The New York herald., 1922-04-23
Moliere in the American Universities

acter which makes the student wish
to understand him, and this is half
the battle so far as the teacher II
concerned. There are Frenchmen
who are not Parisians and there are
Parisians who are not Frenchman.
Moliere was both and more. He was
Partisan. French. human. Living a.
he did in the time Of Louis XIV, an
age further removed from US in spirit,
II not in time. than the age OF PERI
cles. he Is nevertheless SO funda-
mentally human that, like Shake
speare. he can be taken out OF the
background OF his time and lose but
little. II you wish to know whether
a Jewel or poet is Of the first water
take them out of their setting and
see whether they still radiate light
Moliere viii stand this test.
1t was not his imagination alone.
but his own life that had given him
his plenitude and richness OF ex-
perience. Circumstances played their
fun part In making a poet OF
this young man, who. born the son
OF bourgeois IN comfortable circum-
stances. was left motheriess at an
early age. broke with his family and
friends and. iured by his star. took
upon himself the doubtful status OF a
stroliing player. As such. he was 70
know poverty and failure. With an
unwavering devotion 10 his COM
rades. he stays with them through
thick and thin. through their Iong.
lean years In the provinces. provides
play whenever one Is needed. and
Ike the humblest member of his
troop continues to act his part even
after he arrives at fame and fortune.
Indeed. after the return to Paris.
when he finally wins the favor OF
the King and achives success and
riches. he does not slacken his ef
forts. and even when heartbroken he
cannot leave his company in the
iurch. Two days after the death of
his first born. Louis, he is back upon
the stage: and having now become
the friend Of the great, and owing
his success to himself alone, he does
not hold aloof from the plebeian fam
ily that would once have disowned
him. We find him standing as god
father to his brothers and sisters
children. and treating with gener-
osity the father who had once been
ashamed Of his truant and declasse
son. He is not Samuel Butler nor
an Ibsen, he is cast in a larger mold
and knows no rancors. Then too
there Is his unhappy love affair with
the Bejarts. members of his troupe.
Having been drawn into the circle
OF the court, he does not take the
prescribed avenue to preferment; he
does not flatter. To his caste-ridden
century there is nothing more in
herently ridiculous than a bourgeois
who pretends to be a gentleman.
Hto oC~OAiCC t&lC 60DJCIl Vi OAS VI
his plays richest in laughter, but so
packed with fundamental humanity
that any American schoolboy of to-
day can understand it without pre-
abule or explanation. Moliere's
bourgeois gentleman, Monsieur Jour-
dain, is Of course ridiculous. From
his tutor he learns in happy amaze
ment that what he writes is prose
and with even more amazement he
comes to grasp that paradox Of life
and art which many versifiers and
some critics have never yet UNDER
stood, that a man may be a very
good man and yet a very poor poet.
His time. with its prejudices, its
conventions, has left its mark deeply
upon Monsieur Jourdain, but some
how it has not covered up his essen
tial humanity. For all his amusing
pretenca and his foibles. he remains
man for a. that, and at bottom a
better man than that adventuring
gaudy water fly, the Marquis Do
rimene.
AS we watch the play we seem to
have caught this household off it's
guard. We see it from close up. We
seem almost to be at q peep show
into weaknesses never before out
wardly confessed. How wise. how
eIated. and how superior it makes US
feel And we feel thus just because