"Synched by Fingersmaster." "Enjoy!" " How is he?" " Not well." "He coughs, he grumbles..." "It's a bad day." "Where are the others?" "At church." "Today is the 17th..." "Madeleine died a year ago today." "He shouldn't go on stage today." "He's too sick." "I'm in perfect health!" "I want to be left in peace!" "But start on time or you'll have to perform without me." "It's a bad day." "It is a known fact that Molière died on February 17, 1673 after the 4th performance of "Le Malade Imaginaire"." "Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (Molière) was born in Paris in 1622." "Our story begins when he was 10 years old, some 346 years ago." "Ace!" "Jean-Baptiste?" "Are you playing?" "Another sou." "I haven't any more." "No more money?" "I'll have some tomorrow." "Tomorrow never comes!" "Let him die!" "That's enough!" "You will be judged." "What'll we do to him?" "What'll we do?" "Burn his feet?" "Yes!" "And throw him overboard!" "Make him eat his snot!" "Come down." "You shall remain here in pillory." "So say your judges." "No one knows I'm here, they'll never find me!" "Too bad!" "If you call for help, you're a coward." "If you call for help, you're a coward." "Jean-Baptiste..." "I'd have come back." "Want me to rescue you?" "Ho, you Moors!" "Heretics, damned Jews!" "Show yourselves, I see you." "You're hiding behind the armchairs." "Steady, my noble stead." "Rash demons, dare to come forth and face me." "Your eyes will pop out of your heads, astonished at the sight of my courage." "The stars shine only for me and my just cause." "Courage!" "Vile traitors!" "Stabbed in the back..." "Dare to touch one strand of hair on my mistress's head and this trusty sword will disembowel you!" "I feel my strength declining." "Quick, I must set you free." "My friend, my friend, do not leave me, do not die, I beg of you." "Come now, courage!" "It's my death scene!" "It's more dramatic when it's the woman who dies." "Mollier, I need to pee." "God..." "God punishes all whenever He chooses." "God punishes all whenever He chooses." "The last ones in, close the door." "The last ones in, close the door." "Sing to an ass and he'll fart in your face." "Sing to an ass and he'll fart in your face." "Do you have lice?" "Of course, don't you?" "No, give me one." "How many?" "One's enough." "The exterior form of the human body reveals an admirable regularity in the proportions of all its parts." "But the interior mechanism is even more admirable." "God's order is revealed therein in all its glory." "Each organ inhabits this body in order of rank." "The basest ones are near our fundament, the subtler ones in the chest, and the highest in that sovereign of the body, the head, which reigns over this dear city, even as our beloved King reigns over his humble subjects." "A foreign heretic, an Englishman," "now claims that a perpetual circular movement agitates our blood." "How could anyone believe that a man's blood can circulate inside him?" "Such a movement could only unbalance him." "Would it not so derange him as to make him lose his mind?" "Similarly, can we believe that the earth we live on is moving?" "Could we endure such a movement?" "Wouldn't the wind be whistling in our ears?" "What a din, what insanity, what confusion upon this earth turning, turning every which way, with our entrails agitated by the same diabolical movement." "Where then the serenity needed to contemplate God?" "These marvels prove beyond all doubt that we are the work of God." "God holds us all accountable." "God holds us all accountable." "God punishes all." "God punishes all." "God sees all." "God sees all." "Madame, some bread!" "Move, you tub of lard!" "Make way and be quick!" "This is heavy." "You flea-bag, out of the way!" "Back up, you bearded goat!" "Back up!" "Let me pass!" "Clear the way!" "Move or I'll run you down!" "Who do you belong to?" "The Duke of Pernes." "The coach belongs to the Duke of Pernes." "My master, the Duke of Villeboeuf, takes precedence." "Make way!" "The Duke of Pernes will not retreat." "Give way!" "Are you going to stay there long, you ass?" "Until you melt, you tub of lard!" "I get fed, I do!" "I don't get buggered!" "But you'd like to, eh?" "Wait for me, pretty flower." "How you've grown, Jean-Baptiste." "Dirty again." "Get out!" "Get out!" "Good day my heart Good day life's sweetest" "Good day beloved Good day my dearest" "Good day my beautiful lady" "Good day my precious" "Good day my delicious Good day my love" "My sweet springtime" "My cherished young bloom" "Go help in the shop, you're tiring your mother." "My sweet pleasure" "My sweet pigeon My dear little sparrow" "My kind turtledove" "Good day my sweet love" "Crowns!" "Crowns for sale!" "Crowns for kings on Twelfth Night." "Two of your best." "The very best." "And almonds tomorrow." "Amen for the almonds." "Crowns!" "Crowns for the kings' delight, chosen by fate on Twelfth Night." "Welcome the king's fool tonight or you will be in a sorry plight!" "Let's get on with it, children." "Nicolas, get under the table." "Who gets this beautiful piece of cake?" "It's for Mama!" "For my daughter, so beautiful in spirit and soul." "And this one." "La Forest." "For La Forest." "And who gets this very, very large piece?" "It's for Papa!" "Did you hear me well, Nicolas?" "Who did you say gets this very, very large piece?" "It's for Papa!" " No!" " Yes!" "Did you hear me?" "It's for Grandfather." "As you wish, my dear boy." "And this one?" "For Papa!" "Who gets the bigger piece?" "It's for me." "And this miserable piece?" "Jean-Baptiste." "For Jean-Baptiste." "And this shall be for God." "Who has it?" "Why it's me!" "And now... she must choose a king." "Here is my king." "The king drinks!" "My little king drinks." "You can't stay there, you children." "Can't see very well." "You can't stay there." "You children can't stay there." "Get away from here." "Go on." "Off you go." "Faster than that!" "There's no more wine!" "They promised plenty of wine!" "You children can't stay there." "Go away." "La Forest." "Why aren't there any fish in there?" "Why are you being so quiet?" "Are there any fish?" "Whose is it?" "The next day, returning from school, they found the courtyard empty." "The doctors were gone." "There's water..." "Are you crying?" "Come on, you three." "Let's not stay here." "Come with me, children." "Is Mama still not well?" "Come in." " Is he mean?" " Yes, he's mean." "I've seen that somewhere before." "What can it be?" "Where could I have seen it?" "No, it's not possible." "Never!" "Come, little boy, give me your hand." "For pleasure, not for money." "I see so many things there." "What a life!" "People, many faithful friends, women." "Glory." "Glory." "The light shining on you." "The sun." "Jean, called Jean-Baptiste, son of Jean Poquelin, master upholsterer, know you the rules of the trade of upholsterer?" "Work not at night, for the light is insufficient to work at this trade." "Teach not the trade to a woman, for it is too serious for a woman." "Work not with any yarn but good and loyal wool." "Make nothing mediocre or false which can be faulted." "Honour Saint Geneviève as you do Saint Louis or Saint Francis." "Neither blaspheme nor take the name of the Lord in vain." "Do nothing to demean your position." "Know you these rules?" "I know them." "Do you so pledge?" "I do so pledge." "What's the matter?" "What is it?" "Will you answer me?" "What am I going to do with you?" "With all of you?" "The more I observe you, the more worry you cause me." "For the last time, Jean-Baptiste, what do you want?" "Answer me!" "Why are you hiding there and listening?" "I'm not hiding!" "You see I'm calm and ready to listen." "I advise you to answer me, Jean-Baptiste." "I'm losing my patience." "Can't lose what you haven't got." "Will you keep quiet?" "What are you going to do?" "What's to become of you?" "Do you want to be a man with no trade?" "An idler, of no use to anyone?" " Poor?" " Even worse." "A vagabond, haunting our cities?" "A vagabond..." "Enough!" "I want you to keep quiet!" "You!" "Speak up." " Will you obey me or not?" " I'm not talking." "What are you doing?" "I'm thinking." "He may not want to be an upholsterer." "What does he want?" "He may want to study." "What a beautiful day." " Heard the news?" " No." "Your grandson doesn't want to be an upholsterer." "What good news!" "Monsieur has an idea." "Monsieur wants to study." "What a good idea." "But I don't want it!" "Do you know these admirable lines by Corneille?" ""Heaven's decisions are not governed" ""by our wishes."" "I've talked myself hoarse telling him that." "Jean-Baptiste, do you hear what Corneille says?" "But the quotation is meant for you, monsieur." "Thus it was that Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, an upholsterer's son, set off to study law in Orléans." "And there, for the first time in his life, he encountered pious men." "God, in his wisdom, has inspired us to form, here in our city of Orléans, an Order of the Holy Sacrament, so the Kingdom of Jesus Christ may be established here in our sinful city." "As you know, the Order in Paris governs all the other orders in the kingdom." "Therefore we asked them to send us the statutes and also a few sparks of the sacred fire that inflames the members." "We have received the statutes and I propose that we study them today." "Our task is to understand them without changing any rule." "The Order's principal goal will be to combat the sins committed in our city, as well as in the provinces under our safeguard." "We cannot tolerate any confrere who does not live like a Christian." "Anyone not living like a good Christian will be charitably warned by the director of the Order." "And if he doesn't heed the warning?" "Then I think the Superior must help the director to reason with his errant brother." "And if that is insufficient?" "Then we gather all the officers, to seek gentler and more persuasive means, to set the brother back on the right path." "And if he's obstinate?" "He is crossed off." "Two brothers will be named to visit the galleys to confess and instruct convicts who curse, blaspheme or otherwise misbehave." "Galleys in Orléans?" "Lacking galleys, we'll visit hospitals or the prison." "Neither misery nor our devotion will be found lacking." "As for atheists, deists, free-thinkers, heretics, schismatics, profaners and blasphemers, we shall try to show them the way." "What if they're incorrigible?" "We must threaten them with the magistrates." "And if threats fail?" "Then we denounce them." "We must observe, be vigilant... and have necessary information reported to us." "Jews must not be allowed to settle in our city." "We must work to suppress the terrible immodesty of the nudity of women." "We must see to it that all bohemian women are run out of our city." "We must open a house of refuge to incarcerate prostitutes, brothel-keepers and other shameful women." "We shall make every effort to oppose the debaucheries of Carnival-time." "Monsieur Nefle, that is your concern as Lieutenant of Police." "How will you prevent such licentiousness?" "Carnival starts tomorrow." "Tomorrow morning." "Tomorrow morning." "And what if the population learns, as I have, that the tax collectors have arrived?" "Tonight?" "On the eve of the Carnival?" "Weren't they mauled enough in Tours?" "And I am to protect them during Carnival?" "There will be no Carnival if our new and holy Order so decrees." "Eradicate the blasphemy at its very roots." "Let's put a stop to the Carnival!" "Such an action will go down in our annals." "Instate the order of God in our provinces." "Such is our mission." "The entire city takes part in this festival." "It might be sufficient to forbid the university students and your students here, to participate." "That way, my task might be simplified." "We'll simply restrict our students to the college." "I'll have it announced right away." "Father Guillaume, can you notify the students?" "I think you can announce it immediately." "To prevent the licentiousness, disorders and sacrilege which characterized the past few Carnivals, and so that you can search your souls and pray before Lent, we have decided, gentlemen, that you are confined to the college for four days." "You are strictly forbidden to leave the grounds or to permit entry by any unauthorized person." "That's settled." "That's settled." "They've understood." "They're staying at home." "Gentlemen, we must repel them!" "The Carnival has been banned." "Courage, gentlemen, courage." "You can't stay there, it's forbidden!" "Silence!" "The students are confined, they'll stay in their rooms." "Go home!" "Repel them!" "Repel them!" "Please go home!" "Go home!" "Listen!" "The tax collectors are here, free to squeeze us dry like the grapes in autumn." "Meanwhile we are locked in on this traditional day of joy and liberty." "Keep still!" "I order you to keep still!" "Remember our song?" ""These friends of bandits" ""are the ones who trouble the order of things." ""They abuse their pastoral powers."" "The Church has become a cavern of thieves." "Disperse these birds of prey." "Stop!" "Go back to your rooms or you are damned." "My hat!" "Give me back my hat!" "The tax collectors!" " To the river!" " To the Loire!" "Into the Loire!" "Have we forgotten the horrible spectacle of brutal desires being fulfilled without obstacle?" "When any violence and total abandonment prevailed in plain day by his commandment." "In every quarter the people called out in fear and the blood flowed, mingled with tears." "Everywhere was heard sounds too terrifying for words." "Heaven's vault was pierced with pitiful cries, rising from our misfortune which had taken us by surprise." "The women, the children, half-dead with fright, rent the air with their laments." "But it is time to act, the time for talk is past." "Our knives are ready to slay the tyrant at last." "You have vomited the word that seals your fate." "You shall die a hundred deaths, ordered by my hate." "Threaten rather to compel me to live under your rule." "No other misfortune could seem as cruel." "Only the fear of such a fate could make me tremble." "Bravo!" "Come in, monsieur." "And close the door, please." "And don't just stand there." "I don't want to be a lawyer." "I'm revolted by it." "I hate chicanery." "What do you want to do?" "He wants to be an actor." "I must have misunderstood." "Jean-Baptiste... explain yourself." "I want to be an actor." "Go up to your room, my boy." "Think it over." "Think it over carefully." "When you've changed your mind, come down again." "I've thought it over." "I will be an actor." "Were present in their person..." "And so he joined the Béjart family." "Were present in their person," "Germain Clairin, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin," "Joseph Béjart, Nicolas Bonenfant..." "The soup's hot!" "Georges Pinel," "Madeleine Béjart, Catherine Desurlis..." "Let's eat." "and Geneviève Béjart." "The agreement they have signed voluntarily, as cited below, unites and binds them as a theatrical company." "The name of their troupe is" "The Illustrious Theater." "Drink." "Item:" "New plays proposed to the troupe shall be conceived by the authors, so that none may complain of the role he is assigned." "One prerogative agreed to by all, is that Madeleine Béjart may choose her roles." "Item:" "That all things concerning their theater, all matters foreseen or unforeseen, shall be decided by a plurality of voices." "No one among them may contradict such decisions." "Duly signed in Paris, before Marie Hervé, widow of the late Joseph Béjart, residing in Paris, mother of the named Béjarts, in her home, before this notary, in the year 1643, on the 30th and last day of June." "Duly signed by all." "A toast!" "Here." "The Illustrious Theater!" "The Illustrious Theater!" "To us." "And to Corneille!" "Take me with you, I'm coming with you." "Later." "To drama!" "What fun we're going to have." "My little bird, my little urchin, my lovely baby, my sweet Menou!" "I say it's a mistake to put on a tragedy." "A good comedy is what we need, not a bad tragedy." "Mama, go to bed." " I'm not sleepy." " Quiet!" "Why?" "Because you tire me out." "You two aren't too tired?" "Nicolas, it won't be seen." "This is a theater, not a goldsmith's shop." "What about the pleasure?" "It's ready." "Jean-Baptiste!" " Where is he?" " At his father's house." "He's looking for an armchair for Act II." "Why?" "Descartes is in Paris." "Where are you going with that?" " With what?" " My armchair." "I'm borrowing it." "Leave it here." "I need it." "So do I." " You never use it." " I was going to." "It's just for the theater." "Precisely!" "I'll pay for it one day." "Liar!" "You'll never have any money." "Thief!" "My armchair!" "Out of my sight!" "Fine, I'm leaving." "Without my armchair." "Jean-Baptiste, Descartes is in Paris." "He'll be speaking at Dupuy's place." "Father!" "Hurry, he'll have started." "...that there is a God who is omnipotent and who created me as I am." "Perhaps some of you here would like to deny the existence of such a powerful God." "Let us not dispute them for the moment." "Let us suppose, in their favor, that what has been said about a god is a fable." "I would therefore suppose that there is no true god who is the sovereign truth but rather some evil genius." "What do you think of Molière?" "Listen to Descartes." "Molière." "I would then think that the sky, the air, the earth, the colors," "all these external things that we see, are only illusions." "And I would consider that I was falsely assuming that I saw all those things." "But such a project is tortuous and laborious." "And I fear that this project, instead of illuminating my search for truth, is not even adequate to cast light upon the shadows that have been stirred up." "There you are, gentleman." "Tomorrow I shall read you more of these Meditations before I leave for the kingdom of Sweden." "Monsieur, why not stay here in France?" "Because, madame," "I thought I noticed during my last sojourns that France was a heavily policed country." "That does not suit the free spirit I am trying to be." "To serve you, madame." "Meanwhile, in the Palace at the Louvre there was much concern about a new young king." "The death of the late king, my lords, came as no surprise." "However, his long illness filled me with such grief, that until now," "I have been unable to find consolation or to place my trust." "The Queen's beauty and dignity are so radiant that no prince of the realm does not think as I do." "The regency should not be shared." "The Queen is most worthy of assuming it alone." "How heavy is the blow that now lays me low." "The temples of the false gods and their false idols of gold shall see in their debris the effects of my words so bold." "And I shall know, wherever my power holds sway, how to make my subjects" "adore the true God's way." "This glorious God, who is my salvation, and who, in my privation, by His holy favor reinforces my dedication." "Shall console my heart by his secret voice's declaration and make me" "conquer all in the shadow of the cross's thrall." "Here now is Probe, returned eftsoon." "Probe, returned so soon?" "Does the haughty beauty still contrive?" "Or is she now resolved?" "She is no longer alive." "What so soon?" "Was iron, fire or rope her doom?" "No, Sire, she died in a tub full of water, as from one bathing room to another she did go." "She herself started the hot water flow." "The water, through four ducts at once poured in like a torrent, filling the vessel" "to the brim in one moment." "The boiling water's steam stifled her final scream." "And while the superb and sad empress..." "And while the proud empresses mourn her, laced in her sash was found a coffer filled with gold." "That evening the resident troupe of the Hotel de Bourgogne celebrated." "They were still the best." "Well?" "A fiasco!" "The worst I've ever seen!" "How could they be so bad?" "My God, I pity them." "They're so young." "The night is ours." "Farewell!" "Pommier, we owe him 1100 pounds." "Giraud, I don't know how much." "Lenormand, 3000 pounds, I think." "Antoinette Simon, that bulldog won't let go!" "You'd have to kill her first." "Never again will I act with your company!" "What can we do?" "I'll go talk to them." "Stop worrying, he's going to talk to them." "I understand your concern." "We're poor, without resources." "You gain nothing by throwing us in prison." "Poquelin, out!" "A mountebank, that's what you are!" "A juggler!" "A marionette!" "A parasite!" "And what are you?" "Upholsterer!" "A good-for-nothing, and with my money." "That's it, your money." "And my armchair?" "Where's my armchair?" "But this is the last time!" "Adelaide, look at me." "I'm going to travel." "Farewell, my dear." "Thus it was that Jean-Baptiste and his tribe left Paris." "They set out to find the celebrated troupe of Monsieur Dufresnes, whose patron was the Duke of Epernon." "They discovered the kingdom of France." "She wants water." "Where's the gourd?" "Raped by foreign soldiers no doubt." "The French, the French." "Bread." "We have nothing to eat." "I tell you we have nothing more, madame." "If we had the smallest crust we'd give it to you." "We have nothing for ourselves." "You not know any more." "Try again but eat slow." "Eat slow." "Good, we share." "They're eating our horses." "I want some, too." "It was just outside Toulouse that they found the famous troupe of Monsieur and Madame Dufresnes." "What is it?" "Is it good to eat?" "Here, Menou." "What is it?" " That's not the Dufresnes." " Yes, it is." "They're blowing away." "They are the Dufresnes?" "Of course they are the Dufresnes." "That's them." "You're as stubborn as a mule." "Perform, perform, no matter what happens." "Let's keep calm, my dear wife." "Set up the stage, in spite of everything." "In spite of winds and storms." "A plague on stubborn mules." "My sweet better half, keep calm, please." "Nothing vexatious finally happened." "Nothing vexatious!" "We were half over the cliff, half smashed to bits." "And you say nothing vexatious happened to us?" "Do you think you are stronger than the wind?" "The wind!" "The wind!" "The wind, my dear wife, is the servant of sailors and millers but it will never be the master of thespians!" "Madeleine!" "You old madman!" "Madeleine Béjart, my favorite actress." "Catherine de Brie." "Edmée de Brie, her husband." "Too bad she has a husband." "Maxime, our valet." "Not Maxime, Maimé." "René du Parc, known as Gros-René." "Let's go." "And in all this movement they also took along the Italian woman named Thérèse." "So ends the first part of the life of Molière." "" " English " "Synched by Fingersmaster." "Enjoy!" "PART TWO" "We resume our story of Molière's life as he begins 15 years of wandering." "He is by humors possessed!" "These humors will rise up through your duodenum until they reach your cerebellum!" "I have found you out, my faithless wife, while my head is on the pillow, you peccadillo!" "He flatters you in order to betray you." "In the provinces, they don't like tragedy." "We might at least try it." "I have tried." "They threw baked apples at me." "So I stopped trying." "That never happened to me." "I don't know." "I don't know how to act like that." "I can't!" "Calm down and try again." "Poor Sganarelle, you're old and sick." "No, no, no!" "Old people don't want to be sick." "Just think about it!" "They try to walk erect!" "The flesh may be weak but the spirit is still willing." "Follow me." "That's better, it's all in the eyes." "That's it." "Madeleine!" "Got it!" "Got it!" "I'm sick." "I'm old." "What do you want?" "I'm scared." "Good evening, Thérèse." "Move, Hercules!" "Madeleine, come and see!" "Just try!" "Push!" "Wait till Maimé tells us to push!" "Because you can't push until you're told to?" "You, too, push!" "I am pushing!" "Who got us into this mud-hole?" "I'm seven years older than he is." "It worries me sometimes." "In 20 years it won't show." "You're wrong." "That kind of breach always grows." "Tell me, did you hate me for it?" "No, I'm not jealous of you." "That even surprises me, in fact." "And Thérèse?" "She's no threat, she's a brunette!" "Madeleine, we were just talking!" "Madeleine!" "When you depict heroes it's just a portrait." "It needn't be life-like." "But ordinary men must be drawn from nature, recognizable as men of your times." "Otherwise you've done nothing!" "So Corneille has done nothing!" "Muses, grant me patience!" "Who's talking about Corneille?" "Forget Corneille." "A serious play, to be above reproach, only needs to be sensible and well-written." "In comedy, that's not enough." "You must be amusing, too." "Have you finished?" "And so the years went by with their joys and their sorrows." "Stand back, actors!" "Stand back, heretics!" "Away from the benediction of the Lord!" "The child, Menou, was becoming the girl, Armande." "Louis XIV was also growing up." "Always comedy!" "They're at it again!" "A tragedy is a thing of beauty." "A tragedy is a thing of beauty, when well-written." "I prefer a comedy." "Both are difficult." "You must admit the farces we present do not resemble comedies." "There is no comparison between such absurd farces and the beauty of serious plays." "Comedy is more difficult." "Fool!" "Ignoramus!" "Idiot!" "It is easier to accuse..." "Keep still!" "Let us eat in peace!" "It is wrong to accuse fate and insult the gods, rather than to share the shortcomings of men." "Then forget the sublime, forget sacrifice, forget courage, forget honor and there is nothing." "Eat slowly." "One day, along the way, they encountered Charles Coypeau d'Assoucy, vagabond and poet." "They liked his looks and took him with them." "What news from Paris?" "England has been a republic for a year now." "The leaders of the Fronde have been exiled to the provinces." "One of them, the Prince de Conti, took refuge near here." "Descartes is dead." "Descartes is dead?" "The King has returned to Paris." "In short, all is not well, except for an Italian musician sent to us by the heavens." "His name is Lully." "He is highly talented and knows it." "He is trying to win the King over." "I dare say he will succeed." " Tell me you love me." " Oh, my Gros-René!" "Gentlemen..." "We serve Monsieur de Conti!" "We will receive you at his chateau." "At last!" "We're going to perform tragedy." "Pack up, we're going to be warm this winter." "First we finish, then we pack up." "We have a patron now." "You can't refuse the Prince de Conti." "I want no more of this repertory." "I want no more of this wandering!" "I'm through, too." "Then leave!" "We'll go on performing." "For whom?" "My lord," "Monsieur Molière is here." "My lord, may I present the actresses and the actors of our troupe to you?" "Mademoiselle Madeleine Béjart," "Mademoiselle de Brie," "Monsieur Joseph Béjart," "Monsieur Louis Béjart," "Monsieur Du Parc" "Mademoiselle Marquise Thérèse Du Parc." "You will have to make me laugh a great deal." "L'Etourdi..." "The Blunderer" "If the title's bad!" "It's excellent." "The characters:" "Lélie, son of Pandolfe, Célie, a slave," "Mascarille, Lélie's valet, Hypolyte, son of Anselme," "Anselme, his father, Trufaldin, an old man," "Pandolfe, a gentleman, Andres, thought to be Egyptian," "Ergaste, Mascarille's friend, a messenger and a troupe of mummers, no, two troupes." "The set is set in Messina." "Music..." "Act I," "Scene I." "Lélie and Léandre," "Lélie: "Well, Léandre," ""we shall have to begin." ""We'll soon see..." ""who'll win"" ""who'll win."" "Preamble, out!" "I didn't have enough time." "Act I," "Scene II." "Marotte!" "No one's listening." "Everyone is!" " Louis isn't." " He is!" " I am!" " With your eyes shut, you can't hear!" " I can." " You can't!" " I can repeat it." " Repeat it!" "L'Etourdi, a comedy by Molière." "Get on with it!" "Let's hear if it's a good comedy." "Act I, Scene I..." "Léandre and Lélie" "Lélie:" ""Well, Léandre, we shall have to begin." ""We'll soon see who'll win." ""We shall compete for this young miracle," ""each hoping to overcome any obstacle."" "The season has started badly." "We're having November in the month of May." "Monsieur de Conti is not here." "He is visiting" "Monsieur d'Apremont, who is most devout and highly partisan." "May heaven grant that he not return to us" "in the guise of a fanatic." "The state of grace in which I now find myself, the order of truth... and the law of Christian discipline condemn the immoral pleasures of your spectacles." "Sensuality exerts such power over men!" "I was damning my soul, with your help." "You condemn to hell all who listen to you, enchanted by your grimaces which blaspheme the Holy Name of Jesus." "You are evil." "But we know how to silence you." "Cover yourself, madame!" "And now stop barring the path to my salvation!" "I shall soon be in Paris." "If you need help, you may count on me." "Armande, come see." "Menou, come see Paris." "Their friend kept his promise." "He introduced them to Monsieur, the King's brother." "If Your Highness will do us the honor, these are the gentlemen of the troupe." "And Monsieur La Grange, a newcomer." "Make way for the King!" "The King has passed." "Monsieur de Cosnoc," "I give my name to the troupe of Monsieur..." "I take them under my protection." "In ten days they shall play at the palace." "Your Highness has, in Monsieur Molière, a loyal servant, whose devotion knows no bounds." "Come see, he's wearing an enormous hat." "With feathers!" "And he has a big nose..." "He's there!" "I must relieve myself." "Wait, I'll go with you." "Me, too." "I'm going, too." "Thus returned in glory it is sweet, my Lord, to greet thee, to behold again thy honored dignity." "Though fate has been kind and to mercy inclined, my heart is sore-stricken, and troubled is my mind." "I sorrow to see thee though with loving eyes, for fear that it be true that my love is unwise." "They're making a Nicomess out of Nicomède!" "To disguise her fears and jealousy behind this lying mask of false constancy is her sole task." "Hold me back or I'll strangle him!" "Take up once more your royal scepter." "A true king is neither husband nor father, he looks to his throne, naught else must matter." "Rule!" "Rome shall fear you more than you fear Rome." "I don't understand." "Could the play be bad?" "The play is very good, one of Corneille's best." "Go apologize to the King and his brother!" "Apologize to the Cardinal and everybody!" "Do Le Docteur Amoureux and make them laugh!" "Get to work..." "Get to work..." "Get to work..." "Get to work..." "Sganarelle... scoundrel!" "Sganarelle... scoundrel!" "Sganarelle, sweep that up!" "Sganarelle, sweep that up!" "All that!" "Your Majesty, look at all that." "Your Majesty, I don't want to sweep all that." "Your Majesty, please..." "We were much amused by you, monsieur." "The King's given them the Petit Bourbon." "To share with the Italians?" "Good luck to them!" "Monsieur Scaramouche..." "You see before you your most devoted disciple." "The Pretentious Young Ladies" "Sganarelle or The Imaginary Cuckold" "The School for Husbands" "And the troupe began to change little by little." "What's the matter?" "I'm thinking of leaving." "I need a change." "And Thérèse?" "She's free, she can do as she likes." "Are you staying or leaving?" "She's going to the Marais!" "I'm old enough to speak for myself." "And too old for some things." "I'm not still playing virgins at age 35!" "Looking at you, I can play virgins till I'm 150!" "You're getting so fat he'll have to write a role for an elephant." "After all, why force them to stay?" "I'm not forcing anyone to stay." "I'm waiting for your advice." "Try the Marais." "They'll write roles for you." "As if that were the point." "What else are we talking about?" "Who writes plays for those two?" "Who always gives them the best roles?" " That I must say..." " Keep still, Beauval!" "Leave it to women to argue about their roles." "Who cares about that?" "Not you!" "You've been pampered." "Pampered?" "Me?" "You can have my roles... take them!" "If you're capable of playing them." "It's what you've waited for!" "I'm not leaving." " I'm being chased out!" " I'm being chased out, too." "We're not needed now that you have your royal stipend." "Paris is at your feet, you'll be rich and famous." "I want some glory for myself!" "And we're not married, to the best of my knowledge." "They'll come back." " Don't worry." " What do I care?" "La Grange was right." "Thérèse and Gros-René soon came back." "The contract." "Were present:" "Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, Sieur de Molière," "René Berthelot..." "That's me!" "Damoiselle Marquise Thérèse de Gorla, his wife and Madeleine Béjart, being over 18..." "The aforenamed have, of their own free will, voluntarily formed an association" "to perform in the theater together for a period of four years." "Four!" "They may not perform separately, for any other troupe..." "Any other troupe!" "in Paris or in the provinces." "Not even the Hotel de Bourgogne." "Not even the Hotel de Bourgogne!" "Penalty for infractions shall be 10,000 pounds, as damages." "I want to..." "I want to take advantage of this moment..." "I want to take advantage of this moment to ask the troupe here united for an extra share of the profits" "in addition to those I now receive." "It's not for me." "It's for me!" "It's for my wife, in the event that I should marry." "I would like to remind the company of costumes I lent to The Illustrious Theater." "I've never been paid for them." "I claim for that debt today." " After 20 years?" " After 20 years I need money." "What could these rags have been worth?" "100 pounds." "Are you joking?" "Do I look like I'm joking?" "This troupe was never The Illustrious Theater." "You were!" "3 torn dresses... and 2 rusty breastplates." "That was enough for you then." "You'll have to wait." "We don't have the money now." "I'd like it as soon as possible, or else..." "Or else?" "I'll send for the bailiff." "For 100 pounds!" "Want me to raise the price?" "Take back your costumes." "I don't need them any more." "I give them back to you." "They're worn out." "After 20 years... haven't you got enough put away?" "I'm insatiable, you know that." "You'll have to wait." "I have other worries at the moment." "I'm not waiting for anything." "By the authority of the Church we command all here, under threat of excommunication, to speak out now if you know of any impediment to this marriage about to be celebrated." "Lord, bless this coin as a token of the marriage settlement for the bride." "And to ensure that she is worth of it, endow her with divine wisdom." "Do you, Françoise Jeanne Marie, confess, acknowledge and swear before God in his Holy Church, to take for your lawfully wedded husband," "Henri Edmée Louis, here present?" "As your father, I order you to say yes, madame!" "Ô lord shed thy bounty on this woman, thy servant." "May she be, for her husband, as gentle as Rachel, as wise as Rebecca, as patient and faithful as Sarah." "What did you think of that bit of theater?" "Will it inspire you as did those precious mannerisms of ours, that you ridiculed so cruelly?" "Ladies, had I but known you..." "God forbid!" "You are so discerning you would have been even more cruel." "It's true that I strive to be impartial," "to depict what I see, to say what I think." "That is very well said." "With our hearts, our minds and our souls we applaud you." "Here is the independent author who accepts the truth as the only limitation on his talent." "Therefore, monsieur, your fidelity to the truth obliges you to cast your eyes upon events of more gravity and more difficult to combat than our eccentricities." "Monsieur, let's be friends." "Join us in fighting fools and knaves." "School for Wives" "Ballad for an old man newly wed, who can't fulfill his connubial duties." "Love" "No longer is my master" "No more his serf am I" "Such is my disaster" "Away from love I now must fly" "Fleeing ever faster" "To my resting place in the sky" "Madame, I am old" "Madame, I am old" "Don't." "It's a lovely song." "At the dance my heart kept cadence" "My feet were quick" "As any maiden's" "Now my heart can't stand the violence" "It smells of trash here." "Shall we go?" "Such small trash!" "We're leaving." "I'm staying!" "They haven't done anything to me." "Ever warm was I then" "Ever seeking to quench my thirst" "In that sweet fountain" "I would soon be immersed" "Now if the truth be told" "Madame, I am cold" "Madame, I am cold" "Now my poor anatomy" "Will not obey me" "Like a relic" "I am enshrined, once heroic" "Now broken and melancholic" "I retire to my bed" "Madame, I am dead" "Madame, I am dead" "Thank you... for teaching me such a lovely song." "I've learned much about the hearts of men." "I saw your play tonight..." "most boring!" "Instead of "School for Wives"" "wouldn't "School for Whores" be a more suitable title?" "You laugh at the world crumbling, you scorn authority!" "You mock liturgy, commandments, the Church!" "But you will be a cuckold, too!" "That's uncalled for, monsieur!" "Let him get what he deserves!" "I've waited ten years." "That's enough, monsieur!" "How old is your wife?" "After the mother, you had to have the daughter!" "Don't waste your time, monsieur." "You're still in favor but the King forgets quickly!" "I'm not going home right away." "Where are you going?" "You know very well, Jean-Baptiste." "Get in with me!" "No!" "Not this evening." "Not in front of them." "Get in... you can get out one league from here." "Have his coach follow you." "Two years later, more serious trouble for Molière erupted in Monsieur Colbert's office." "That he is sacrilegious and abominable enough to write such a diabolical play hardly surprises me, for I know him." "But that the King allows it to be performed with its derision of the Church, its contempt for all that is sacred and divine." "The King should order it suppressed under pain of death." "All copies should be destroyed." "No trace of it should remain." "Thus the King would demonstrate the nobility of his heart and his respect for God and the Church." "Mother Church hopes that her eldest son will take this heroic and royal action." "She awaits this revenge against all the heresies, from which she has suffered in silence until today." "Exactly what is meant by" ""until today"?" "Nothing more than that, monsieur." "That reassures me." "I thought I detected the shadow of a threat, which surprised me very much." "Gentlemen, I bid you good day." "You haven't replied, monsieur." "Replied regarding what subject?" "Regarding "Tartuffe"." "You are most solitary, my lord." "And it is most extraordinary of you to renounce our sex." "At your age, you shun the gallantry which is the pride of your peers." "It is not so extraordinary." "Examples can be found not far from here." "And you cannot condemn my vow never to love without condemning your own sentiments." "There is a vast difference." "What befits one sex does not befit the other." "It is good for a woman to be insensitive and to preserve her heart from the flame of love." "But what is virtue in her becomes a crime in a man." "And since beauty is woman's proper estate... if you refuse your love you rob us all of our due homage." "You commit an offense that all women must resent." "I do not see why women who do not wish to love should take any interest in such offenses." "That is no excuse, my lord." "Even without wishing to love it is always pleasant to be loved." "That is no excuse, my lord." "Even without wishing to love it is always pleasant to be loved." "Say it again." "Again." "Even without wishing to love it is always pleasant to be loved." "That's well-said." "Go to the end of the scene." "La Grange, you step forward." "Madame, I have intruded upon your privacy." "I must respect your love of solitude." "Let me die!" "I can bear no more." "This unexpected blow has triumphed over my resolution." "The blow is surprising indeed." "I thought your stratagem had succeeded." "Next scene, as you walk out..." "By what emotion unknown..." "By what emotion unknown is my stricken heart now moved?" "By what disturbing secret is my soul overcome?" "Could it not be what has been said to me?" "Without knowing it, could I be in love with this young prince?" "I that were true, I would despair." "But it cannot be, I swear." "I know that I cannot love him." "Would I be capable of such cowardice?" "I have had the world at my feet..." "I have had the world at my feet and have remained completely indifferent." "The homage and respect failed to move me." "Now this proud disdain has conquered me." "I have spurned those who love me, could I now love the one who spurns me?" "No, no, I do not love him." "No, I do not love him!" "It cannot be." "But if what I feel is not love, what can it be?" "And whence comes this poison..." "And whence comes this poison that courses through my veins, not leaving me a moment's peace?" "Out of my heart whoever you are!" "Hidden enemy attack me openly!" "Though you be the most fearsome of beasts," "I shall slay you and be done with you." "And be rid of you." "Now for Tartuffe." "I believe you are sincere, monsieur." "I'm convinced your play is not an attack on religion." "But that's what the spectators will think." "This is a time of religious foment." "There are Protestants, Jansenists, Gallicans," "Bigots, the Papal party..." "Too many factions for a country like ours." "These quarrels grow more violent each day." "Soon, if we let it go on, there won't be one truth, there will be many." "The King must not be exposed to such factionalism." "I know too well the power a play can exert." "I shall speak against you, to the King." "I cannot hide that from you." "I've kept you from your work on the King's festival." "I nearly forgot!" "As of today you can hope to have your royal stipend doubled." "I'll appeal to the King." "For your stipend?" "Consider it done." "For my play." "If the King..." "You're going to make us lose our theater!" "I don't care." "We do!" "Can't we at least change the word "Bigot"?" "Bigot?" ""Bigot"." "Two beats." "Narrow, shallow, bellow, Boileau..." "Say anything you like." "We have to cut from "an admirable example and the lady is well-meaning..."" "at least to the line "she has made good use of her advantages."" " Why?" " It describes the Queen." "Indeed it does." "This is maddening." "Cut the part about the Queen Mother." "As the scene is constructed, I can't cut anything." "Make the end funny, win your foes over." "Soften Cléante's speech." "Those few lines won't make things worse." "They make me feel better." "Orgon says:" ""I do not often see him at church."" "Dorine replies:" ""Must he attend at your hours" ""like those who come only to be seen?"" " Cut that part." " Why?" "It describes the Court." "Indeed it does." "We haven't time to change everything!" "I don't want to." " Change the end." " I don't want to!" "Change nothing." "Put on a different play." "I don't want to!" "Then we'll be banned." "Just change the end." "Add a scene for laughs." "Have Madame Pernelle come on stage." "Write her some funny lines." "She harangues the spectators, you leave them laughing." "The way it ends now you leave them deep in tragedy." "Is that what you wanted?" "Yes." "Exactly." "But double the length." " Where is the King?" " Down near the fountains." " Candles keep going out." " Put up torches." "It's starting to rain." "It won't rain on the King's festival!" "I have a problem." "The elephant won't follow the camel in your procession." "It's disrupting the order." "Tell that elephant to stop being capricious." "Threaten him... flatter him!" "Will it work?" "I think so, but, above all, leave me in peace or I'll eat your elephant and you with it." "Where is the King?" "He just passed on his way to the Music Court." "I beg Your Majesty to hear me out." "I designed this site for the music of the waters." "Not for Monsieur Lully's trumpets and cymbals." "I hear bad reports on your play." "I implore Your Majesty to judge for himself in this matter." "For it is certain, Sire, that I must forget about writing plays if the Tartuffes have the advantage." "They will persecute me more than ever and will find fault with my most innocent phrases." "I hear you." "Listen to the music of the waters proposed by my architect." "Monsieur Lully, kindly silence your trumpets and tympani." "Monsieur, my brother, what do you think?" "Sire, I think..." "I think, Sire, that a King favored by heaven and earth is the sole arbiter possible in this dispute between Nature and the Muses." "Then we shall favor the Muses." "We wish you and Monsieur Molière to collaborate on an entertainment as soon as possible." "And for my play, Sire, what may I expect?" "Have no fear." "We admire your talent, monsieur." "Those men whose very souls know where their interest lies make of devotion both profession and merchandise." "They try to buy credit and dignity with false smiles and prating of divinity." "Those men, I saw, are to be seen ardently preaching each day eagerly pointing out heaven's way, yet somehow making their fortunes all the while." "Living in style, they continue to exhort others to flee the world while they remain at Court." "They know how to adjust their smiles and vices." "Vindictive and full of malice." "They have no faith except in artifice." "Here he comes!" "Out, impure spirit!" "Leave this creature of God." "Penetrate no further!" "Damned spirit, enemy of the human race, attendant of death..." "Take pity on a poor beggar, monsieur." "Alms for the love of God." "Instigator of hate, lying beast..." "Beware of him who was sacrificed with Isaac, hanged with Joseph, put to death with the lamb, crucified as man..." "Do you know why I gave you aims?" "For the love of God." "Imbecile!" "Withdraw before the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead and the world, by God's fire." "Amen!" "I have read the reports you sent me" "regarding the troubles beginning to take place in my provinces." "I shall be in Saint Germain on Monday and at the Finance Council meeting on Tuesday." "We shall see what action should be taken." "But, in advance..." "I will tell you my thoughts." "We must not permit any activity against my authority" "to go unpunished." "How tall" "How noble" "This proud conqueror" "His visage dazzles" "None could be fairer" "And though by his position" "He already ranks high in grace" "Something still more" "Shines in his face" "Versailles was being built and for the King's festiva/ the Republic of Venice sent some gifts." "It is only fitting that the music of the greatest King in the universe" "should be the greatest music in the world." "If Your Majesty so wishes he shall rule over music, as he does over this world." "Entrust me with this task and not one note, not one sound, not one voice will be raised in this empire that does not sing the glory of Louis." "I need austerity, not domestic society." "Our profession, our situation run counter to my deepest sentiments and to the mood I am in now." "What I seek is a certain philosophical detachment." "Everything keeps me from it, my wife, my troupe, the service of the King." "Too many friends have betrayed us..." "Racine..." "Lully..." "The King himself will soon abandon me to my fate." "I miss the Dufresnes." "And the strange death of Thérèse affected me." "La Grange," "I want to go away." "I want to leave you all." "You can run the theater." "Armande will help you." "If you need an author, there are plenty of them." "More than ever!" "What do you say?" "You must let me leave." "I'm old." "I'm old and I'm tired." "I have such a great need for solitude." "What are you thinking?" "I was listening to you, monsieur." "And thinking George Dandin isn't drawing well any more." "We need a new play." "Yes, that's true." "I've started one about a miser." "I'll have to hurry and finish it." "May I see you for a minute?" "Come close." "George Dandin isn't drawing well any more." "We need a new play." "Is your work going well?" "How is your invalid doing?" "I can't write anything." "I've dried up." "I'm empty." "I scribble, I scrawl..." "I write gibberish." "By the end of Act I, I'm written out." "I can't get the scene between Toinette and the invalid." "Want to know the truth?" "I'm a plagiarist." "I've never created anything." "Even if I were capable of it, everything stops me." "Constraints." "Lack of time." "I've stolen from Plautus, Terence," "Italians, Spaniards and Greeks." "And I'm stuck on a simple scene between a servant and her master." "You're in real trouble, my poor friend." "Why not use the same scene for Toinette and Argan as you did for Scapin and Argante?" "Why not?" "What would people say?" "Don't worry about that." "I can't even remember it." "I can." ""I'm sure he won't do it."" "Change "he" to "she" and you've got your scene." " "I'll force her to!" - "I say she won't do it."" ""He'll do it or I'll disinherit him!"" "No." "Stop and think!" ""She'll do it or..." "I'll put her in a convent!" "You?"" " "Me!" - "Good!"" ""What's good?"" "We can cut out the "you, me etc..."" "Why?" "It's very good." "That's what keeps the scene moving." " Word for word?" " Word for word." ""You wouldn't put her in a convent!"" ""I wouldn't put her in a convent?"" ""That's ridiculous!"" ""I wouldn't disinherit my..."" ""I wouldn't put my daughter in a convent..."" ""...if I want to?"" " You're adding that?" " Yes." "Good. "No, I say!"" " "Who'll stop me?" - "Yourself!"" " "Me?" - "You won't have the heart."" ""I will."" ""Paternal affection won't let you."" "Change that to:" ""Paternal affection will stop you."" ""Paternal affection will stop you."" ""It won't stop me!"" "Now there..." "You can improve on Scapin saying, "Yes, yes."" "You're shameless." "What will people say?" "They'll laugh." "They won't notice anything." "You've tired me." "We had some good times together." "Yes." "Thank you." "See you tomorrow." "She left me alone, a poor invalid." "The bell isn't loud enough." "We're ready." "Let's go." "Curtain!" "How was it?" "Splendid." "I'm cold, I want to go home." "A doctor, quick!" "He needs a doctor!" "Tell me... where's Madeleine?" "He's dying!" "Faster!" "He's dying!" "" " English "