Harriet J. Bauman
In this opposition of reality and appearance, MoliEre uses elements of farce, the
commedia dell
’
arte
, and classical Greek and Roman comedy to heighten their contrast. All of these types of theatre use the mask to set the character. The
commedia dell
’
arte
in particular, used the mask as a caricature rather than the reality of a type.
MoliEre used this idea of the mask to portray his characters as always masked to some degree as to their true nature. For MoliEre, it was a human characteristic to try to appear to be more or better than one is.
The purpose of the drama for MoliEre is to explore through plot events the unmasking of his characters. No matter what happens to the character throughout the play, he is essentially the same at the end as at the beginning. Only the mask has slipped, and by the end, the true character is revealed. Moore notes that:
For MoliEre, impressed as he was with the affixed character, it is only affixed, and to a living organism. The point of interest for him, and for us, is the point when the mask slips or falls, when the underlying man appears. This distinction is never absent from MoliEre’s plays. All his situations gravitate to that moment when the mask is removed; he steers them towards this abandonment of the mask and consequent emergence of the natural. (W.G. Moore,
MoliEre A New Criticism
, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1949, pp. 3839)
The idea of people wearing masks for differing purposes reflects the society in which MoliEre lived and worked.
. . . It is a thread that runs through the society that was all around him and that supported his plays. Could he put any better mirror up to that society than that of the mask? Were they not all compelled by etiquette to assume the mask, to act a part, to keep up their social role? Does not all society imply the mask in its constraint upon natural impulses? Can one ever, to other people, speak one’s full mind? What is politeness but a cloak, a mask, thrown over selfinterest? (
Ibid
. Moore, pp. 3839)
Not only did the mask reflect Seventeenth Century French society but it served to make MoliEre’s comedy universal in its truth about human nature for all people and all time.
MoliEre’s comedy sets up situations in which the character’s mask must fall and the real person emerges. The comedic format is a means to an end, not an end in itself. “MoliEre exhibits the limits of human nature no less than its powers. It apparently implies a sober sense of man’s place in nature, of his function, of that order and sobriety to overstep which is to be unnatural.” (
Ibid
. Moore, pp. 120121) The comedy occurs here where the human being uses the mask and changes it at will. “In this contest of mask and face, of wit and nature, of mind against life, let us not ask who wins. The comedy does not determine the relative strength of the forces pitted against each other; it illustrates in bewildering variety, their juxtaposition and coexistence.” (
Ibid
. Moore, pp. 120121) Thus the mask is not the character but a facet of his nature.
It is important that students grasp this essential theme of MoliEre’s play—the mask that we all wear, and how ridiculous it can become. The following activities are designed to help students analyze the mask theme in the play and fully realize it.
The students will read the play, in French, for answers to the questions they have generated. Through discussion and brainstorming, guided by the teacher, the students will attain each of the objectives mentioned above. (See Appendix A)
The videotape will be used to clarify points not understood by reading. Questions that cannot be answered by the play, will be researched by individuals and then shared with the class.
As the students are watching the videotape a second or third time, or while they are reading the play, they will, in small groups, make notes of things such as: behavior, costume, masks, ceremonies, theatricality, or individual characters as they occur in the play. These notes could then be used for discussions and essays.
Students could take a character, list his/her qualities, and present themselves as the character, asking who am I? They could dress in costume and use props. Or they could write a paragraph describing themselves and have other students guess who they are.
If there are students who enjoy acting, they could choose their favorite scene in the play, rehearse it, and present it to other students or parents, or the public. These scenes could be done bilingually, in French and English, or with a narrator giving a synopsis in English.
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
is a “comédieballet” in which music and dance play an important part. Each act ends with a ballet. The play ends with a Ballet of Nations in which different nations are represented in song, costume, and dance. This format was used to please the King and his Court. Students could be asked to discuss the value of their presence in the play. They could analyze the songs for their meaning intrinsically, and for the play. They could also find out what kind of music was being played or sung during the Seventeenth Century, and decide if MoliEre was using it seriously or as a statement.
Once the play has been read, seen, and studied, the students could do written or oral reports on the following topics: “A Day in the Life of a Courtier,” “A Day at Versailles,” “If you were noble (bourgeois), what would you find funny in
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
? Another report or presentation might be to tell the story from the viewpoint of one of the characters. Students could also write character sketches.
A debate might also be fun. The students, in small groups, could prepare opposite sides of a question or topic and then present their views on the assigned day. The debate could be a real one from the Seventeenth Century, such as “Arms versus Letters,” or it could be based on ideas brought out in class discussion.
Other activities or projects, depending on the interest and ability of the students, might take an artistic turn. Students could make a collage or montage of a famous place, a famous event, Louis XIV, a favorite scene from
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
, among other things. They could make a diorama of an event, a scene, or of a place. They could make a costume or a menu of the time. The project could take the form of a booklet with drawings made by the students, of costumes, furniture, decorated rooms. To illustrate the history of the times, students might make a newspaper. They could also design a card game about the history of Seventeenth Century France, Louis XIV,
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
, or MoliEre.
The century of Louis XIV is a vast banquet from which we have just sampled. Our appetites have been whetted for more! Other areas to be explored are: life at Versailles, the role of the arts in Seventeenth Century France, MoliEre’s theatre, history of the French Theatre,
Les Précieuses ridicules
, and the works of La Fontaine, La Rochefoucauld, La BruyEre, Boileau, and Voltaire’s essay on Louis XIV.