In Act Four, Scene Three, we learn that Venus is a false Venus. Cléon and his father Anaxarque are arranging for men to capture Aristione. Iphicrate will save her.

Va-t’en tenir la main au reste de l’ouvrage, préparer nos six hommes à se bien cacher dans leur barque derrière le rocher; à posément attendre le temps que la princesse Aristione vient tous les soirs se promener seule sur le rivage, à se jeter bien à propos sur elle, ainsi que des corsaires, et donner lieu au prince Iphicrate de lui apporter ce secours, qui sur les paroles du Ciel doit mettre entre ses mains la princesse Ériphile.
Anaxarque à Cléon (IV. iii, p. 29)
[Be it your part to go and get our six men to hide themselves carefully in their boat behind the rock, and make them wait quietly for the time when the princess comes alone in the evening for her usual walk. Then they must suddenly attack her like pirates, in order to give the opportunity to Prince Iphicrates to rush to her rescue, and lend her the help which is to put Eriphyle in his hands according to the words of Venus.]
Anaxarque to Cléon (IV. iv)

In Act Four, Scene Four a dejected Ériphile fears destiny. What has she done to deserve attention from the Gods? She does not love the princes who are the only candidates.

Hélas! quelle est ma destinée, et qu’ai-je fait aux Dieux pour mériter les soins qu’ils veulent prendre de moi?
Ériphile à Cléonice et Sostrate (IV. iv, p. 30)
[Alas! how hard is my destiny! What have I done to the gods that they should interest themselves in what happens to me?]
Ériphile to Cléonice and Sostrate (IV. 5)

ACT FIVE

In Act Five, Scene One, we are told that Aristione was attacked by a boar, but was saved by Sostrate. Sostrate being a hero, he may marry Ériphile. Men were to attack Aristione, not a boar.

Anaxarque misused both princes. But Sostrate saved Aristione. So, ironically, he daughter will marry the man who saved her mother life. As false as Venus is, Heaven has decided that Ériphile must marry her mother’s saviour, who is Socrates. Aristione forgives the princes and all, or most, go to the Jeux Pythiens.

Je pardonne toutes ces menaces, aux chagrins d’un amour qui se croit offensé, et nous n’en verrons pas avec moins de tranquillité la fête des jeux Pythiens. Allons-y de ce pas, et couronnons par ce pompeux spectacle cette merveilleuse journée.
Aristione aux princes (V. iv, p. 34)
[I forgive all these threats for the sake of the sorrow of a love which thinks itself insulted; and we will none the less go and see the Pythian Games in all peace. Let us go at once, and let us crown by the glorious spectacle this wonderful day.]
Aristione to the princes (V. 4)

Costumes for Les Amants magnifiques, Calvin University

Conclusion

The above is incomplete. In Les Amants magnifiques, the plot is embedded in mostly pastoral and mythological interludes. Louis XIV is Apollon. We are in the Vale of Tempe, an idyllic location, but a princess who seems “free” to choose her husband is not “free.” Rank and fortune preclude a marriage between Sostrate and Ériphile.

However, Aristione is attacked by a boar and Venus, albeit a false Venus, has decreed that Ériphile is to wed her mother’s saviour is Sostrate, The gods have spoken. and Ériphile must marry Sostrate.

So, once again, comedy, or destiny, is complicit with Ériphile and Sostrate, the young lovers of comedy. It’s an all’s well that ends well, but a complex tout est bien qui finit bien.

Obedience to parents is a matter Molière raises in his plays. In Mélicerte. Myrtil will not let a father prevent his marrying a woman other than Mélicerte. But Venus has decreed that Ériphile would marry her mother’s saviour. Sostrate.

So, once again, comedy, or destiny, is complicit with Ériphile and Sostrate, the young lovers of comedy. It’s an all’s well that ends well, but an ambiguous tout est bien qui finit bien. After its Saint-Germain-en-Laye performances, Les Amants magnifiques was not performed, at least, not in Molière’s lifetime.

—ooo—

Love to everyone 💕

RELATED ARTICLES

Molière’s “Mélicerte” (4 May 2019)
Molière’s Pastorale comique (The Comic Pastoral) (10 May 2019)
Molière’s “Sicilien,” or “Love makes the Painter” (14 May 2019)

Sources and Resources

The Magnificent Lovers is Gutenberg’s [EBook #7067]
Charles Heron Wall is our translator
Les Amants magnifiques is a toutmoliere.net publication
Molière21 is a research group (CNRS & Sorbonne)
Le Jeu de l’amour et du hasard pdf FR

Love to everyone 💕

Entrée d’Apollon — Jean-Baptiste Lully
(Personne n’est Dieu sur cette terre. No one is God on this earth.)

Muse of comedy and idyllic poetry, Jean-Marc Nattier (Wikipedia)

Molière’s “Amphitryon”

24 Tuesday Sep 2019

Posted by michelinewalker in Comedy, Molière

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

Amphitryon, Cuckolding, jealousy, Jupiter, Mercure, Molière, Pièces à machines, sosie, three acts, verse

Sosie par Edmond Geffroy (théâtre-documentation.com)

The above image shows Sosie finding his way to Amphitryon’s house. Amphitryon is his master. He has been dispatched to provide news of a battle to Amphitryon’s bride, Alcmène. He bumps into Mercure who looks like him. Mercure threatens to beat him and does so. Inside the house is Jupiter, an Amphitryon look-alike (un sosie), courting Alcmène. Amphitryon will be a cocu, but Jupiter being a “dead ringer” to Amphitryon, Alcmène doesn’t know she has been unfaithful to Amphitryon. Alcmène will give birth to Hercules. In Act Three, Jupiter says that Amphitryon has been honoured. Amphitryon is so angry that a complete reconciliation may not occur. It seems he will be a “husband,” not a “lover.”

Molière’s Amphitry on is

a three-act comédie poétique, in mixed verse.
It premièred on 13 January 1668 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal.
Its third performance was played on 16 January 1668 at the Tuileries Palace, before the King and Court.
It is a pièce à machines (using stage machinery),
rooted in Plautus‘ Amphitryon, a burlesque play.
Sophocles wrote a tragedy on Amphitryon, a lost Theban play.
Molière’s Amphitryon was performed one hundred and thirty-eight times in 1668 and has remained a favourite.

Amphitryon is a mythological figure. Plautus’ Amphitryon was performed successfully until the Renaissance, at which point it inspired several Renaissance dramatists, “including three Spanish language plays, two Italian plays, and a comedy in Portuguese by Luís de Camões.” (See, Amphitryon, en-Wikipedia.org). In 1636, dramatist Jean Rotrou translated Plautus’ Amphitryon and wrote Les Deux Sosies. Rotrou’s play may have been a source Molière used, but Molière knew Plautus’ Amphitryon. It was the second ancient comedy to be translated into the English language.

Molière’s play consists of:

a Dédicace, by Molière to le Grand Condé (VOTRE ALTESSE SÉRÉNISSIME, Le très humble, très obéissant et très obligé serviteur, Molière
a Prologue (Mercure and the Night)
three acts

The Prologue is a conversation between Mercury, who says he is “las,” tired, and the Night. Machines are used and the Prologue tells much of the play. The God Mercure is a messenger and so is Sosie, his look-alike, or doppelgänger (un sosie). It is night and, therefore, dark, which suits Jupiter who can hide his visit with Alcmène.

Amphitryon par François Boucher

Amphitryon par Moreau Le Jeune

Amphitryon par Hédouin

Amphitryon par Lalauze

1. François Boucher 2. Moreau Le Jeune
3. Hédouin 4. Lalauze
(théâtre-documentation.com)

Our dramatis personæ is

MERCURE.
LA NUIT (night).
JUPITER, sous la forme (looking alike) d’Amphitryon.
AMPHITRYON, général des Thébains.
ALCMÈNE, femme (wife of) d’Amphitryon.
CLÉANTHIS, suivante d’Alcmène et femme (wife of) de Sosie.
SOSIE, valet d’Amphitryon (Molière’s role)
ARGATIPHONTIDAS
NAUCRATÈS POLIDAS POSICLÈS capitaines thébains (Theban captains).

La scène est à Thèbes (ancient Egypt), devant la maison d’Amphitryon (in front of Amphitryon’s house).

ACT ONE

Sosie meets Mercure
husband and lover
Sosie & Cléanthis, a couple

In Act One, Scene One, Sosie rehearses the message he is bringing Alcmène. In Scene Two, he is confronted by Mercure, his look-alike, who will not allow him to enter the house.

400 Ciel! me faut-il ainsi renoncer à moi-même;/ Et par un imposteur me voir voler mon nom?/ Que son bonheur est extrême,/ De ce que je suis poltron!/ Sans cela, par la mort…
Sosie à lui-même (I. ii, p. 19)
[Heavens! Must I thus renounce myself, and see my name stolen by an impostor. How lucky I am a poltroon! Or, by the death…!]
Sosie to himself (I. 2)

N’importe, je ne puis m’anéantir pour toi;/ 425 Et souffrir un discours, si loin de l’apparence./ Être ce que je suis, est-il en ta puissance?/ Et puis-je cesser d’être moi/ S’avisa-t-on jamais d’une chose pareille!/ Et peut-on démentir cent indices pressants? 430 Rêvé-je? est-ce que je sommeille?/ Ai-je l’esprit troublé par des transports puissants?/ Ne sens-je pas que je veille?/ Ne suis-je pas dans mon bon sens? Mon Maître Amphitryon, n’a m’a-t-il pas commis,/ 435 À venir, en ce lieux, vers Alcmène sa femme/ Ne lui dois-je pas faire, en lui vantant sa flamme,/ Un récit de ses faits contre nos ennemis?
Sosie à Mercure (I. ii, p. 20)
[I can’t help it. I cannot annihilate myself for you, and endure so improbable a tale. Is it in your power to be what I am? Can I cease to be myself? Did any one ever hear of such a thing? And can you give the lie to a hundred clear indications? Do I dream? Do I sleep? Is my mind troubled by powerful transports? Do I not feel I am awake? Am I not in my right senses? Has not my master, Amphitryon, commanded me to come here to Alcmene his wife? Am I not, in commending his passion to her, to give her an account of his deeds against our enemies? Have I not just come from the harbour? Do I not hold a lantern in my hand? Have I not found you in front of our house?]
Sosie to Mercure (I. 2)

A “Husband” & a “Lover”
In Scene Three, Jupiter tells Alcmène that he does not wish to be known as a husband, but as a lover:

Ah! ce que j’ai pour vous d’ardeur, et de tendresse,/ Passe aussi celle d’un époux;/ Et vous ne savez pas, dans des moments si doux,/ Quelle en est la délicatesse./ 585 Vous ne concevez point qu’un cœur bien amoureux,/ Sur cent petits égards s’attache avec étude;/ Et se fait une inquiétude, De la manière d’être heureux./ En moi, belle, et charmante Alcmène,/590 Vous voyez un mari; vous voyez un amant;/ Mais l’amant seul me touche, à parler franchement; Et je sens près de vous, que le mari le gêne.
Jupiter à Alcmène (I. iii, p. 26)
[The love and tenderness which I have for you far exceeds a husband’s; in these sweet moments, you do not realise its delicacy; You do not understand that a heart deeply in love studiously attaches itself to a hundred little trifles, and is restless over the manner of being happy. In me, fair and charming Alcmene, you see a lover and a husband; but, to speak frankly, it is the lover that appeals to me; when near you, I feel the husband restrains him.]
Jupiter to Alcmène (I. 3)

Sosie and Cléanthis
In Scene Four, Cléanthis, Sosie’s wife, tells her husband that he was away for too long. She feels her husband has been unfaithful. Molière created Cléanthis. She does not form part of Plautus’ Amphitryon. In Molière’s play, we have an earthly couple and one we could call “divine.”

ACT TWO

Sosie’s moi soliloquy
the Diamonds
the Sealed Box
the Bitter Truth

In Scene One, Amphitryon reprimands Sosie. What happened?

810 Faut-il le répéter vingt fois de même sorte?
Moi, vous dis-je; ce moi plus robuste que moi;
Ce moi, qui s’est de force emparé de la porte.
Ce moi, qui m’a fait filer doux:
Ce moi, qui le seul moi veut être:
815 Ce moi, de moi-même jaloux
Ce moi vaillant, dont le courroux,
Au moi poltron s’est fait connaître:
Enfin ce moi qui suis chez nous,
Ce moi qui s’est montré mon maître;
820 Ce moi qui m’a roué de coups.
Sosie à Amphitryon (II. i, pp. 36-37)
[Must I repeat the same thing twenty times? I, I tell you, this I who is more robust than I, this I who took possession of the door by force, this I who made me slope off, this I who wishes to be the only I, this I who is jealous of myself, this valiant I, whose anger made itself known to this poltroon of an I, in fact, this I who is at our house, this I who has shown himself to be my master, this I who has racked me with pain.]
Sosie to Amphitryon (II. 1)

Tous les discours sont des sottises,/ 840 Partant d’un homme sans éclat./ Ce seraient paroles exquises,/ Si c’était un grand qui parlât.
Sosie, à part (II. i, pp. 37-38)
[All talk is nonsense that comes from a man who is unknown. If a great man were to say it, it would be exquisite language.]
Sosie, aside (II. 1)

It appears credibility depends on rank.

In Scene Two, Alcmène says that Amphitryon has returned rather soon. She tells Amphitryon that she greeted him lovingly the night before.

885 Hier au soir, ce me semble, à votre heureux retour,/ On me vit témoigner une joie assez tendre;/ Et rendre aux soins de votre amour,/ Tout ce que de mon cœur, vous aviez lieu d’attendre.
Alcmène à Amphitryon (II. ii, p. 39)
[I think I showed a sufficiently tender joy last night, at your happy return; my heart responded by every means you could wish to the claims of your affection.]
Alcmène to Amphitryon (II. 2)

The Diamonds
Alcmène shows Amphitryon the diamonds he gave her.

950 S’il était vrai qu’on pût ne s’en souvenir pas;/ De qui puis-je tenir, que de vous, la nouvelle/ Du dernier de tous vos combats?/ Et les cinq diamants que portait Ptérélas, Qu’a fit, dans la nuit éternelle,/ 955 Tomber l’effort de votre bras?/ En pourrait-on vouloir un plus sûr témoignagne?
Alcmène à Amphitryon (II. ii, p. 43 )
[…but, if the thing were in need of proof, if it were true that such a thing could be forgotten, from whom, but from you, could I have heard the news of the latest of all your battles, and of the five diamonds worn by Pterelas, who was plunged into eternal night by the strength of your arm? Could one wish for surer testimony?]
Alcmène to Amphitryon (II. 2)

Quoi! je vous ai déjà donné/ Le nœud de diamants que j’eus pour mon partage,/ Et que je vous ai destiné? Le nœud de diamants que j’eus pour mon partage,/ Et que je vous ai destiné?
Amphitryon à Alcmène (II. ii, p. 43)
[What? I have already given you the cluster of diamonds which I had for my share, and intended for you?]
Amphitryon à Alcmène (II. 2)

The Sealed Box
The box is still sealed, but the diamonds have been removed.

Ma foi, la place est vide./ 970 Il faut que par magie on ait su le tirer:/ Ou bien que de lui-même, il soit venu sans guide,/ Vers celle qu’il a su qu’on en voulait parer.
Sosie, ayant ouvert le coffret (II. ii, p. 44)
[Upon my word, the casket is empty. It must have been taken out by witchcraft, or else it came by itself a guide, to her whom it knew it was intended to adorn.]
Sosie (Having opened the casket.) (II. 2)

The Bitter Truth
Alcmène then reminds Amphitryon that they had a conversation, had supper and then went to bed:

…Nous nous entrecoupâmes/ De mille questions, qui pouvaient nous toucher./ On servit. Tête à tête, ensemble nous soupâmes;/ Et le souper fini, nous nous fûmes coucher.
Alcmène à Amphitryon (II. ii, p. 46)
[…We interrupted each other with a thousand questions concerning each other. The table was laid. We supped together by ourselves; and, supper over, we went to bed.]
Alcmène to Amphitryon (II. 2)

As Scene Two ends, Alcmène is vexed. She has been faithful to her husband. As for Amphitryon, he is jealous, but he is also puzzled.

In Scene Three, Sosie’s wife Cléanthis also suspects her husband has been unfaithful.

In Scene Four, Jupiter/Amphitryon returns. In Scene Five, Sosie wonders how, having been so angry, Amphitryon should be “joyeux.” Jupiter, the lover, has returned, not Amphitryon, the husband.

In Scene Six, Jupiter is with Alcmène who thinks he is Amphitryon. Once again, Jupiter blames the husband, the real Amphitryon, not the lover, Jupiter. He tells her he will commit suicide if she does not forgive him. She says that she cannot hate and will forgive him, but she doesn’t like herself.

Dire qu’on ne saurait haïr,/ N’est-ce pas dire qu’on pardonne?
Alcmène à Jupiter/Amphytrion (II. vi, p. 64)
[…is it not to say we pardon, when we say we cannot hate?]
Alcmène to Jupiter/Amphitryon (II. 6)

Jupiter tells Sosie (not Mercure) to gather officers for a dinner.

ACT THREE

nature: the sosies (look-alikes)
Amphitryon insulted by Mercure
Amphitryon: a “frightful blow”
confused officers

In Scene One, a very jealous Amphitryon complains. He does not deserve to be cuckolded. However, he is starting to realize that something has gone wrong. To open a coffret, or cassette, one has to break the seal. Alcmène has the diamonds but the box has not been opened. As well, nature may…

1470 La nature parfois produit des ressemblances,/ Dont quelques imposteurs ont pris droit d’abuser:/ Mais il est hors de sens, que sous ces apparences/ Un homme, pour époux, se puisse supposer; / Et dans tous ces rapports, sont mille différences, 1475 Dont se peut une femme aisément aviser.
Amphitryon, seul (III. i, p. 67)
[Nature oftentimes produces resemblances, which some impostors have adopted in order to deceive; but it is inconceivable that, under these appearances, a man should pass himself off as a husband; there are a thousand differences in a relationship such as this which a wife could easily detect.]
Amphitryon, alone (III. 1)

Amphitryon and Mercure
Amphitryon arrives at his house, but Mercure, not Sosie tells him he has been drinking. He also says that Amphitryon, i.e. Amphitryon/Jupiter is upstairs with Alcmène, and that he must not disturb them.

A “frighful blow”
In Scene Three, Amphitryon says his soul has been dealt a strange blow. What about his honour, what about his passion?

Ah! quel étrange coup m’a-t-il porté dans l’âme?/ 1560 En quel trouble cruel jette-t-il mon esprit?
Amphitryon, seul (III. iii, p. 72)
[Ah! What a frightful blow he has given me! How cruelly has he put me to confusion!]
Amphitryon, alone (III. 3)

In Scene Four, the guests, army officers, arrive. Sosie has invited them to a dinner on behalf of Amphitryon/Jupiter). Amphitryon wants to punish Sosie and perhaps kill him. Naucratès tells the officers to “restrain” Amphitryon’s “anger.” (III. 4) (Ah! de grâce, arrêtez. [III. iv. p. 73])

Matters are about to be more or less solved. Jupiter has heard the commotion and comes out of the house only to face his look-alike, the real Amphitryon. Naucratès cannot believe his eyes, nor can Amphitryon:

Mon âme demeure transie,/ 1620 Hélas! Je n’en puis plus; l’aventure est à bout:/ Ma destinée est éclaircie;/ Et ce que je vois, me dit tout.
Amphitryon à tous (III. v, p. 76)
[My soul is struck dumb. Alas! I cannot do anything more: the adventure is at an end; my fate is clear; what I see tells me all.]
Amphitryon to all (III. 5)

Confused Officers
Naucratès says that the more he looks, the more he finds that Amphitryon and Amphitryon/Jupiter look alike:

Plus mes regards sur eux s’attachent fortement,/ Plus je trouve qu’en tout, l’un à l’autre est semblable.
Naucratès (III. v, p. 76)
[The more narrowly I watch them, the more I find they resemble each other.]
Naucratès (III. 5)

Amphitryon remains angry and wishes to kill his “entchanted” trickster (fourbe). Jupiter is an “imposteur” he wants to punish, sword in hand.

Punir, d’un imposteur, les lâches trahisons.
Amphitryon to Naucratés (III. v, p. 77)
[Punish the miserable treachery of an impostor.]
Amphitryon to Naucratès (III. 5)

Jupiter tells the truth. He and Amphitryon are mirror images. However, Amphitryon’s officers dare not be too devoted to Amphitryon, as he may be Amphitryon/Jupiter.

À vous faire éclater notre zèle aujourd’hui,/ 1655 Nous craignons de faillir, et de vous méconnaître.
Naucratès à Amphitryon (III. v. p. 78)
[…If we were now to show towards you, we fear we might make a mistake, and not recognise you.]
Naucratès to Amphitryon (III. 5)

Amphitryon/Jupiter has tried to appease Alcmène, more or less successfully, and it is now his duty to end the confusion among officers.

C’est à moi de finir cette confusion;/ Et je prétends me faire à tous si bien connaître,/
Qu’aux pressantes clartés de ce que je puis être,/ Lui-même soit d’accord du sang qui m’a fait naître,/ 1685 Il n’ait plus de rien dire aucune occasion.
Jupiter (III. v, p. 79)
[It is for me to end this confusion. I intend to make myself so well known to all, that, at the overwhelming proofs I shall bring forward to show who I am, he himself shall agree concerning the blood from which I sprang, and he shall no longer have occasion to say anything.]
Jupiter (III. 5)

Sosie says (III. v, p. 79):

Le véritable Amphitryon/ Est l’Amphitryon où l’on dîne.
[ …the real Amphitryon is the Amphitryon who gives dinners.]

This sentence has remained famous.

As for Mercure, he will not live as Sosie. A sad Sosie will live with the saddened Amphitryon.

Suivons-en aujourd’hui l’aveugle fantaisie;/ Et par une juste union,/ Joignons le malheureux/ Joignons le malheureux Sosie,/ Au malheureux Amphitryon.
Sosie, seul (III. vi, p. 84)
[Let us today follow blind caprice, and join the unfortunate Sosie to the unfortunate Amphitryon: it is a suitable union. I see he is coming in good company.]
Sosie, alone (III. 6)

Scene Seven is ambiguous. Amphitryon cannot blame Alcmène from going to bed with a person who is identical to him, but he maintains that honour and love make matters unforgivable.

Si cette ressemblance est telle que l’on dit,/ Alcmène, sans être coupable…
Posiclès à tous (III. vii, p. 85)
[If this resemblance is such as is said, Alcmène, without being guilty…]
Posiclès to officers (III. 7)

Ah! sur le fait dont il s’agit,/ L’erreur simple devient un crime véritable, Et sans consentement, l’innocence y périt./ De semblables erreurs, quelque jour qu’on leur donne,/ Touchent des endroits délicats: 1825 Et la raison bien souvent les pardonne; Que l’honneur, et l’amour, ne les pardonnent pas.
Amphitryon aux officiers (III. vii, p. 85)
[Ah! In this affair, a simple error becomes a veritable crime, and, though no way consenting, innocence perishes in it. Such errors, in whatever way we look at them, affect us in the most sensitive parts; reason often, often pardons them, when honour and love cannot.]
Amphitryon to officers (III. 7)

Argatiphontidas, an officer, wants Sosie to be punished, but in Scene Eight Amphitryon takes Sosie to Cléanthis, his wife. Cléanthis doesn’t know what to believe, Amphitryon/Jupiter is upstairs with Alcmène, but she is looking at Amphitryon. There are two Amphitryons.

In Scene Nine, Mercure flies into the clouds while Sosie tells him not to come back as he, Mercure, is the very devil.

In Scene Ten, Jupiter states, unconvincingly, that:

Un partage avec Jupiter,/ N’a rien du tout, qui déshonore:/ 1900 Et sans doute, il ne peut être que glorieux,/ De se voir le rival du souverain des Dieux.
Jupiter (III. iii, pp. 88-89
[A share with Jupiter has nothing that in the least dishonours, for doubtless, it can be but glorious to find one’s self the rival of the sovereign of the Gods.]
Jupiter (III. 3)

He also tries to rehabilitate Alcmène, unconvincingly:

Que Jupiter, orné de sa gloire immortelle,
1910 Par lui-même, n’a pu triompher de sa foi;
Et que ce qu’il a reçu d’elle,
N’a, par son cœur ardent, été donné qu’à toi.
Jupiter à Amphitryon (III.x. p. 89)
[Even Jupiter, clothed in his immortal glory, could not by himself undermine her fidelity; what he has received from her was granted by her ardent heart only to you.]
Jupiter to Amphitryon (III. 10)

As he is about to fly away, Jupiter tells Amphitryon that a son, Hercules, will be born in his home. In a sense, Alcmène has been “visited” by a god and will give birth to a god. Are we reading the Bible?

Sosie thinks that, basically, all is well but that everyone should simply go home peacefully and not say a word about such “affaires” (matters). Indeed, matters should be forgotten. Amphitryon was the victim of a fourberie and some of his loyal officers no longer knew which Amphitryon was their commander.

Conclusion

Although Mercure and Jupiter both fly away, will the real Amphitryon overcome this blow to both his honour and his passion? Amphitryon is a jealous man and a cocu.

Molière created Cléanthis, Sosie’s wife, doubling Amphitryon/Jupiter and Alcmène. It is in heaven as it is on earth. Cléanthis believes her husband has been unfaithful to her.

Mercure and Jupiter both fly away. Yet, the events of the play are a fourberie. Amphitryon is cuckolded. Although Jupiter is a look-alike and a god, Amphitryon cannot change the truth. He has been cuckolded. Amphitryon/Jupiter also sent Sosie to invite the real Amphitryon’s officers to dine with Amphitryon/Jupiter, humiliating both the husband and the commander. Why let officers know their commander has been cuckolded?

Fortunately, Molière’s Amphitryon is associated with the festive plays Molière wrote for the third entrée of Isaac de Benserade’s 1666 Ballet des Muses. Molière contributed three plays to Benserade’s Ballet des Muses:

Mélicerte (2 December 1666),
La Pastorale comique (5 January 1667), replacing Mélicerte as the third entrée, and
Le Sicilien ou l’Amour peintre (14 February 1667), a late contribution.

These are divertissements, entertainment.

1941 Et que chacun chez soi, doucement se retire.
Sur telles affaires, toujours,
Le meilleur est de ne rien dire.
Sosie à tous (III. x, p. 90)
[But, nevertheless, let us cut short our speeches, and each one retire quietly to his own house. In such affairs as these, it is always best not to say anything.]
Sosie to all (III.

Jupiter is often seen as Louis XIV courting Madame de Montespan who would be maîtresse-en-titre, until l’Affaire des poisons (1677-1683). Could there be two moral standards? In lower circles, such liaisons were adulterous and, therefore, sinful. As for the Church, it stood mostly powerless. Until recently, kings did not choose their wives. Amphitryon has been looked upon as a criticism of the King (see, Amphitryon, en-Wikipedia), but Molière’s Amphitryon is rooted in Plautus’ Amphitryon and it is a divertissement as well as a pièce à machines. Moreover, jealousy and cuckolding are frequent farcical themes.

RELATED ARTICLES

Molière page

Sources and Resources

Amphitryon is a toutmoliere.net publication
Amphitryon is the Gutenberg Project’s [EBook #2536]) EN
(translator: A. R. Waller)
Maurice Rat (La Pléiade, 1956)
Molière 21

Love to everyone 💕
I apologize for the delay. It was unavoidable.

Estienne Moulinié – Concert de différents oyseaux
Claire Lefilliâtre, soprano
Vincent Dumestre
Le Poème harmonique

800px-Portrait_painting_of_Françoise_de_Rochechouart_(Madame_de_Montespan)_by_an_unknown_artist_(at_the_Musée_national_du_Château_de_Versailles)

Madame de Montespan anonymous (Wikipedia)

Molière: Nature vs Nurture

20 Friday Sep 2019

Posted by michelinewalker in Comedy, Metamorphosis, Molière

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Amphitryon, Dénouement, deus ex machina, Molière, nature/nurture, pharmakos, sosie, Venus and the Cat

Æsop‘s Venus and the Cat by Arthur Rackham

Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index type 2031C
The Perry Index (#050)
Æsop’s Fables: Venus and the Cat (The Project Gutenberg [EBook #11339])
Fables d’Ésope: La Chatte et Aphrodite
The Cat and Venus (fablesofaesop.com)
La Fontaine: La Chatte métamorphosée en femme (II. xviii) FR (site officiel)
La Fontaine: The Cat Changed into a Woman (II. xviii) EN (site officiel)
Photo credit (image above): The Project Gutenberg [EBook #25433] p. 46

Our next play is Molière‘s Amphitryon. In Amphitryon, we have people who look alike, which leads to cuckoldry. One character is named Sosie. In French, un sosie is a “dead ringer,” a look-alike. Amphitryon is cuckolded.

Æsop’s Cat and Venus by Walter Crane

“Nature exceeds nurture.”

anagnorisis (recognition)
doublings
the deceiver deceived, le trompeur trompé
deus ex machina

However, before going further, I should point out, once again, that, in Molière, people seldom change. One could not talk Argan (The Imaginary Invalid) into thinking he is perfectly healthy. In The Miser, Harpagon remains a miser. The young couples marry because Molière brings in a second father, a doubling, who recognizes his children, (an anagnorisis, or recognition scene). He pays for the weddings. In l’École des femmes (The School for Wives), Arnolphe is so afraid his wife will be unfaithful that he adopts Agnès and has her brought up so she will know as little as possible. However, Agnès’ father, Enrique, returns suddenly and unexpectedly, an anagnorisis. He and Oronte, Horace’s father, were planning for Agnès and Horace to marry.

Molière may also use a deus ex machina, which he does in Dom Juan. But Dom Juan is also “hoisted by his own petard,” a happy ending borrowed from the farce’s plot formula. Dom Juan will not be convinced that the freedom he gives himself will cause eternal damnation, which it does. He is a deceiver deceived, le trompeur trompé.

As for Psyché, Jupiter, the king of the gods, is a deus ex machina. Cupid cannot transform Psyché into a goddess because he is a lesser god. Venus could revive Psyché but she would not allow her son to marry a mortal. That would be a mésalliance. Therefore, Jupiter transforms a mortal being into an immortal, or a goddess. In Tartuffe, Orgon’s family would be ruined if a prince did not intervene. The prince, “un prince ennemi de la fraude,” knows that Tartuffe is a criminal and, although Orgon has given Tartuffe an incriminating cassette, a forgiving prince does not use it to Orgon’s detriment. Yet, to a large extent, Orgon is Tartuffe and Tartuffe is Orgon. Consequently, Tartuffe is a pharmakós.[1]

Given his theatrical, or formulaic, happy endings, Molière’s Weltanschauung (world view) resembles Jean de La Fontaine’s. A cat may be metamorphosed into a woman, but if the metamorphosed woman hears a mouse, she will jump out of bed and pursue the mouse. Therefore, in the 17^th-century debate between nature & nurture, nature wins. (See The Cat and Venus.)

However, in 17^th-century France, one could buy an office and become a bourgeois. Molière’s father was quite wealthy. So, in 1631, he bought an office for his son Jean-Baptiste. Poquelin would be “valet de chambre ordinaire et tapissier du Roi” (“valet of the King’s chamber and keeper of carpets and upholstery”). (See Molière, en-wikipedia.org). In 1641, Molière was, briefly, a valet de chambre ordinaire et tapissier du Roi, but he loved the theater, which led to his founding l’Illustre-Théâtre, on 30 June 1643. In August 1645, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin was imprisoned for bankruptcy. His father paid most of his debts,[2] La Troupe de Molière then left for the provinces and did not return to Paris until the late 1650s. As I mentioned in an earlier post, no one knows why Molière chose to call himself Molière. He never told. In 17^th-century France, one could also become an honnête homme (a gentleman).

—ooo—

In short, Molière was a bourgeois and an honnête homme, but in his plays, usually comedic, nature is almost as implacable as tragedy’s destiny or fate. Dénouements, the deus ex machina especially, are “theatrical,” or formulaic. For instance, Molière may use a farcical plot formula in comedies moliéristes have called grandes comédies, thereby blurring the difference between his farces and grandes comédies. We are centuries away from existentialism.

My related article is particularly useful and more complete. I am updating my La Fontaine page, because the site officiel has been modified, for the better.

RELATED ARTICLE

The Cat Metamorphosed into a Mai d (The Cat Changed into a Woman), by Jean de La Fontaine, “La Chatte métamorphosée en femme” (II.18) (20 July 2013)

Sources and Resources

Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index, type 2031C
The Perry Index (#050)
Æsop’s Fables: Venus and the Cat (The Project Gutenberg’s [EBook #11339])
Fables d’Ésope: La Chatte et Aphrodite
La Fontaine: La Chatte métamorphosée en femme (II. xviii)
La Fontaine: The Cat Changed into a Woman (II. xviii)[3]

_________________________
[1] My PhD thesis was a study of the pharmakós in Molière. It is entitled: L’Impossible Entreprise : une étude sur le pharmakós dans le théâtre de Molière.
[2] Molière also paid debts, when he returned to Paris.
[3] I believe Château-Thierry has become La Fontaine’s site officiel.

Love to everyone 💕

Georges Brassens sings Le Cocu

EBook #11339

Reading “Psyché,” (P. S.)

15 Sunday Sep 2019

Posted by michelinewalker in Comedy, Molière, Myths

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

an incomplete post, Mr Bowie, Psyché, Regrets

Lecture de Molière par Jean-François de Troy, vers 1728

Yesterday, I published a complete post, but an incomplete post surfaced.

It was late, so I had run out of energy, which is often the case. I now realize I could have turned the post into a private publication, but I was too tired to think about options.

I keep ‘back ups’ of my posts and used them this morning. The post should therefore be complete. I apologize to readers who could not see the entire post.

I would also like to thank Mr Bowie for looking at my post. He had become a dear cousin to Belaud, my blue cat. Belaud loved to hear about Mr Bowie. Blue cats are excellent companions and rather quiet. Belaud is a chartreux, a close relative to British Blues.

Mr Bowie is probably looking down admiringly at his human companion. Beloved cats never die fully; they just become invisible. We do not know when they visit, but they visit and we remember them forever.

I will not forget Mr Bowie.

Mille Regretz —Josquin des Prés
The Hilliard Ensemble

Image result for Belaud michelinewalker

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Molière’s “La Princesse d’Élide”

The Comedy

ACTE TWO

ACT THREE

ACT IV

ACT FIVE

Conclusion

I am still using the old computer. It can be repaired, but it will be a second computer. It has never been stable.

The Post that Posted itself

Comments and a Glimpse at “La Princesse d’Élide”

Rating

Using Internet Archives

Love to everyone 💕

(I’m feeling very sick, but will do La Princesse d’Élide. I can’t believe that a translation of Molière’s plays made in the 19th century is probably the best translation of Molière into English to date, not to mention Mr. van Laun’s scholarship.)

“Les Amants magnifiques” as a comédie-ballet

The Interludes

Les Fâcheux

Imitating Fouquet

Louis’ Divertissements

The Interludes (Les Intermèdes)

La Princesse d’Élide

Molière’s “Les Amants magnifiques”

The Plot

ACT ONE

ACT TWO

ACT THREE

ACT FOUR

ACT FIVE

Conclusion

Molière’s “Amphitryon”

ACT ONE

ACT TWO

ACT THREE

Conclusion

Molière: Nature vs Nurture

“Nature exceeds nurture.”

Reading “Psyché,” (P. S.)

The Comedy

ACTE TWO

ACT THREE

ACT IV

ACT FIVE

Conclusion

I am still using the old computer. It can be repaired, but it will be a second computer. It has never been stable.

michelinewalker.com

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Rating

Using Internet Archives

Love to everyone 💕

(I’m feeling very sick, but will do La Princesse d’Élide. I can’t believe that a translation of Molière’s plays made in the 19th century is probably the best translation of Molière into English to date, not to mention Mr. van Laun’s scholarship.)

michelinewalker.com

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The Interludes

Les Fâcheux

Imitating Fouquet

Louis’ Divertissements

The Interludes (Les Intermèdes)

La Princesse d’Élide

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The Plot

ACT ONE

ACT TWO

ACT THREE

ACT FOUR

ACT FIVE

Conclusion

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ACT ONE

ACT TWO

ACT THREE

Conclusion

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“Nature exceeds nurture.”

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