The Weeping Angel of Amiens(Photo Credit: Wikipedia)
Otto Warmbier
The North Koreans did not free Otto Warmbier, they sent home a dying young man. Whatever brutality they inflicted caused his death. When he returned to the United States, nothing could be done for him.
Despite the irreversibility of his fate, I am very thankful to President Trump for securing Otto’s release. He ensured that a dying young man would pass away home, in the United States, and surrounded by his loved ones, his parents in particular, Fred and Cindy Warmbier. Otto’s mother said that her son’s facial expression changed during the last days of his life. He arrived in the United States looking anguished, but died looking serene, at peace.
He will also be given a proper funeral, which will help his parents, his siblings, his friends, and all of us. We were all touched and our thoughts are with his family. Otto Warmbier was the quintessential victim of man’s inhumanity to man.
I would like to offer my deepest condolences to his grieving family and I hope that an angel will be by their side for the rest of their life. They have suffered. They saw videos of their son crying when he was condemned to 15 years of hard labour and looking dejected as guards took him away to serve an unjust sentence.
I have placed above the image of the “Weeping Angel of Amiens,” once again. It is so powerful an image. The soul is immortal. So, no one could take his soul away from Otto.
I wasn’t at my computer this week. However, I have published a page entitled Beast literature. It contains a list of most of the posts I have written on Beast fables, but not the fables themselves. These are listed on a separate page.
Missing is a post about the various naturalists whose descriptions were used to tell about animals. Herodotus was the first to describe animals, but most fabulists and naturalists used a book entitled the Physiologusto obtain the information they required.
I will post this short note and will return to my normal activities as soon as I feel better.
Two days ago, London was attacked. Britain’s Magna Carta and its Parliament are symbols of democracy.
At times, such events can be expected. Why did the attacker convert to Islam? Why did he become radicalized? We will never know, but he may have felt rejected. How else does one feel when US President Donald Trump bans Muslims from entering the United States? The attacker committed a horrible crime, but why?
Canada’s anti-Islamophobia motion
Yesterday, the Canadian government passed an anti-Islamophobia motion. The vote was not unanimous. The problem may be with the term. But Muslims are being denied access to the United States which may explain the choice of the term Islamophobia. Many Canadians are afraid, but I believe our new Canadians: Muslims, Syrians, Iraqis, Armenians, Afghans, Syriacs and Yazidis, will be fine citizens, which will reassure everyone. A few members of Parliament voted against the motion, but it was passed. Migrants and survivors of a genocide who might perish, such as the Yazidis, should be given a home.
I am creating a page listing my posts on Beast literature. I retrieved most of the posts on this subject. If one has no list, one is lost. New posts will be written, but I would prefer not to be too repetitive.
Condolences
I would like to express my condolences to the family and friends of the dead and wounded.
Beauty dines with the Beast in an illustration by Anne Anderson (Photo credit: Wikipedia
My last two posts were an analysis of a fable by Jean de La Fontaine, “L’Ours et l’amateur des jardins,” “The Bear and the Gardener.” The corresponding fable by Æsop is entitled “The Bald Man and the Fly,” but the fable reflects Le Livre des lumières ou La Conduite des roys, fables by Bidpai.
You may remember that I could not find the fable’s Perry Index number. I simply forgot that Aesop’s corresponding fable was entitled “The Bald Man and the Fly.” Its number in the Perry Index is 525. For such information, Laura Gibbs’Bestiaria Latinais the site to visit. Æsop and his numerous followers are Laura’s area of specialization.
Animals in Literature: a Project
This post is a progress report. Several years ago, I had to prepare a course on animals in literature during a sabbatical leave I was devoting to my book on Molière. It was too great an effort, so the course ended my career as a university teacher. I fell ill. However, I did prepare and teach the course assigned to me and continued researching the subject.
Yesterday, I realized I had written so many posts on Animals in Literature that they should be collated. I need a table of contents. Moreover, there are gaps to fill. As for the texts, many are on the internet, such as the collections of fables I listed on 2 March 2017. Would that there had been an entry on Beast Literature or Animals in Literature, when I prepared my course.
Pages on Fables and Fairy Tales
I will not remove my pages on various fables and fairy-tales. They will simply be updated each time I write a post on a fable, or myth, or fairy-tale. They are my reading material. The Gutenberg Project, Internet Archives, Wikipedia and various generous organizations have provided the curious with several complete eTexts.
Our starting-point will be a clarification of the concept of anthropomorphism. Animals in literature are human beings in disguise. I have already written a post on this subject, but it has been refurbished.
This post published itself before it was finished. I apologize.
Working Title/Artist: Stefano Veneziano: Madonna Enthroned (Correr) Department: Islamic Art Culture/Period/Location: HB/TOA Date Code: Working Date: photography supplied by Islamic department – Filename – 018.tif film and media (jnc) 2_26_07
Aleppo was one of the jewels of the Middle East and it is now rubble. However, although it seems impossible, the few Christians left in Aleppo celebrated Christmas in a bombed church. We cannot resurrect those who have perished, but these courageous Syrians gave life to ruins. They celebrated the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.
Human institutions are abominably fallible, but would that people remembered that Jesus of Nazareth taught unconditional love. Theologians I have spoken with assure me that love unconditional was Jesus’ only teaching. Yet, an ignorant and cruel world crucified him as it crucified young Armenian women and destroyed Aleppo. However, Aleppo will rise again, like the phœnix.
Although many Christians born in Asia Minor have been killed, some fled their native land several years ago. There is, in Sherbrooke, Quebec, a Syriac Orthodox Church. It is named St. Ephrem’s Syriac Orthodox Church, but it is changing its name to St. Ephrem’s Syrian Church. You may remember that Céline Dion‘s deceased husband, René Angélil, was born to a Syrian father and a Lebanese mother, and raised in Montreal. Members of his family attended the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Céline married René at Notre-Dame Basilica, in Montreal, but there was a second wedding ceremony. (See René Angélil, Wikipedia.)
When I prepared my posts on the Armenian genocide and my Christmas post, I realized that there had been many Christians in the Near East and Middle East. Saint Nicholas was the bishop of Myra, in Anatolia. He saved people who were about to be beheaded. (See Saint Nicholas, Wikipedia.) We have long beheaded people and the practice has intensified in the Middle East. Before the rise of Islamism, beginning in c. 1980, women in the Middle East were not wrapped in clothes and hidden behind a veil. It seems we are returning to the past. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is not a descendant of the last Sultan, Mehmed VI, as though he were. Strange things are happening everywhere, especially in the United States.
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve was not as fine as Christmas Day. I remembered my home and work in Antigonish. Why did a woman, a case manager at an Insurance Company, let me sell my house, knowing I would have to return? She had me see an Independent Medical Examiner who asked her to tell me not to sell my house or make serious decisions. I was very sick, but he was convinced I would be able to re-enter the classroom. But my doctor’s note was not taken seriously so I was not replaced. After a very short rest, I returned to work so my students would have a teacher. She thought I was an imaginary invalid. Not relaying her IME’s message was malice on her part, unadulterated malice.
I suffer from ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis), better known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which it isn’t. It hasn’t taken away my intelligence nor has it dimmed all the knowledge I acquired. But, once I had sold my house, my university did not want me to re-enter the classroom. A friend warned me that returning was dangerous, but it may have been less dangerous than not returning.
The episode that began in 2002 was triggered by exertion. I had to prepare two new courses, including Animals in Literature, during a sabbatical (2000-2001) I was devoting to writing my book on Molière. It was my worst ever episode of ME. I fell ill in February 2002.
Alexandria by the Bellini brothers
San Marco, Venice
Back to Aleppo
At any rate, Christians at Aleppo celebrated Christmas in a bombed church. They are courageous individuals. The siege of Aleppo was a calamity. One wonders what happened to unconditional love?
That conflict must end. But I have difficulty making sense of Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin‘s involvement. They seem to be both friends and foes.
—ooo—
We will be celebrating the New Year as we celebrated Christmas. The same friends will join me. It will be the beginning of a new and, hopefully, better year. There is a fine Pâtisserie liégeoise nearby. I will purchase a cake. I am thankful for these small pleasures.
I have erased the beginning of this post. It contained information on an event of extreme cruelty that led to severe losses and still causes episodes of disabling fatigue and life-threatening anxiety. During such episodes, I cannot write or look after myself properly. My blog suffers. It’s a short post.
A Seated Scribe by Gentile Bellini, (Isabella Stewart Gardner Collection)
However, I have done more investigative work on Muslims, Armenians and the concept of nationhood. Religion is a factor in nationhood, but it is not as significant as the use of a common language. Even in the Islamic world, countries accepted plurality. The millet system is a proof of religious tolerance. For instance, in the case of the genocide of Armenians, the Ottomans feared Armenians would enter into an alliance with Christian Russia.
Nationhood is rooted in several factors, but langage overrides faith. State and speech is a product of the Renaissance and a result of Johannes Gutenberg‘s invention, in 1439, of the movable type printing press. Constantinople was defeated in 1453 and its Greek scholars fled to Italy carrying books. The printing press had just been invented when Byzantine scholars inaugurated the Renaissance. Literacy spread, creating a middle class, and it brought the validation of the vernacular, and the writing of songs in the mother tongue, or madrigals, but polyphonic, mixing voices. This is a subject we have covered, but not in the context of nationhood and nationalism.
A colleague told me about the Bellini knot, so I looked at the Metropolitan’s collection and found four Bellini rugs. I also found a Safavid dynasty tapestry or rug featuring the mille-fleursmotif. Keeping fabrics in good condition is difficult. Flanders may therefore have influenced the East. The Franco-Flemish lands were the cultural hub of ‘Europe’ before the Renaissance, in music especially, but tapestries and rugs were made in Flanders, as well as the illuminations of Books of Hours and other illuminated manuscripts. There were exchanges.
Particularly interesting is the position of Venice. It was very close to the Ottoman Empire. Trading led to use the of a lingua franca. A simplified Italian was the lingua franca when Bellini travelled to Constantinople. In 2007, the Metropolitan had an exhibition on Venice and the Islamic World, 828 – 1797.
I will close here, but this discussion will be continued.
Love to everyone. ♥
Aram Khachaturian
David Oïstrakh plays Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto, mvt 1
Yesterday morning, I received an email in which I was told I would be killed. My killer claimed he was from al-Qaeda.
In theory, I was murdered last night because I did not respond. The killer wanted money. I was to supply him with part of the money after which he would tell me who hated me so much that I should pay with my life. He would also provide me with tapes of conversations with the person who hates me. I would then give him the rest of the money he requested and my life would be spared. Failure to comply meant instant death and harm to my family.
I did not respond, i.e. comply, because I am certain my would-be killer wanted money and that he used the crisis in the Middle East to scare me. I don’t have enemies, so who would want me dead?
I am told that my telephone is bugged, that I am being watched, and that his “boys” are at my doorsteps.
Needless to say, I was instructed not to talk to anyone or phone the police. I waited until today, but did phone the police so that they would know about this latest scam. One does not reply to such emails nor does one send money. It’s extortion.
A police officer came by so he could see the email and collect information.
—ooo—
We must make absolutely sure migrants are not humiliated and that they are given homes and comfortable temporary shelters. Yes, it’s expensive, but so is war. In fact, war is more expensive and children are killed. The carnage has to end now! I am not giving up on Bashar al-Assad. If he wishes to remain President of Syria, his best option is to be a father to his people.
I am having connection problems with WordPress. The difficulty seems to be a poor connection to Google. That problem will be resolved, but, for the time being, I get logged out and cannot put likes to the posts I read.
As you know, I am also writing a book on Molière which is a relatively easy but time-consuming and expensive endeavour. The books, if they are available, often cost a fortune. Moreover, given health limitations, I should hire an assistant, a person who would borrow books for me and return them to the university. He or she would work no more than three or four hours every second week. I also need photocopies of certain articles.
An any rate, I’m still here, but technologies are playing tricks on me. It will be resolved.
British Prime Minister David Cameron as he speaks in the House of Commons on June 29, 2016(Home Office / Parliamentary Recording Unit via Agence France Presse Photo)
The day after the vote…
I remember the Quebec Referendums, the 1995 referendum in particular. There was so much fear.
Would older Quebec citizens get their pension cheques?
How would Quebecers purchase groceries?
Could they still use Canadian currency?
Would the Canadian armed forces still protect them?
Would Desjardins be the only bank?
Just how would they pay the rent or make their mortgage payments?
Would they need a passport to visit friends and family in Ottawa, Toronto and provinces west of Ontario or east of Quebec?
What would happen to Acadians and other French communities living outside Quebec?
Would Canada cease to be a bilingual country?
Could Quebec count on its immigrants to remain in Quebec?
Would there be yet another exodus of its more affluent population? (This is what happened when the Parti québécois was first voted into office (1976).
Would Quebecers leaving Quebec sell their home in American currency? Some still do.
etc.
These may seem picayune details, but they are not, which is why the Clarity Act was passed. Canada had to made sure no province could walk away from Confederation in a precipitous manner thus creating considerable anxiety, disorder and years of instability.
Britain
As it turns out, those who advocated leaving did not have a plan. What would happen the day after the vote?
Not all European countries have joined the European Union. But the countries that did not join knew that the next day would not differ from the day before. Their decision not to join was not made overnight and could not plunge millions of citizens into years of detrimental uncertainty. As for other countries denied membership, they simply remained as they had been.
There is nothing wrong with not belonging to the EU, but the decision to leave must reflect the will of the people.
Countries belonging to the European Union. This map still shows Britain as a member.(Photo credit: Google)
It would seem imprudent for countries to leave the EU overnight and do so after a mere referendum. Important decisions, such as leaving the European Union require more than a referendum. There has to be a consensus. Too many citizens are opposed to leaving the European Union. The referendum showed that nearly half of Britons opposed leaving the European Union. Therefore, there is no consensus.
After Donald Trump attacked President Obama for not blaming Muslims for the Orlando massacre, President Obama stated that Mr Trump, the Republican presidential presumptive, had a “dangerous mindset.” I believe the gentleman shown in the photograph below also has a “dangerous mindset.”
Yes! We won! Now send them back. (Diamond Geezer via Associated Press)
John Kerry’s Suggestion
John Kerry, the United States Secretary of State, has suggested that Britain could “walk back” its decision. The British Government held a referendum, but there is dissent and a “dangerous mindset.”
Protesters gather against the EU referendum result in Trafalgar Square on June 28, 2016 in London, England. There is still the possibility that the British government will disregard the referendum result.(Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images)
In short, it may be in the best interest of Britons not to break from the European Union at this point. Not if there isn’t a consensus. Not if the motivation was even remotely racist. And not if there wasn’t a plan.
When L’École des femmeswas first performed, on 26 December 1662, it created a controversy, which Molière addressed by writing a one-act play in prose entitled La Critique de l’École des femmes(1663). The short play features characters discussing L’École des femmes. It has often been considered Molière’s ars poetica.
According to Dorante, the most prominent figure in the Critique, if the spectator laughed, the play was a success. The School for Wives had generated laughter so, using Dorante’s criterion, it was successful. Dorante also states that writing comedies is particularly difficult because one has to depict persons “d’après nature,” or as they are:
Mais lorsque vous peignez les hommes, il faut peindre d’après nature[.] (I, 6.)
[But when one depicts human beings, one must depict their true nature.] La Critique de l’École des femmes, FR
“D’après nature”
In Le Tartuffe, Molière depicted his faux dévot “d’après nature.” However, the play was banned because Tartuffe, who feigned devotion, acted very much like a devout person, which offended the dévots of Paris: la Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement.
As for L’École desfemmes, it was criticized because of details mainly. For instance, one person found the manner in which Arnolphe questions Agnès rather crude. Arnolphe wants to know if Horace took anything from her other than her hands and arms, which he caressed. She hesitates to tell that he took the ribbon Arnolphe had given her. She says “le” and this “le” was obscene according to Climène, a précieuse.
Ah ! ruban, tant qu’il vous plaira ; mais ce, le, où elle s’arrête, n’est pas mis pour des prunes. Il vient sur ce, le, d’étranges pensées. Ce, le, scandalise furieusement ; et quoi que vous puissiez dire, vous ne sauriez défendre l’insolence de ce, le. La Critique, Climène, scene 3.
The “le” (the) was not only offensive, but it wasn’t there for nothing: “pour des prunes[.]” This “le” led to strange thoughts: d’étranges pensées and was therefore “furiously scandalous.”
Il y a une obscénité qui n’est pas supportable. [It is unbearably obscene.] La Critique, Climène, scene 3.
Soliloquies or récits and destiny
Obscenity was not the play’s most important ‘flaw.’ However, it was extremely amusing, and Molière wrote comedies. The more relevant flaw, according to our characters, was that Molière had made Arnolphe express himself using numerous soliloquies as well as asides (apartés). These were not part of the dramatic action,[1] said some members of the group.
Dorante countered that:
Les récits eux-mêmes y sont des actions suivant la constitution du sujet. (I, 6.)
[Soliloquies themselves are actions, depending on the subject matter.]
These were indeed part of the action because Arnolphe could not tell anyone, not even Chrysalde, the play’s raisonneur, about the “star […] bent on driving [him] to despair” (The School for Wives, p. 21). Arnolphe was a star-crossed barbon.
In L’École des femmes, the dramatic action is triggered by a doubling of the identity of the blocking character. Horace, our young lover, does not know that Arnolphe, his father’s friend, is Monsieur de la Souche and that in confiding to Arnolphe, he is in fact confiding to his rival. When Arnolphe learns that young Horace has fallen in love with Agnès who is kept sequestered by a very jealous Monsieur de la Souche, he must conceal his grief and bewilderment. He speaks to himself and, if he didn’t, there would be gaps in the dramatic action. There has to be a dialogue, which there is.
Oh ! que j’ai souffert durant cet entretien ! Jamais trouble d’esprit ne fut égal au mien. Avec quelle imprudence et quelle hâte extrême Il m’est venu conter cette affaire à moi-même ! (Arnolphe, I, 4, v. 355-358.)
[Oh, what I have endured during this conversation! Never was trouble of mind equal to mine! With what rashness and extreme haste did he come to tell me of this affair!] The School for Wives, p. 9.
Destiny
Destiny plays the key role in L’École des femmes and Arnolphe blames destiny throughout the play:
Éloignement fatal ! Voyage malheureux ! (Arnolphe II, 1, v. 384.)
[Fatal absence! Unfortunate voyage!] The School for Wives, p. 9.
In Act V, scene 7, Arnolphe speaks about the above-mentioned “star which is bent on driving [him] to despair,” and remains defiant.
Quoi ? l’astre qui s’obstine à me désespérer, Ne me donnera pas le temps de respirer, Coup sur coup je verrai par leur intelligence, De mes soins vigilants confondre la prudence, D’une jeune innocente, et d’un jeune éventé ? (Arnolphe, V, 7, v. 1180-1185.)
[What, will the star which is bent on driving me to despair allow me no time to breathe? Am I to see, through their mutual understanding, my watchful care and my wisdom defeated one after another? Must I, in my mature age, become the dupe of a simple girl and a scatter−brained young fellow?] The School for Wives, p. 21.
Destiny is so cruel to Arnolphe that it brings in a “real” father. When Enrique, Agnès’ biological father, arrives, Agnès ceases to be Arnolphe’s ward, which she has been for 13 years. Arnolphe is so perturbed that, having expressed himself quite fluently in several soliloquies and asides, he suddenly loses his ability to speak. In an aparté, Chrysalde tells Arnolphe, who is returning to his house, that, given his fear of cuckolding, it is best for him not to marry. Arnolphe is indeed spared cuckolding, but he has been crushed by destiny.
Life as a game of dice: “un jeu de dés”
Destiny is so powerful that in Act IV, Scene 8, Chrysalde, the raisonneur himself, suggests that all Arnolphe can do, if betrayed by “cursed fate,” is to select an appropriate response to this “accident.” Destiny is an indomitable force that can strike anyone at any time. In fact, Chrysalde tells Arnolphe that cocuage is what one makes of it: “Le cocuage n’est que ce que l’on le fait.” (Chrysalde, IV, 8, v. 1301.). Destiny (le sort) gives men a wife and life is a jeu de dés, a game of dice. One corrects such accidents as cocuage though “good management,” une bonne conduite:
Quoi qu’on en puisse dire, enfin, le cocuage Sous des traits moins affreux aisément s’envisage; Et, comme je vous le dis, toute l’habileté Ne va qu’à le savoir tourner du bon côté. (Chrysalde, IV, 8, v. 1272-1275.) L’École des femmes [In short, say what you will, cuckolding may easily be made to seem less terrible; and, as I told you before, all your dexterity lies in being able to turn the best side outwards.] The School for wives, p. 22.
Mais comme c’est le sort qui nous donne une femme, Je dis que l’on doit faire ainsi qu’au jeu de dés, Il faut jouer d’adresse et d’une âme réduite, Corriger le hasard par la bonne conduite. (Chrysalde, IV, 8. v. 1282-1285.) L’École des femmes [But as fortune gives us a wife, I say that we should act as we do when we gamble with dice, when, if you do not get what you want, you must be shrewd and good−tempered, to amend your luck by good management.] The School for wives, p. 22.
If one takes into account destiny’s power, Arnolphe’s obsessive fear of cuckolding is in his nature. This immutability of nature is a premise in Molière. Arnolphe is as he is and Agnès is as she is. For instance, she can tell Horace that she is kept by a very jealous man. Agnès may be an ignorant girl, but she knows about jealousy. She also knows about the game of dice.
Agnès and Horace
In L’École des femmes, the laws of comedy are pushed to an extreme. After Agnès escapes Monsieur de la Souche, which could be the resolution of the play, Horace asks Arnolphe to house and guard Agnès so her reputation is protected.
Moreover, it is barely credible that Agnès’ biological father should arrive the moment his daughter is being led away by Arnolphe. It is also barely credible that Agnès should have fallen in love with the young man her father wanted her to marry. Molière doubles the father figure: Monsieur de la Souche and Enrique, who has decided his daughter would marry Horace. Were it not for Chrysalde’s intervention, and the power of destiny, Horace’s marriage may have been a mariage forcé.
(…) Si son cœur a quelque répugnance.
Je tiens qu’on ne doit pas lui faire résistance. (Chrysalde, V, 7, v. 1684-1686.)
[If it is repugnant to him, I think we ought not to force him. I think my brother will be of my mind.] The School for Wives, p. 28.
Le hasard [chance] en ces lieux avait exécuté Ce que votre sagesse avait prémédité. (Horace, V, 9, v. 1764-1765.) [Accident has done here what your wisdom intended.] The School for Wives, p. 29.
Such words as “hasard” (chance) and “le Ciel,” (heaven) reveal a view of the world according to which destiny controls mankind. L’École des femmes may therefore reflect Jansenism, but the word Jansenism is not used.
Allons dans la maison débrouiller ces mystères, Payer à notre ami ses soins officieux, Et rendre grâce au Ciel qui fait tout pour le mieux. (Chrysalde, V, 9,v. 1775 -1765.)
[Let us go inside, and clear up these mysteries. Let us shew our friend some return for his great pains, and thank Heaven, which orders all for the best.] The School for Wives, p. 29.
In 1662, the Church of France opposed Jesuits, who at the time used casuistry,[2] and Jansenists, who believed in predestination. Port-Royal (Jansenism) is an indelible page of French history and it inspired Blaise Pascal‘s masterful Lettres provinciales, a brillant attack of casuistry. Pascal’s last Lettre provinciale was written in 1657.
In The Tartuffe, there is a reference to casuistry. Tartuffe knows how to “pacify scruples:”
Je sais l’art de lever [to lift] des scrupules. (Tartuffe, IV, 4, v. 1486.)
[I know the art of pacifying scruples.] Tartuffe, IV, 4.
However, Molière does not associate L’École des femmes with an ideology. We know that Molière borrowed his subject matter from Paul Scarron‘s translation of a Spanish novella by Doña Maria de Zayas y Sotomayor, which Scarron entitled La Précaution inutile. We also know that L’École des femmes has Italian antecedents. It could be, therefore, that ancestors to L’École des femmes gave destiny an important role. Yet, it seems unlikely that they gave destiny as decisive a role as Molière did.
Jansenists maintained that only those whom God had chosen would be saved. This notion was referred to as the theory of predestination, a theory associated with Saint Augustine, or Augustine of Hippo (13 November 354 CE – 28 August 430 CE).
Molière did not have to refer to an ideology when writing L’École des femmes. He did not need to. Comedy promotes the success of the young lovers. Yet seldom has destiny countered a barbon‘s wishes as imperatively. Dismissing predestination is somewhat difficult because of the central role given soliloquies. Arnolphe must hide from Horace that he is Monsieur de la Souche, until Chrysalde says:
(…) Ce nom l’aigrit ;
C’est Monsieur de la Souche, on vous l’a déjà dit. (Chrysalde, V, 7, v. 1712-1703.)
[That name annoys him. He is Monsieur de la Souche, as you were told before.] The School for Wives, p. 28.
As noted above, in L’École des femmes, life is compared to a jeu de dés [dice]. Gambling is also invoked by Agnès herself.
Mon Dieu, ne gagez pas, vous perdriez vraiment. (Agnès, II, 5, v. 474.) [3]
[Oh, Heaven, do not bet; you would assuredly lose.] The School for wives, p.10.
However, I will not conclude that L’École des femmes reflects Jansenism, except marginally. The laws of comedy promote the marriage of the young lovers and farces do not tolerate boasting. Moreover, jealousy is a topos, a lieu commun.
But I will note that Molière’s L’École des femmes seems a prelude to Marivaux‘ exquisite comedies. It is a “jeu de l’amour et du hasard,” a “Game of love and chance,” without Watteau‘s ethereal Fêtes galantes.
I apologize for the long delay. I could not concentrate. Love to everyone ♥
_________________________ [1] Gabriel Conesa, Le Dialogue moliéresque (Paris: SEDES-CDU, 1992), p. 30.
[2]Roxanne Lalande, “L’École des femmes : matrimony and the laws of chance,” in David Bradby and Andrew Calder (editors), The Cambridge Companion to Molière (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 165-176.
[3] “casuistry”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia
Saint Nicholas, 
