BAPTISTE POCQUELIN,.thon ba-test polc-e an), French dramatist: b. Paris, 15 Jan. 1622; d. there, 17 Feb. 1673. His father was valet de chambre and upholsterer to the king. When his father had become debilitated he had to dis charge his office about the person of Louis XIII. In 1641 he accompanied the king to Nar bonne. The French theatre had at that time begun to flourish through the talents of the great Corneille, and young Pocquelin, who had imbibed a strong passion for the stage, now formed a company of young persons of similar tastes, exchanged his family name for that of Moliere, and resigned the office of his father. His company soon became distinguished; and we find him at the head of a strolling troop, which acted 'L'Etourdi) at Lyons probably in 1653. This is the first comedy written in verse by Moliere. The truth of the dialogue, the in exhaustible skill of a valet continually employed in rectifying the blunders of his master, the in terest of the situations arising therefrom, have kept this piece on the stage notwithstanding the want of connection between the parts. Moliere gained equal applause as a poet and an actor, and drew all the spectators from another com pany at Lyons. The art of representing charac ter and manners on the comic stage was re served for Moliere. 'L'Etourdi' was acted with equal applause in Beziers. Here the Prince of Conti, who had known Moliere at school, had just assembled the estates of Lan guedoc. He received the poet as a friend, and entrusted him with the charge of amusing the town and the assembly.
written, studied and represented within five days. In this Moliere for the first time attacks the physicians. His great piece, misan thrope) (1666), was but moderately well re ceived at first, but in tile sequel was justly con sidered as one of the finest productions of mod ern comedy. It has been more admired in the closet than it has pleased on the stage — the reason Voltaire believes to be because the plot is delicate and ingenious rather than lively and interesting; because the dialogue, with all its beauty, does not always seem necessary and therefore retards the action; and because the denouement, though skilfully introduced, leaves the spectator unexcited. In 1665 appeared 'Le medecin malgre lui,> a farce full of humor. 'Le Sicilien' (1667) is a short piece which pleases by its grace and gallantry. But his rep utation was carried to its highest summit when Tartufe> appeared. Three acts of the comedy had been performed in May 1664 be fore the king; but its pointed wit gave great offense to all the ecclesiastical authorities, and it was not until 1669 that permission was given for adequate unexpurgated representation. In this hypocrisy is fully unveiled, the characters are equally various and true, the dialogue is elegant and natural, the denouement alone is unsatisfactory. An impious and obscene farce, entitled 'Scaramouche,> having been repre sented at court, the king said to the great Conde, as he was leaving the theatre in his com pany, "I should like to know why the people, who are so much scandalized at Moliere, say nothing about 'Scaramouche.> x' "The reason replied the prince," that (Scaramouche> ridi cules only God and religion, about which these people care nothing, while Moliere's piece ridi cules themselves." In 1668 Moliere published his (Amphitryon," a free imitation of Plautus. With the exception of a tedious scene between Jupiter and Alcmena, nothing can be more humorous. (the Miser), an imita tion of the (Aulularia' of Plautus, is, in the leading character, a little overdone; but the multitude is only to be struck by strong traits. Dandin); (Monsieur de Pourceaug nac' ; 'Les Fourberies de Scapin,' are rather amusing than instructive. "Le Bourgeois Gen tilhomme,' though mixed with some buffoon eries, is full of power. Moliere bestowed more care on his 'Femmes Savantes,> a witty satire on affected taste and pedantic learning, which at that time prevailed in the Hotel de Rambouillet. The incidents are not all well connected; but the subject, dry as it may be in itself, is exhibited in a truly comic form. The development is admirable, and has been a hundred times imitated. The same is true of the 'Malade imaginaire,' in which the quackery and pedantry of the physicians of the times are fully delineated. With this piece the author concluded his career. He was indisposed when it was performed, and the exertion with which he played produced convulsions, followed by a hemorrhage, and he died after the lapse of a few hours. The archbishop of Paris at first refused him burial; but the king himself in sisted on it, and he was interred in the ceme tery behind the chapel of Saint Joseph, Rue Montmartre. In 1792 his remains were trans ferred to the Museum of French Monuments, whence in 1817 they were removed to Pere Lachaise.
Moliere is the true father of French comedy. His works may be considered as a history of the manners, fashions and tastes of his times, and as the most faithful pictures of human life. Born with an observing mind, skilful in catch ing the outward marks of the passions and emo tions, he took men as they were, and. with singular felicity exhibited the most sacred cesses of their hearts, and the tone, the action and the language of their various feelings. Of all who have ever written, Moliere is the one who has best observed men without seeming to do so. His knowledge of human character seems to have come by intuition. In his do mestic relations Moliere was not fully happy; he who made merry on the stage with the weak nesses of other men could not guard against his own weakness. A violent passion induced him to marry the daughter of the actress Mart, and he thereby incurred the ridicule he had so often cast on husbands of a disproportioned age. As an actor Moliere was not to be sur passed in high comic parts, such as Arnolphe, Orgon, Harpagon, etc. An edition of Moliere published at Paris in 1838 gave the actors' names after the dramatis persona., from which we learn that Moliere always played the prin cipal comic parts himself. Among the last and best editions are those of Monval (8 vols. 1882) ; A. France (7 vols., 1876-91) • and Des lois and Mesnard (11 vols., 1873-93). See