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Molière’s “Amphitryon”

24 Tuesday Sep 2019

Posted by in Comedy, Molière

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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 Amphitryon 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:

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

Sources and Resources

 

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)

© Micheline Walker
24 September 2019
WordPress

 

 

A Reading of Molière’s “Psyché” (Part One)

06 Friday Sep 2019

Posted by in Comedy, Molière

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Cupid Delivering Psyche by Sir Edward Burne-Jones  (preraphalitesisterhood.com)

Psyché

Molière’s Psyché was written in collaboration with dramatists Pierre Corneille[1] and Philippe Quinault. As director of the Troupe du Roi, Molière attended to several requests on the part of Louis XIV. These precluded his full participation, in a play based on the myth of Psyche, a theme he chose in 1670. Molière wrote the Prologue, Act One and the first scene of Acts Two and Three. The music was composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully, to a libretto by Philippe Quinault. Pierre Beauchamp(s) was the play’s main choreographer. Scenery and stage effects, planned by Molière, were coordinated by Carlo Vigarani.

Psyché is a

  • tragi-comédie and
  • a tragédie-ballet,
  • in five acts, and includes
  • intermèdes.
  • It is in free verse and was
  • first performed at the Théâtre des Tuileries (Paris),
  • on 17 January 1671.
  • Psyché premièred again at the renovated Théâtre du Palais-Royal (Paris),
  • on 24 July 1671.

Molière’s Psyché was first performed at the Théâtre des Tuileries because this royal residence had sophisticated machinery, la salle des machines. It has been said that Louis XIV wanted to re-use a décor of hell built for Francesco Cavalli’s Ercole amante (Hercules in love), performed in 1662. For instance, when the immortal Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, etc. descends from some lofty abode lamenting rivalry from a mere mortal, she does so in a machine. Her rival, Psyche, is the most beautiful woman in the world. Special effects provided magnificence to the festivities that followed the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668), a victory for Louis XIV. After the Théâtre du Palais-Royal was renovated, at the troupe du Roi‘s expense, Psyché was staged at Molière’s troupe usual venue, the Théâtre du Palais-Royal.

Molière chose the subject of his play, the Tale of Cupid and Psyche, shortly after the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668) was signed. Psyche was a popular narrative in 17th-century France. It was used by Isaac de Benserade (1656, a ballet) and La Fontaine (1669, a novel). However, Psyche’s main source is 2nd century Apuleius’ Golden Ass. The Golden Ass, first entitled The Metamorphosis, is a frame story containing “digressions,” or inner tales, one of which, and the most memorable, is the Tale of Cupid and Psyche. Apuleius had read Ovid (20 March 43 BCE – 17/18 CE) whose Metamorphoses was an extremely  influential work.

In the Golden Ass, Lucius Apuleius wants to be transformed into a bird, but he is mistakenly metamorphosed into an ass. The novel contains tales, but none as elegant as The Tale of Cupid and Psyche, Apulée’s Âge d’or. Few have endured. The Tale of Cupid and Psyche so differs from its sister tales that it seems a deviation rather than a digression (an inner tale). It appears misplaced, but its subject isn’t. Psyche will be transformed into an immortal, which is consistent with the carnivalesque, but dares reversing the Creation myth. Moreover, gods and humans interact as in magical realism. Mortals, such as Psyché’s sisters Aglaure and Cidippe can be jealous of Psyche’s beauty, the most beautiful woman in the world. Venus is a goddess and immortal. 

Our dramatis personæ is:

Jupiter.
Venus.
Love (Cupid).
Zephyr.
Aegiale and Phaëne, two Graces.
The King.
Psyche.
Aglaura (sister to Psyche).
Cidippe (sister to Psyche .
Cleomenes and Agenor, two princes, Psyche’s lovers.
Lycas, captain of the guards.
A River God
Two Cupids.

 

PROLOGUE

The front of the stage represents a rustic spot, while at the back the sea can be seen in the distance.

As a play Psyche’s main theme is Venus’ jealousy. It is expressed in the Prologue, which I will quote at some length:

Moi, la fille du dieu qui lance le tonnerre,
Mère du dieu qui fait aimer;
Moi, les plus doux souhaits du ciel et de la terre,
Et qui ne suis venue au jour que pour charmer;
Moi, qui par tout ce qui respire
Ai vu de tant de vœux encenser mes autels,
Et qui de la beauté, par des droits immortels,
Ai tenu de tout temps le souverain empire;
Moi, dont les yeux ont mis deux grandes déités
Au point de me céder le prix de la plus belle,
Je me vois ma victoire et mes droits disputés
Par une chétive mortelle!
Le ridicule excès d’un fol entêtement
Va jusqu’à m’opposer une petite fille!
Sur ses traits et les miens j’essuierai constamment
Un téméraire jugement!
Et du haut des cieux où je brille,
J’entendrai prononcer aux mortels prévenus:
« Elle est plus belle que Vénus! »
Vénus, Prologue, p. 6, 101

I, the daughter of the Thunderer, mother of the love-inspiring god;
I, the sweetest yearning of heaven and earth, who received birth only to charm;
I, who have seen everything that hath breath utter so many vows at my shrines,
and by immortal rights have held the sovereign sway of beauty in all ages;
I, whose eyes have forced two mighty gods to yield me the prize of beauty
—I see my rights and my victory disputed by a wretched mortal.
Shall the ridiculous excess of foolish obstinacy go so far as to oppose to me a little girl?
Shall I constantly hear a rash verdict on the beauty of her features and of mine,
and from the loftiest heaven where I shine shall I hear it said to the prejudiced world, “She is fairer than Venus”?
Venus, Prologue

ACT ONE
AGLAURE, CIDIPPE.

Auglure and her sister Cidippe bemoan their sorry fate and agree that they must be less reserved than they have been.

SCÈNE PREMIÈRE (first scene)

Quelle fatalité secrète,
Ma sœur, soumet tout l’univers
Aux attraits de notre cadette,
Et de tant de princes divers
Qu’en ces lieux la fortune jette,
N’en présente aucun à nos fers?
Auglure à Cidippe ( I. v. 180, p. 9)
[My sister, what secret fatality makes the whole world bow before our younger sister’s charms? and how is it that, amongst so many different princes who are brought by fortune to this place, not one has any love for us?]
Auglura to Cidippe (I. 1)

Est-il pour nous, ma sœur, de plus rude disgrâce, 196
Que de voir tous les cœurs mépriser nos appas,
Et l’heureuse Psyché jouir avec audace
D’une foule d’amants attachés à ses pas?
Aglaure (I. i. v. 196 -, p. 9)
[Can there be for us, my sister, any greater trial than to see how all hearts disdain our beauty, and how the fortunate Psyche insolently reigns with full sway over the crowd of lovers who ever attend her?]
Cidippe (I. 1)

Sur un plus fort appui ma croyance se fonde, 273 /Et le charme qu’elle a pour attirer les cœurs, /C’est un air en tout temps désarmé de rigueurs, /Des regards caressants que la bouche seconde, /Un souris chargé de douceurs /Qui tend les bras à tout le monde, /Et ne vous promet que faveurs.
Aglaure (I. 1. v. 273 -, p. 12)
[My opinion is founded on a more solid basis, and the charms by which she draws all hearts to herself are a demeanour at all times free of reserve; caressing words and looks; a smile full of sweetness, which invites everyone, and promises them nothing but favours.]
Aglaure (I. 1)

Oui, voilà le secret de l’affaire, et je voi /Que vous le prenez mieux que moi.
290 C’est pour nous attacher à trop de bienséance, /Qu’aucun amant, ma sœur, à nous ne veut venir, /Et nous voulons trop soutenir  /L’honneur de notre sexe, et de notre naissance. /Les hommes maintenant aiment ce qui leur rit, 295 /L’espoir, plus que l’amour, est ce qui les attire, /Et c’est par là que Psyché nous ravit / Tous les amants qu’on voit sous son empire. /Suivons, suivons l’exemple, ajustons-nous au temps, /Abaissons-nous, ma sœur, à faire des avances, 300 /Et ne ménageons plus de tristes bienséances /Qui nous ôtent les fruits du plus beau de nos ans.
Cygippe
[Yes, that is the secret; and I see that you understand it better than I. It is because we cling too much to modesty, sister, that no lovers come to us; it is because we try to sustain too strictly the honour of our sex and of our birth. Men, nowadays, like what comes easily to them; hope attracts them more than love; and that is how Psyche deprives us of all the lovers we see under her sway. Let us follow her example, and suit ourselves to the times; let us stoop, sister, to make advances, and let us no longer keep to those dull morals which rob us of the fruits of our best years.]

The sisters resolve to be more forthright with the princes who love Psyché.

SCENE TWO
CLÉOMÈNE, AGÉNOR, AGLAURE, CIDIPPE.

The princes visit. They say that they have little power over their feelings. It is Psyche they love. According to the sisters, they will be harmed by Psyche. She will not respond to their love.

Les voici tous deux, et j’admire /Leur air et leur ajustement.
Aglaure (I. i, p. 13)
(Here they both are. I admire their manners and attire.
Aglaure (I. 1)
Ils ne démentent nullement /Tout ce que nous venons de dire.
Cidippe (I. i, p. 13)
They in no way fall short of all that we have said of them.
Aglaure (I. 1)

Scène II
CLÉOMÈNE, AGÉNOR, AGLAURE, CIDIPPE.

D’où vient, Princes, d’où vient que vous fuyez ainsi? /Prenez-vous l’épouvante, en nous voyant paraître?
Aglaure (I. ii, p. 13)
Wherefore, princes, wherefore do you thus hasten away? Does our appearance fill you with fear?
Aglaure (I. 2)

The princes tell Aglaure and Cidippe that they love Psyche and have little power over their feelings.

Est-ce que l’on consulte au moment qu’on s’enflamme? /Choisit-on qui l’on veut aimer? /Et pour toute son âme, /Regarde-t-on quel droit on a de nous charmer?
Cléomène ( I. ii, v. 347-, p. 15)
[Do we reason when we fall in love? Do we choose the object of our attachment? And when we bestow our hearts, do we weigh the right of the fair one to fascinate us?]
Cléomène (I. 2.)

Sans qu’on ait le pouvoir d’élire, /On suit, dans une telle ardeur /Quelque chose qui nous attire, /Et lorsque l’amour touche un cœur, 355 /On n’a point de raisons à dire.
Agénor (I. ii, v. 351-, p. 15)
[Without having the power of choosing, we follow in such a passion something which delights us; and when love touches a heart, we have no reasons to give.]
Agénor (I. 2)

They may be dissatisfied, says Cidippe:

L’espoir qui vous appelle au rang de ses amants /Trouvera du mécompte aux douceurs qu’elle étale; /Et c’est pour essuyer de très fâcheux moments, 365 /Que les soudains retours de son âme inégale.
Cidippe (I. ii, p. 15)
[The hope which calls you into the rank of her lovers will experience many disappointments in the favours she bestows; and the fitful changes of her inconstant heart will cause you many painful hours.]
Cidippe (I. 2)

The princes no longer know their own worth, which makes the sister pity the love that guides them. They could find a “more constant heart.”

366 Un clair discernement de ce que vous valez /Nous fait plaindre le sort où cet amour  vous guide, /Et vous pouvez trouver tous deux, si vous voulez, /Avec autant d’attraits, une âme plus solide.
Cidippe (I. ii, p. 16)
[A clear discernment of your worth makes us pity the fate into which this passion will lead you; and if you wished, you could both find a more constant heart and charms as great.]
Cidippe (I. 2)

Par un choix plus doux de moitié /Vous pouvez de l’amour sauver votre amitié, /Et l’on voit en vous deux un mérite si rare, /Qu’un tendre avis veut bien prévenir par pitié /Ce que votre cœur se prépare.
Cidippe (I. ii, v. 370-, p. 16)
[A choice sweeter by half can rescue your mutual friendship from love; and there is such a rare merit apparent in you both that a gentle counsel would, out of pity, save your hearts from what they are preparing for themselves.]
Cidippe (I. 2)

Scène III
PSYCHÉ, CIDIPPE, AGLAURE, CLÉOMÈNE, AGÉNOR.

Psyche tells her lovers that her fate is to be decided by a father.

Ce n’est pas à mon cœur qu’il faut que je défère /Pour entrer sous de tels liens; /Ma main, pour se donner, attend l’ordre d’un père, 445 /Et mes sœurs ont des droits qui vont devant les miens.
Psyché (I. iii, p. 18)
[I must not listen to my heart only before engaging in such a union, but my hand must await my father’s decision before it can dispose of itself, and my sisters have rights superior to mine.]
Psyché (I. 3)

But she goes on to say:

Oui, Princes, à tous ceux dont l’amour suit le vôtre, /Je vous préférerais tous deux avec ardeur; 460 /Mais je n’aurais jamais le cœur /De pouvoir préférer l’un de vous deux à l’autre. /À celui que je choisirais, /Ma tendresse ferait un trop grand sacrifice,
Et je m’imputerais à barbare injustice 465 /Le tort qu’à l’autre je ferais. /Oui, tous deux vous brillez de trop de grandeur d’âme, /Pour en faire aucun malheureux, /Et vous devez chercher dans l’amoureuse flamme /Le moyen d’être heureux tous deux.
Si votre cœur me considère /Assez pour me souffrir de disposer de vous, / J’ai deux sœurs capables de plaire, /Qui peuvent bien vous faire un destin assez doux, /Et l’amitié me rend leur personne assez chère, 475 /Pour vous souhaiter leurs époux.
Psyche (I. iii, p. 18)
[Yes, Princes, I should greatly prefer you to all those whose love will follow yours, but I could never have the heart to prefer one of you to the other. My tenderness would be too great a sacrifice to the one whom I might choose, and I should think myself barbarously unjust to inflict so great a wrong upon the other. Indeed, you both possess such greatness of soul that it would be wrong to make either of you miserable, and you must seek in love the means of being both happy. If your hearts honour me enough to give me the right of disposing of them, I have two sisters well fitted to please, who might make your destinies happy, and whom friendship endears to me enough for me to wish that you should be their husbands.]
Psyche (I. 3)

Un cœur dont l’amour est extrême /Peut-il bien consentir, hélas, /D’être donné par ce qu’il aime? /Sur nos deux cœurs, Madame, à vos divins appas 480 /Nous donnons un pouvoir suprême, / Disposez-en pour le trépas, /Mais pour une autre que vous-même /Ayez cette bonté de n’en disposer pas.
Cléomène (I. iii, p. 19)
[Can a heart whose love, alas! is extreme, consent to be given away by her it loves? We yield up our two hearts, Madam, to your divine charms, even should you doom them to death; but we beg you not to make them over to any one but yourself.]
Cléomène (I. 3)

Scène IV
LYCAS, PSYCHÉ, AGLAURE, CIDIPPE, CLÉOMÈNE, AGÉNOR

In Scene Four, Psyche is summoned to see the king. She is afraid.

De ce trouble si grand que faut-il que j’attende?
Psyché à Lycas (I. iv, p. 21)
[What am I to augur from your agitation?
Psyche to Lycas (I. 4)

Scène V
AGLAURE, CIDIPPE, LYCAS.

In Scene Five, Psyche learns from the king, that an oracle demands that she be led to a hill, dressed for a “pompous mournful line.” A monster/serpent will be her husband.

Que l’on ne pense nullement 525 /À vouloir de Psyché conclure l’hyménée; /Mais qu’au sommet d’un mont elle soit promptement /En pompe funèbre menée, /Et que de tous abandonnée, /Pour époux elle attende en ces lieux constamment 530 /Un monstre dont on a la vue empoisonnée, /Un serpent qui répand son venin en tous lieux, /Et trouble dans sa rage et la terre et les cieux.
Lycas (I. v, p. 22)
“No one must think to lead
Psyche to Hymen’s shrine;
But all with earnest speed,
In pompous mournful line,
High to the mountain crest
Must take her; there to await,
Forlorn, in deep unrest,
A monster who envenoms all,
Decreed by fate her husband;
A serpent whose dark poisonous breath
And rage e’er hold the world in thrall,
Shaking the heavens high and realms of death.”
Lycas (I. 5)

Scène VI
AGLAURE, CIDIPPE.

In Scene Six, Psyche’s sisters say they cannot grieve. On the contrary, they are relieved.

À ne vous point mentir, je sens que dans mon cœur /Je n’en suis pas trop affligée.
Cidippe (I. vi, p. 23)
[To speak the truth, my heart is not very much grieved at it.]
Cidippe (I. 6)

Moi, je sens quelque chose au mien /Qui ressemble assez à la joie. /Allons, le Destin nous envoie 545 /Un mal que nous pouvons regarder comme un bien.
Aglaure (I. vi, p. 23)
[My heart feels something which very much resembles joy. Let us go; Fate has sent us a calamity which we can consider as a blessing.]
Aglaure (I. 6)

I would love to conclude, but we must read the rest of the play. Remember that jealousy is a prominent theme in Molière’s plays and 17th-century French literature. However, jealousy in Molière is usually of a comedic nature. It is Arnolphe’s plight and it is linked to cuckoldry. (See The School for Wives, Wikipedia.)

In Psyché, Molière is true to the myth. Venus is jealous because Psyche is the most beautiful woman in the world, yet a mere mortal. Only mortals, Psyche’s two sisters, can be jealous of Psyche. They will harm her and nearly cause her death.

The juxtaposition of a mortal and an immortal is problematical. It is incongruous. Psyche’s beauty of a transitory nature. The soul, the psyche, has been deemed and is still deemed immortal. As a human being, Psyche will experience metamorphoses. She will age and die. This is l’humaine condition. Venus is a goddess and, therefore, immortal. However, after a string of trials and tribulations,  Psyche ascends to godliness, an honest twist consistent with the carnivalesque, but a reversal of the Judeo-Christian creation myth.

Psyché is an “all’s well that ends well” narrative. Our young lovers marry…  But the play  is a part of a celebration: festivities. “Pump and circumstance” colours Psyche. Louis is seen as divine, albeit briefly.

Le plus puissant des rois
  Interrompt ses exploits
  Pour donner la paix à la terre.
Descendez, mère des Amours,
Venez nous donner de beaux jours.
Flore (Prologue)

The din of battle is stayed;
The mightiest king of earth
His arms aside has laid;
Of peace ’tis now the birth!
Descend thou, lovely Venus,
And blissful hours grant us!
Flora (Prologue)

RELATED ARTICLES

Sources and Resources

___________________
[1] Pierre Corneille is the author of Le Cid (1636), a play that generated a quarrel, la Querelle du Cid, which occurred shortly after the Académie-Française was established. Tragédies would have to respect classicism’s rule of the “three unities.” These consisted in one action that lasted no longer than 24 hours, and took place in one location: action, temps, lieu. Classicism inherited its rules from Aristotle.

Love to all of you 💕

Acte 5, Scène 4: Prélude de Trompettes pour Mars
00:00 Acte 5, Scène 4: Chanson “Laissons en paix toute la Terre”
01:48 Acte 5, Scène 4: Derniere Entrée
02:36 Acte 5, Scène 4: “Chantons les Plaisirs charmants” (chœur)
04:27 Olivier Laquerre (bass / Mars)
Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra & Chorus
Paul O’Dette & Stephen Stubbs (conductor)

Thalia by Jean-Marc Nattier, 1739, Musée des beaux-arts de San  Francisco (wikimedia.org)

© Micheline Walker
6 September 2019
WordPress

Reading “Dom Juan” (Part Three)

16 Friday Aug 2019

Posted by in Comedy, Don Juan, Molière

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File:Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard - Don Juan and the Statute of the Commander - WGA8046.jpg

Dom Juan et la statue du Commandeur par Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard (théâtre-documentation.com)

Our dramatis personæ is:

DON JUAN, son of Don Louis
SGANARELLE, valet of Don Juan
DONNA ELVIRA, wife of Don Juan
GUSMAN, horseman (écuyer) to Elvira
DON CARLOS, brother of Elvira
DON ALONSE, brother of Elvira
CHARLOTTE, peasant-girl
MATHURINE, peasant-girl
PIERROT, peasant
THE STATUE OF THE COMMANDER
LA VIOLETTE, a lackey of Don Juan
RAGOTIN, a lackey of Don Juan
M. DIMANCHE, merchant
LA RAMÉE, swordsman (spadassin)
ENTOURAGE OF DON JUAN
ENTOURAGE OF DON CARLOS AND DON ALONSE
A GHOST

Set in Sicily

We left Dom Juan wishing his father were dead, which so shocked Sganarelle that he spoke “nonsense,” yet told the truth. He could not speak directly because Dom Juan did not want to hear about “le Ciel,” Heaven. Sganarelle wrapped the truth into a lie. His speech is eloquence (IV. v, p. 56).

ACT THREE

  • The beggar
  • Two and two makes four
  • Dom Juan to the rescue
  • The Mausoleum
  • Liberty in love

The Beggar

Earlier (III. ii), Dom Juan had given a beggar a Louis d’or, asking him to swear.  The Poor Man didn’t swear; he would rather starve. So, Dom Juan left him the Louis d’or “pour l’amour de l’humanité” (for the love of mankind).

Two and two makes four

In my last post, I wrote that Dom Juan’s belief is:

Je crois que deux et deux sont quatre, Sganarelle, et que quatre et quatre sont huit.
Dom Juan à Sganarelle (III. i, p. 36)
[I believe that two and two makes four, Sganarelle, and that four and four makes eight.]
Dom Juan to Sganarelle (III. 1, p. 31)

Dom Juan to the rescue

In the following scene (III. iv), Dom Juan saves Dom Carlos from attackers, not knowing he is Elvire’s brother:

La partie est trop inégale, et je ne dois pas souffrir cette lâcheté
Dom Juan à Sganarelle (III. ii, p. 39)
[One man attacked by three? The match is too lopsided, and I cannot allow such baseness.]
Dom Juan to Sganarelle (III. 2, p. 34)

Dom Juan saves Dom Carlos’ life, incurring a debt. However, when his brother, Dom Alonse, joigns him, Dom Carlos learns that he was saved by the family’s “mortal enemy.”

Ô Ciel, que vois-je ici? Quoi, mon frère, vous voilà avec notre ennemi mortel?
Dom Alonse (III. iii, p. 42)
O, Heavens! What am I seeing? What? My brother, you are here with our mortal enemy?
Dom Alonse (III. 3, p. 36)

For the two brothers, having Dom Juan at arm’s length is a perfect opportunity to avenge their offended sister. But Dom Carlos postpones the moment they will avenge Done Elvire, Dom Juan’s abandoned wife. Dom Juan likes Dom Carlos who is indebted to Dom Juan.

Il est assez honnête homme, il en a bien usé, et j’ai regret d’avoir démêlé avec lui.
Dom Juan à Sganarelle (III. v, p. 45)
[He seems quite honorable, he used me well, and I am sorry now to be mixed up in this affair with him.]
Dom Juan to Sganarelle (III. 5, p. 39)

Il vous serait aisé de pacifier toutes choses.
Sganarelle à Dom Juan (III. v, p. 45)
[Sir, it would be easy enough for you to make peace.]
Sganarelle to Dom Juan (III. 5, p. 39)

Although he has killed the Commandeur and abandoned his wife, Done Elvire, Dom Juan’s life could be spared, Molière has situated the duel before the curtain rises. So, the death of the Commandeur remains a serious issue, but… Sganarelle is “all-too-human” valet.[1] He fears. But Dom Juan, his master, is a Grand Seigneur.

Et n’y craignez-vous rien, Monsieur, de la mort de ce commandeur que vous tuâtes il y a six mois?
Sganarelle à Dom Juan (I. ii, p. 9)
But do you fear nothing, Sir, from the death of the commander that you killed here six months ago?
Sganarelle to Don Juan (I. 2, p. 7)

J’ai eu ma grâce de cette affaire.
Dom Juan à Sganarelle (I. ii, p. 9)
[I had my right in this affair.]
Dom Juan to Sganarelle (I. 2, p. 8)
Oui, mais cette grâce n’éteint pas peut-être le ressentiment des parents et des amis, et…
Dom Juan à Sganarelle (I. ii, p. 9)
[Yes, but your right did not perhaps vanquish the resentment of his family and friends, and…]
Dom Juan à Sganarelle (I. 2, p. 8)

The courts may have cleared Dom Juan of wrongdoing, but the Commandeur had a family. When one thinks that “two and two makes four,” one excludes elements that cannot be quantified. Don Juan believes he was cleared, so he washes his hand. Fatal error!

Liberty in love

Our pèlerins are then visited by Done Elvire who wishes Dom Juan could lie to her, and return to her. Would that urgent business had taken him. One could say that she pardons lies, but that is questionable. She has been abandoned and a loving wife just might roll back reality not to have been abandoned. But Dom Juan loves “liberty in love:”

Oui, mais ma passion est usée pour Done Elvire, et l’engagement ne compatit point avec mon humeur. J’aime la liberté en amour, tu le sais, et je ne saurais me résoudre à renfermer mon cœur entre quatre murailles. Je te l’ai dit vingt fois, j’ai une pente naturelle à me laisser aller à tout ce qui m’attire. Mon cœur est à toutes les belles, et c’est à elles à le prendre tour à tour, et à le garder tant qu’elles le pourront.
Dom Juan à Sganarelle (III. v, p. 45)
[Yes; but my passion for Elvira is spent, and such jessies do not suit my humor. I love liberty in love, as you know, and I could not resign myself to enclosing my heart between four walls. I have told you twenty times, I have a natural inclination to let myself veer towards everything that attracts me. My heart belongs to all the beauties, and it is up to each of them in turn to assume it and to keep it as long as they can.]
Dom Juan to Sganarelle (III. 5, p. 39)

The Mausoleum

In Act Three Scene Four  Dom Juan and Sganarelle inadvertently enter the Commender’s burial ground. Sganarelle tries to pull Dom Juan away:

Monsieur, n’allez point là.
Sganarelle à Dom Juan (III. iv, p. 46)
[Sir, you shouldn’t go there.]
Sganarelle to Dom Juan (III. 4, p. 40)

Cela n’est pas civil, d’aller voir un homme que vous avez tué.
Sganarelle à Dom Juan (III. v, p. 46)
It would not be civil to go see a man that you’ve killed.
Sganarelle à Dom Juan (III. 4, p. 40)

But Dom Juan thinks it a civilité to approach the Commender’s coffin. In fact, the coffin opens and reveals a beautiful mausoleum and the Statue of the Commender. Sganarelle marvels effusively as Dom Juan assesses matters:

Ah, que cela est beau! les belles statues! le beau marbre! les beaux piliers! Ah, que cela est beau, qu’en dites-vous, Monsieur?
Sganarelle à Dom Juan (III. iv, p. 46)
[Ah! So beautiful! Beautiful statues! Beautiful marble! Beautiful pillars! Ah, it’s so beautiful! What do you say about it, Sir?]
Sganarelle to Dom Juan (III. 4, p. 40)

Qu’on ne peut voir aller plus loin l’ambition d’un homme mort, et ce que je trouve admirable, c’est qu’un homme qui s’est passé durant sa vie d’une assez simple demeure, en veuille avoir une si magnifique pour quand il n’en a plus que faire.
Dom Juan à Sganarelle (III. v, p. 46)
[That one cannot see the ambition of a dead man go any farther than this: and what I find most amazing is that a man who occupied, during his life, a simple enough abode, would want such a magnificent one for when he has nothing left to do.]
Dom Juan à Sganarelle (III. 5, p. 40)

At this point the statue comes alive. It bends its head and Dom Juan quite boldly asks Sganarelle to invite the Statue to supper.

Il aurait tort, et ce serait mal recevoir l’honneur que je lui fais. Demande-lui s’il veut venir souper avec moi.
Dom Juan à Sganarelle (III. v, p. 46)
[And he would be wrong; and it would be to receive but poorly the honor that I do him. Ask him if he would like to dine with me.]
Dom Juan to Sganarelle (III. 5, p. 40)

 

Costume de Don Juan

Don Juan. Costume de M. Geffroy (d’après Devéria) (théâtre-documentation.com)

ACT FOUR:  Civilités

  • Monsieur Dimanche
  • Dom Louis
  • Done Elvire

Monsieur Dimanche

Dom Juan uses civility (faisant de grandes civilités) to send away monsieur Dimanche (Sunday), his creditor. Form as substance …

Dom Louis

In Scene Four, Dom Juan listens to his father who would like his son to convert. Dom Juan is a womanizer who has left his wife.

Dom Juan does not respond. Instead, he invites his father to sit down so he would be more comfortable. Dom Louis leaves and as we know, as soon as he is out of hearing, Dom Louis wishes him dead.

Dom Juan has asked his valet never to remonstrate if “le Ciel” is a factor. But Sganarelle wraps the truth into a lie. He speaks obliquely.

Done Elvire

Dom Juan is then visited by a changed Done Elvire. She is veiled and preparing to go to a retraite, perhaps a convent, and wishes to pull out Dom Juan from a precipice. He must repent. But she goes on to say how much she has loved him:

Je vous ai aimé avec une tendresse extrême, rien au monde ne m’a été si cher que vous, j’ai oublié mon devoir pour vous, j’ai fait toutes choses pour vous, et toute la récompense que je vous en demande, c’est de corriger votre vie, et de prévenir votre perte. Sauvez-vous, je vous prie, ou pour l’amour de vous, ou pour l’amour de moi.
Done Elvire à Dom Juan (IV. vi, p. 58)
[I loved you, Don Juan, with extreme tenderness, and nothing in the world was dearer to me than you. For you, I abandoned my duty, for you, I did everything; and all the recompense that I ask of you, is to correct your life, and avert your eternal loss. Save yourself, I beg you, either from love of yourself, or for love of me.]
Done Elvire to Dom Juan (IV. 6, p. 51)

As Elvira speaks, Sganarelle cries:

Tu pleures, je pense.
Dom Juan (IV. vi, p. 70)
You’re crying, I believe.
Dom Juan (IV. 6, p. 51)

We can also hear Sganarelle say “pauvre femme” and “cœur de tigre” (heart of a tiger). Unbelievably, Dom Juan is charmed. He invites Elvire to spend the night in his home. She refuses. One suspects that Elvire has said more than she wanted.

Sais-tu bien que j’ai encore senti quelque peu d’émotion pour elle, que j’ai trouvé de l’agrément dans cette nouveauté bizarre, et que son habit négligé, son air languissant et ses larmes ont réveillé en moi quelques petits restes d’un feu éteint? 
Dom Juan à Sganarelle (IV. vii, p. 59)
[You know I think I felt a little glimmer of emotion for her, and even found something rather pleasurable in this new extravagance. Her careless clothes, languishing air and tears seemed to reawaken in me a few embers of a doused fire.]
Dom Juan to Sganarelle (IV. 7, p. 52)

The Statue has come for supper and invites Dom Juan to join “it” for supper the following day. Dom Juan accepts the Statue’s invitation saying that he will be accompanied by Sganarelle.

ACT FIVE

James Doolittle writes that “for Dom Juan the excellence of humanity consists in a man’s realization of his manhood by functioning fully as a man, not as an angel, not as a beast, not in passive potentiality, but in active fact. He must have the aspiration, the will, the knowledge, and the courage actively to prove himself superior to the rest of nature, as well as to whatever conventional opposition he may encounter which it does. This is what the Poor Man [the beggar] does, and Dom Juan wishes to function in like manner.”[2]

Let us keep the above in mind and continue reading.

At the very beginning of Act Five, Dom Juan makes his father believe that he has converted. Dom Louis can’t wait to tell his wife. Sganarelle wonders why Dom Juan does not yield the statue? It moves and speaks:

Vous ne vous rendez pas à la surprenante merveille de cette statue mouvante et parlante?

Dom Juan is perplexed:

Il y a bien quelque chose là-dedans que je ne comprends pas, mais quoi que ce puisse être, cela n’est pas capable, ni de convaincre mon esprit, ni d’ébranler mon âme, et si j’ai dit que je voulais corriger ma conduite, et me jeter dans un train de vie exemplaire, c’est un dessein que j’ai formé par pure politique, un stratagème utile, une grimace nécessaire, où je veux me contraindre pour ménager un père dont j’ai besoin, et me mettre à couvert du côté des hommes de cent fâcheuses aventures qui pourraient m’arriver. Je veux bien, Sganarelle, t’en faire confidence, et je suis bien aise d’avoir un témoin du fond de mon âme et des véritables motifs qui m’obligent à faire les choses.
Dom Juan à Sganarelle (V. ii, pp. 63-64)
[I admit there was something in it that I don’t understand; but it was still not powerful enough to either convince my mind or shake my soul; and if you heard me say that I would amend my conduct and embark on an exemplary life, it was a design formed out of pure policy, a useful stratagem, a necessary grimace that I adopted in order to manage a father of whom I have need, and to protect myself, in the eyes of men, from a hundred irritating adventures which might arise. But I am really glad, which might arise. But I am really glad, Sganarelle, that I can confide in you, and I am happy that my soul has a witness to the real motives which oblige me to do the things I do.]
Dom Juan to Sganarelle (V. 2, pp. 56-57)

The fact that the statue moved is something Dom Juan cannot understand. His response is to become a hypocrite so he will be protected. He is so pleased Sganarelle can understand. But Sganarelle cannot understand. Don Juan does not believe in God, yet would feign devotion:

Quoi? vous ne croyez rien du tout, et vous voulez cependant vous ériger en homme de bien?
Sganarelle à Dom (V. ii. p. 64)
[What? Though you don’t believe in anything at all, you would take the pose of a pious man?]
Sganarelle to Dom Juan (V. 2, p. 57)

Sganarelle is furious and will now remonstrate, without wrapping the truth into a lie:

Ô Ciel! qu’entends-je ici? Il ne vous manquait plus que d’être hypocrite pour vous achever de tout point, et voilà le comble des abominations. Monsieur, cette dernière-ci m’emporte, et je ne puis m’empêcher de parler. Faites-moi tout ce qu’il vous plaira, battez-moi, assommez-moi de coups, tuez-moi, si vous voulez, il faut que je décharge mon cœur, et qu’en valet fidèle je vous dise ce que je dois. Sachez, Monsieur, que tant va la cruche à l’eau, qu’enfin elle se brise; …
Sganarelle (V. ii, p. 65)
[Heavens! Am I hearing this? All you lacked before to perfect your arsenal was this hypocrisy! And presto! Here it is: the acme of abominations. Sir, this latest manner is just insufferable and I can no longer bite my tongue. Do to me what you will, beat me, knock me senseless, kill me, if you wish: but I must air out my heart, and as a faithful valet I must tell you what I should. Know, Sir, that the more times a jug goes to the well, at last it will break; …]
Sganarelle (V. 2, p. 58)

Dom Carlos and Dom Alonse return. They are ready to overlook Dom Juan’s escapade, but cannot let their sister become a recluse. Dom Juan must return to his wife. Our seducer switches to false piety to get rid of them. The society of the play has been fooled! Has it? No, the society of the play has doubled itself. The statue, the infinite, takes Dom Juan by the hand and throws him into a fiery abyss. He does not resist. He knew. He always knew …

Except for giving the beggar a Louis d’or and saving Dom Carlos, what has Dom Juan done that would allow him to claim superiority. Why should the statue, the infinite, be honoured to have supper with him?

A hero, he isn’t. We are told that he has “seduced” several women and forced fathers to fight duels they could not win, Dom Juan being much younger, stronger, and the superior swordsman.

He falls in love with Charlotte and promises marriage, only to turn his attention to what may be a lovelier face: Mathurine.

Jean Rousset has called him “un homme de vent,” a man of wind.[3] He will go the way the wind blows.

But Dom Juan, who so wishes to break barriers, is not belittled by Molière. What a fine opportunity to use machines.

Dom Juan is a five-act play, as in “grandes comédies,” but the plot formula used by Molière is that of the farce: trompeur trompé, the deceiver deceived.

Don Juan2

Dom Juan par François Boucher (théâtre-documentation.com)

RELATED ARTICLES

Sources and Resources

____________________
[1] W. G. Moore, Molière: a New Criticism (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956 [1949]), p. 96.
[2] James Doolittle, The Humanity of Molière’s Dom Juan in Jacques Guicharnaud, Molière, A Collection of Critical Essays (Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice-Hall, 1964), p. 101.
[3] Jean Rousset, L’Intérieur et l’extérieur : Essais sur la poésie et sur le théâtre au XVIIe siècle (Paris : Librairie José Corti, 1968), p. 138.

 

Love to everyone 💕
I apologize for the delay.

Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Là ci darem la mano

Rodney Gilfry – Don Giovanni
Liliana Nikiteanu – Zerlina

800px-Don_Juan_and_the_statue_of_the_Commander_mg_0119

Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard (commons.wikimedia.org)

© Micheline Walker
16 August 2019
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