Reasonable in the actions of Jourdain. The image and characteristics of a jourdain in the story of a tradesman in the nobility of Molière essay
Jean Baptiste Molière. Born January 15, 1622 in Paris. French comedian, actor, theatrical figure, stage art reformer. Served at the court of Louis XIV. Based on the traditions of the folk theater and the achievements of classicism, he created the genre of social comedy, in which buffoonery, humor were combined with grace and artistry. Ridiculing the class prejudices of the aristocrats, the narrow-mindedness of the bourgeoisie, the hypocrisy of the nobles, he saw in them a perversion of human nature (“Funny simper”, “Misanthrope”, “Miserly”, “Scientific women”, “Philistine in the nobility”,; “Imaginary sick”), with he exposed hypocrisy with special intransigence, creating the immortal image of Tartuffe, the comedy Tartuffe, or the Deceiver.
Family. The Poquelin family (Molière's real name) belonged to a wealthy merchant class: in 1631, Jean's father received a high official position as a royal upholsterer. He gave an excellent education to his eldest son, who from 1636 to 1639 studied at the Jesuit Clermont College in Paris, where the offspring of many noble families were brought up. Jean Baptiste knew a lot about the wallpaper trade and joined the craft workshop, but his relatives intended him for a legal career: in 1641 he was admitted to the bar.
The first steps in the theatrical field. Around 1641, Jean Baptiste made acquaintances in the acting environment: the Italian mime Fiorilli gave him several lessons in acting, and the young actress Madeleine Bejart became his mistress. In 1643, he decided to finally connect his fate with the stage and concluded an agreement with Madeleine Bejart on the creation of the "Brilliant Theater". In the 17th century, the acting profession was considered "mean", so no one performed on stage under his own name. The pseudonym "Moliere" was first recorded in a document dated January 28, 1644. In 1645, the future comedian went to prison twice due to debts, and the troupe had to leave the capital. The tour of the provinces lasted 12 years: the first plays by Molière "Naughty, or Everything at random" (1655), "Love quarrel" (1656) belong to this period. Years of wandering played a significant role in the playwright's life: he became an excellent actor and director.
Parisian period: the first plays. In 1658, the troupe returned to Paris and staged a performance at the Louvre for Louis XIV, who was extremely pleased with Molière's play The Doctor in Love. The playwright won his first success with the public in 1659 with the comedy "Funny Pretenders", in which he ridiculed the sweetness and pretentiousness of manners. In 1661, the only "correct" play by Molière "Don Garcia of Navarre" failed, but the productions of "The School of Husbands" and "The Boring" at the Palais Royal Theater, which now houses the Comédie Francaise (also known as the "House of Molière", turned out to be extremely successful). ).
The "School of Wives" The following year, a "pamphlet war" broke out in connection with the presentation of the "School of Wives": the saints saw in it an attempt on the principles of Christian education. The play was a huge success: according to a contemporary, "everyone found her pathetic, and everyone was in a hurry to see her." This meant the birth of the “double taste” or “double standard” so characteristic of France: either popularity or strict adherence to the “rules”. Moliere was blamed for a weak intrigue, which, in fact, is almost primitive. As in many other comedies by Molière, the denouement here is far-fetched. However, the playwright was not at all interested in the ending (almost tragic for Arnolf), but in the “universal” type: an elderly man in love with a young girl and raising her to the delight of a young rival.
"Don Juan" and "Misanthrope". In 1665, the production of Don Juan caused another storm: Molière's enemies, not content with a temporary ban, did everything possible to finally expel the play from the stage, and after 15 performances it was never staged during the playwright's lifetime. From a financial point of view, the Misanthrope, staged in 1666, also turned out to be unsuccessful. This is one of the most "mysterious" and ambiguous comedies by Moliere. Alceste is an honest person who does not find his place in society. He loses the lawsuit, quarrels with his friend Philint, loses his beloved girl Célimène and proudly retires "to the desert" - away from the vicious light. Alceste's desire to reveal the true meaning of social conventions undoubtedly coincides with the position of Molière himself. At the same time, Alceste is shown not only as an idealist, but also as a mature person who stubbornly refuses to grow up.
Last years of life. Financial difficulties forced Molière to write five plays in just one season (1667-68): among them are Reluctant Marriage and The Miser. In 1670, one of the playwright's most popular comedies, The Tradesman in the Nobility, appeared, which is a hilarious farce with an inserted Turkish ballet. The play was immortalized by the figure of Mr. de Jourdain - a stupid and very funny bourgeois, obsessed with his desire to become "his" in the circle of nobles. The stage career of the playwright ended tragically. In February 1673, The Imaginary Sick was staged, where Moliere, despite a long-term serious illness (most likely he had tuberculosis), played the main role. At the fourth performance he passed out and had to be carried home. He died on the night of February 17-18, without having time to confess and renounce the acting profession. The parish priest forbade him to be buried on consecrated ground: the widow turned to the king for help, and only then was it allowed to make a religious burial.
The work of Molière. Molière's plays have stood on the stage of the Comédie Francaise alone for more than 30,000 performances. The French Academy, which neglected the "comedian" during his lifetime, in 1769 announced a competition for the "Praise of Moliere" and installed his bust. Moliere became the true creator of the genre of classic comedy, where the collective hero is countless and immeasurable human delusions, which sometimes turn into mania.
1. Reading 1-2 events of act I How do these scenes prepare the appearance of M. Jourdain? What idea of the moral character of Jourdain do we get? (He is both simple-minded and naive and natural, but at the same time he loves flattery and, most importantly, is going to become like a nobleman).
The work can be used for lessons and reports on the subject "Literature"
Ready-made presentations on literature have colorful slides with images of poets and their heroes, as well as illustrations for novels, poems and other literary works. The teacher of literature has the task of penetrating the soul of a child, teaching him morality, and developing a creative personality in him, therefore, presentations in literature should be interesting and memorable. In this section of our site you can download ready-made presentations for literature lessons for grades 5,6,7,8,9,10,11 absolutely and without registration.
The literary process of the 17th century was characterized by the direction of classicism, which displayed the features of ancient literature. Moliere's play "The Philistine in the Nobility" is a kind of standard of the literary direction of this period.
Characteristics of the image of Jourdain
The protagonist of the play "The Philistine in the Nobility" - Jourdain, became a kind of mirror in which the author reflected all the shortcomings and vices of society. Jourdain is a rather elderly merchant who once had an irresistible desire to become part of an aristocratic society.
The protagonist began to completely rebuild his life and old habits in order to resemble a nobleman as much as possible. He hires a teacher and learns to dance, like secular gentlemen, equips his apartment according to the example of fashionable salons, dresses in clothes from expensive materials ordered from abroad, is looking for a groom with a noble pedigree for his daughter.
But this does not help Jourdain to join the coveted society, since all his actions on the way to achieving his goal cause only the ridicule of others. After all, what could be more amusing than an uneducated merchant who imagines himself to be a nobleman.
Close people use it for personal purposes: the daughter and wife demand new expensive outfits in order to match the future aristocrat. In order to marry off her daughter to a loved one, Jourdain's wife plays a real performance for her husband.
A low-income groom is dressed up as a Turkish sultan, whom, according to the script, the daughter should marry. Jourdain has become so accustomed to the role of an aristocrat that he does not see in the Sultan the poor guy Clement, who asked for the hand of his child a month ago.
Playing along with the upper class in everything, Jourdain is no more, no less than an unsuccessful caricature of him. Probably, his image would have evoked ridicule from more than one generation of readers, if not for the epiphany that Jourdain had at the end of the play.
He realized that all his life he had been striving for something higher than everyday vanity, and he chose the wrong path, wanting to inherit the nobility. Jourdain realized that he had actually lived his entire life prosaically, while his soul longed for lyrics.
At this moment, the protagonist becomes really sorry. However, this feeling is replaced by joy for him at last, he had his sight and looked at the world with a completely different look.
The meaning of the story
In the play "The Philistine in the Nobility", in addition to people who want to be equated with a high-ranking society, the aristocracy itself is ridiculed, along with its meaningless and empty laws of life.
Jourdain's game of the nobility is actually a demonstration performance for the upper class, because sometimes they themselves, with their fictitious rules of etiquette, and bad taste in some things, look just as comical as the main character of the play.
Comedy is not an easy genre. Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, better known under the pseudonym Moliere, is considered the creator of classic comedy. His works are witty and full of philosophical ideas. In his comedy The Tradesman in the Nobility, he took up one of the most relevant themes of the 17th century - the attempt of the petty bourgeoisie to infiltrate the world of the aristocracy. For the sake of obtaining titles, they were ready to pay a lot of money, buy lands and positions, master the manners of the nobility, and most importantly make secular friends.
The protagonist of the comedy is an ordinary tradesman Mr. Jourdain, who has everything necessary for happiness, except for the title of a nobleman. Despite the fact that he is not a nobleman either by origin or upbringing, he strives to become a true aristocrat by all means. For the sake of his crazy dream, he is ready to spend fortunes, hire teachers of logic, dance, music, fencing, tailors, hairdressers and other employees to make another person out of him. He himself is rude and uneducated by nature, so it is not easy for teachers to teach him secular manners. However, in words they promise him any transformations.
Jourdain, without a moment's hesitation, pays all this army of scammers and firmly believes that this will help in the realization of his dream. In turn, the tailor deceives him. He sews ridiculous outfits for him, calling them secular, while Jourdain himself has no idea what they actually wear in society. From the leftover materials, he sews clothes for himself. Many of Jourdain's employees are paid only for praising his new robe or cap, listening to his mediocre folk song, and obsequiously calling him "Your Grace" or something else. Count Dorant, although of aristocratic blood, is not rich. He only befriends Jourdain for money and frequently borrows money from him.
"The tradesman in the nobility" (Le bourgeois gentilhomme - letters, translation - "Bourgeois nobleman", 1670). Mister Jourdain is one of the most amusing characters of the great comedian. The actors of the play, the readers and the spectators make fun of him equally. Indeed, what could be more absurd for others than an elderly merchant, suddenly obsessed with secular manners and frantically striving to resemble an aristocrat. The thirst for a “change of fate” is so strong in Jourdain that, overcoming natural non-musicality and clumsiness, he learns the intricate “pas” of fashionable dances, brandishes a sword, an indispensable noble attribute, and, under the guidance of numerous teachers, comprehends the methods of seducing demanding representatives of secular society.
Once again, in Molière's comedy, everything revolves around the game. Jourdain can't wait to get used to the role of an inveterate courtier, and those around him, with a few exceptions, "play along" with the hero, pursuing their very mercantile goals. Even Ms. Jourdain, who resists her husband's costly follies, and her laughing maid eventually understand that it is enough to direct Jourdain's "game" in the right direction so that no one suffers from it. So, at the end of the play, with the help of disguised household members, she marries her beloved daughter Jourdain, whom the adamant father read exclusively for a nobleman. And Jourdain himself, as a result of the cunning plan of the daughter's fiancé, becomes "mamamushi" and "an entourage of the Turkish Sultan." This quasi-Turkish word-monster is the best way to express the monstrous tastelessness and inorganicness of the claims of the newly-minted nobleman. It was composed specifically for Jourdain by mischievous and enterprising fellows, Cleont and Coviel, who decided at all costs to marry the daughter and maid of a crazy bourgeois. The “Turkish ceremony”, designed to “initiate” Jourdain into the nobility, is the culmination of the comedy and the “apotheosis” of the hero, who felt like a real “Muslim aristocrat” during the parody ballet extravaganza.
The image of Jourdain, however, is more complex than it might seem. Its social background, which is relevant for the era, does not prevent us from seeing in comedy a continuation of Molière's serious reflections on the play space of human existence, on the functions of the game that fills the life of society, on the various forms of play behavior and on the "costs" of human play activity. This time, the subject of the study was the game design of the cast train de vie (way of life). The clumsy bourgeois Jourdain, trying on the etiquette standards of the nobility, turns out to be a kind of mirror in the play, reflecting both the idealless bourgeois way of life, devoid of a creative spirit, and the excessively ornamented, cutesy style of aristocratic behavior. The space of the comedy-ballet, in which everyday scenes, singing numbers and dance involuntary divertissements side by side, is an expression of the genre originality of "The Tradesman in the Nobility". At the same time, pantomime, vocal and choreographic pictures framing the action turn out to be a materialization of Jourdain's dreams of an aristocratic existence in the form of a continuous ball of sophistication and gallantry.
Jourdain's thematic complex includes not only the motive of groundless social claims. Creating for himself an illusory world of "high taste" and grace, Mr. Jourdain is intoxicated not only with a new "made of Indian fabric" dressing gown, wig and suit with "flowers heads up". The key and most famous phrase of Molière's tradesman sounds like this: "... I had no idea that I had been speaking prose for more than forty years." The discovery made by Jourdain reveals, of course, his illiteracy. But an uneducated, absurd, ill-mannered merchant, in contrast to his surroundings, is able to suddenly see the squalor of a life lived, devoid of a glimpse of poetry, mired in gross material interests. Thus, another theme of Jourdain becomes a touching and sympathetic craving for a world of other values, which, however, was revealed by Moliere in a parodic vein. In this sense, Jourdain reveals a series of images of the bourgeois, seeking the spiritual sophistication of noble life, images, among which is Madame Bovary Flaubert, and Chekhov's Lopakhin.
Mister Jourdain has at least three roles in the play. He acts as an actor trying out a winning role, as a toy of those around him who use his mania, and as a catalyst for the playful activity of young comedy characters. At the end of the play, the hero gets what he is looking for (after all, his goal has always been visibility); all participants and witnesses of the "Turkish ceremony" are satisfied.
"The Philistine in the Nobility" is also a play about illusions, about the illusory nature and relativity of many human institutions, such as, for example, caste "rules of good manners" and "accepted" forms of life in society. And also about the fact that the game is the last, and perhaps the only way to give creative energy to human existence, to make the thickness of inert matter part in order to soar in the magical spaces of a dream. The image of Mr. Jourdain, a merchant living in a prosaic reality, but looking for poetry, confused and happy, a bourgeois and a nobleman, is one of the brightest manifestations of the insurmountable duality of being and one of the unconditional Moliere masterpieces. It is not surprising that comedy motifs became the basis of M.A. Bulgakov"Crazy Jourdain", written in 1932 for the Studio Theater under the direction of Yu.A. Zavadsky.
The first performance of the comedy "The Philistine in the Nobility" took place at the castle of Chambord on October 14, 1670. Then in the same year, Molière himself played Jourdain at the Palais Royal. Among the outstanding performers of the role of Jourdain is Coquelin Sr. (1903). In Russia, Jourdain was played by: M.S. Shchepkin(1825), P.M. Sadovsky (1844), V.I. Zhivokini (1864).
