Le malude imaginairr was first acted February 10, 1673, On the 17th Nloli4e undertook the part of the bypoehondlriae invalid, though suffering from what he called a 'fluxion.' In a lit of cough ing he burst a Mood-vessel on the stage and died at his house a half hour later. blis sued him in death. lie was buried half clandes tinely. The Archbishop of Paris. thinking Alo Dre's elides irreconeilable with christianity, for bade piddle WW1/1011y. but the command was evaded. The body was Mid in Saint Joseph's ehurchyard, but the site of the grave is uncer tain.
No dramatist. save' perhaps Shakespeare and Aristopiranes, ever joined so much wit to so much seriousness as did There is often a pathetic. even a sad background to his scenes, but this never gets the better of his healthy humor. This humor depends for its effects not so much on plot a, on revelation of character, and the satire is direoted not so nitwit against the excesses of nature as against those social faults or Cl/FM.110011S which disguise or sup press nature. lie is more apt to typify phases .1 character than to present complex natures. and in doing this he gave direction to the develop ment of Vrench comeily for several generations. There is no question that in the analysis of char acter Shakespeare, even Corneille, is more pro found, and they tell a story with more dramatic force, but neither Corneille 1Meine gives so accurately pieturesque, so fascinatingly truthful a portrait of French society as WO find in the nat uralistic, observant humorist, Moliiqe.
Of Works the first edition was by his friends and fellow actors, 1.a Grange and Vinot (1682) ; by far the best is Despois and (II yids., 1873-96). Excellent, also. are the editions of A. France (7 vols., 1876-91) and Alonval (8 vols., 1882). There is a good. cheap edition in vols. with a study by Sainte-Beuve and English translations by Van 1,111111 (6 vols.. London. Wall (:3 1876-77), and Wormeley (Boston). Consult for Moliere's style, vocabulary.and usage. 1,i vet, Lt xigur de In langue do .IVmlir-ge (Paris. I If the Lires of Molire that of Mahrenholtz, in German (Heil bronn. 1881), is most complete; LoiseIcur. Points obscnry la rie d. Midi, re ( Paris, 1877 ) . offers some attract ive modern theories. Consult also the periodical Le and the biographies by Lotheissen (Frankfort, 18801 : Noland ( Paris. 188G); Larionmet ( ih., 1846) : Balutre (ib., 1846) ; :\lesnard lib., D.„ I900 ) ; and Sehneegans ( Berlin. 1901) and the full Bibliographic nioliiresque. by Paul Lacroix (Paris. 175).