Molière

Research Status: Basic Last Updated: 2025-01-23 Diary Coverage: Up to 1880-10-27

Molière (1622-1673) was the stage name of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, France's greatest comic playwright and one of the masters of world literature. His satirical comedies of French society remain classics of the theatrical repertoire.

Major works:

• Le Misanthrope (1666)
• Tartuffe (1664)
• Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (1670)
• L'Impromptu de Versailles (1663)
• Les Femmes savantes (1672)

Marie mentions seeing L'Impromptu de Versailles performed at the Comédie-Française on October 27, 1880, as part of the bicentennial celebration of the Comédie. The role of Molière was played by Coquelin. Gambetta attended specifically to see his friend Coquelin perform.

L'Impromptu de Versailles is a meta-theatrical play where Molière himself appears as a character, rehearsing his troupe for a performance at Versailles - making it particularly apt for the Comédie-Française's anniversary celebration.