The Middle-Class Gentleman
| Language | en |
|---|---|
| First published | 2001-12-01 |
| Rights | Public domain in the USA. |
| Gutenberg ID | #2992 |
Description
"The Middle-Class Gentleman" by Molière is a five-act comédie-ballet first performed in 1670 before the court of Louis XIV. The play satirizes social climbing through Monsieur Jourdain, a middle-aged merchant's son desperately trying to become an aristocrat. He hires teachers in fencing, dancing, and philosophy, making a fool of himself at every turn. When he refuses to let his daughter marry her middle-class beloved, insisting on a nobleman instead, a clever scheme unfolds involving an elaborate Turkish disguise that plays perfectly to his absurd ambitions. (This is an automatically generated summary.)