Retelling "The Tradesman in the Nobility"
A curtain! Now you will see a piece of the life of the “venerable” Mr. Jourdain, who decided to become a noble gentleman.
And the pursuit of aristocracy began. He hired tailors and teachers, who began to make him a nobleman. Each of them sought to cheat Jourdain, while paying exorbitant compliments to his taste, talent and education.
Jourdain appears, immediately inviting those present to evaluate the extravagant robe. Of course, there was no limit to the teachers’ admiration, because the amount of money received directly depended on the assessment of the owner’s taste.
They vying with each other to invite him to take up music playing and dancing - activities for noble gentlemen. The musician insists on weekly home concerts. The dancer immediately rushes to teach Jourdain the minuet.
However, the graceful movements are interrupted by the fencing teacher, who declares that his subject is the science of sciences. Carried away by the argument, the teachers came to the point of assault.
The philosophy teacher who came, at the request of Jourdain, tried to reconcile the fighting. But as soon as he advised teachers to study philosophy, the most important of the sciences, he was drawn into a fight.
The rather shabby philosopher finally began the lesson. However, Jourdain refused to engage in ethics and logic. Then the teacher began to talk about pronunciation, the process of which simply aroused childish joy in the owner. Equally great was Jourdain’s delight at the discovery that he spoke in prose.
An attempt to improve the text of the note to Jourdain’s lady love failed. The venerable bourgeois left his option as the best.
The tailor who came for Jourdain turned out to be more important than all kinds of sciences, so the philosopher had to retreat. A new suit in the latest aristocratic fashion, seasoned with flattery in the form of “your lordship,” significantly emptied the tradesman’s wallet.
The sober-minded wife of a bourgeois is categorically against Jourdain's walk through the streets of Paris, because even without this he became a laughing stock in the city. The desire to impress his wife and maid with the fruits of his training did not bring success. Nicole said “y” absolutely calmly, without thinking about how she did it, and then, without any rules, she stabbed her master with a sword.
And here comes Jourdain’s new “friend” - Count Dorant, a squandered rogue and liar. Entering the living room, he, among other things, noticed that he was talking about the owner of the house in the royal chambers. The count had already borrowed 15,800 livres from the gullible bourgeois and now came to borrow another 2,000. And in gratitude for this, he decides to establish Jourdain’s amorous affairs with the Marchioness Dorimena, for whose sake the dinner party was planned.
Madame Jourdain is concerned about the fate of her daughter, because Cleonte, a young man, asks for her hand in marriage, and Lucille reciprocates her feelings. The maid Nicole brings the young man to Jourdain. But he sees his daughter as a marquise or duchess, so he refuses Cleonte.
The young man is in despair, but his nimble servant Koviel, who, by the way, is vying for Nicole’s hand, decides to help his master. He comes up with something that should lead Jourdain to agree to marriage.
Dorimena and Dorant arrive. The count does not bring the widowed marquise to please the owner of the house. He has been pursuing a noble lady for a long time, and the crazy spending of the crazy bourgeoisie plays into his hands. After all, he attributes them to himself.
Not without pleasure, the marquise sits down at a luxurious table and devours delicious dishes to the whimsical compliments of a strange man.
The splendid atmosphere is disturbed by the appearance of the angry mistress of the house. Jourdain assures her that the count is giving lunch. But Madame Jourdain does not believe her husband. Dorimena, offended by the accusations against her, followed by Dorant, leave the house.
After the aristocrats leave, a new guest appears. This is Koviel in disguise, who talks about how supposedly Jourdain’s father was not a merchant, but a real nobleman.
After such a statement, you can safely hang any noodles on his ears. Koviel says that the son of the Turkish Sultan arrived in the capital, who, seeing Lucille, became mad with love and wants to marry her. But before that, he wants to initiate his future father-in-law into a Turkish nobleman - mamamushi.
The son of the Turkish Sultan is Cleont in disguise, speaking in gibberish, which Koviel translates into French with a serious look. All this is accompanied by Turkish music, dances, and songs. The future mamamushi, as required by ritual, is beaten with sticks.
Dorant and Dorimena return to the house and seriously congratulate Jourdain on his high title. The newly-minted “nobleman” cannot wait to marry his daughter to the son of the Turkish Sultan. Lucille, recognizing the disguised lover in the Turkish jester, meekly agrees to fulfill her father’s will. After Koviel in a whisper initiates Madame Jourdain into the true state of affairs, and she changes her anger to mercy.
Father's blessing received. The messenger was sent for a notary, whose services Dorant and Dorimena also decided to use.
While waiting for a representative of the law to officially seal the upcoming marriages, guests enjoy a ballet choreographed by a dance teacher.
After viewing the retelling of “The Bourgeois in the Nobility,” pay attention to other works related to Moliere.
The comedy "The Tradesman among the Nobility" is one of the most famous works of French literature. Like many of Moliere's works, this play ridicules human stupidity and vanity. Despite the lightness and abundance of farce, the author’s satirical attitude towards the main character and the situation in which he finds himself puts the work “A Bourgeois in the Nobility” at one of the highest levels of literature with social overtones.
The article examines the history of the creation of the play, its analysis and brief retelling. "A Tradesman in the Nobility" consists of five acts with a different number of scenes in each. Below is a brief summary of each of them.
Moliere
Moliere is the author's pseudonym, his real name is Jean Baptiste Poquelin. One of the pillars of French literature, Moliere wrote comedies that are considered the best in the history of not only French, but also European literature in general.
Despite his enormous court popularity, Moliere's works were often criticized by harsh moralists and adherents of the Catholic Church. However, criticism did not stop the author from ridiculing the vanity and duplicity of both the first and the second. Oddly enough, Jean Baptiste Moliere's theater was extremely popular. Many critics attribute to Moliere the important role of the court jester - the only person in the king's court who was allowed to tell the truth.
Literature and theater since Moliere
Moliere began writing plays at a time when literature was strictly divided into classical and realistic. The theater belonged to classical literature, where tragedy was a high genre and comedy a low one. Moliere was supposed to write according to these rules, but the author more than once violated the canons of genres and mixed classicism with realism, comedy with tragedy and farce with harsh social criticism in his comedies.
In some ways, his writing was far ahead of his time. It is safe to say that the father of modern comedy is Jean Baptiste Moliere. The plays he wrote and the productions under his direction took the theater to a new level.
History of the play
In 1670, King Louis XIV commissioned Molière to produce a Turkish farce, a play that would ridicule the Turks and their traditions. The fact is that the Turkish delegation that arrived the previous year greatly wounded the vanity of the vain autocrat by declaring that the Sultan’s horse was more richly decorated.
Louis was extremely offended by this attitude; the king’s mood was not improved by the fact that the Turkish embassy turned out to be fake and had nothing to do with the Sultan. The comedy “A Bourgeois in the Nobility” was created in 10 days and was almost completely improvised. In his work, Moliere slightly went beyond the scope of the order, creating a Turkish farce with the aim of ridiculing not the Turks, but the French, or rather, a collective image of a rich bourgeoisie striving to become an aristocrat.
The farce in this comedy is not only Turkish, which is confirmed by the summary below. “A Bourgeois in the Nobility” from the very first lines immerses the reader or viewer in a performance within a performance, where the main character turns his entire life into a farce.
Brief retelling of the plot
The play takes place almost entirely in the home of a wealthy merchant named Jourdain. His father made a fortune in the textile trade, and Jourdain followed in his footsteps. However, in his declining years, he came up with the crazy idea of becoming an aristocrat. He directs all his merchant assertiveness to indiscriminately imitate representatives of the upper class. His attempts are so ridiculous that they are the subject of ridicule not only of his wife and maid, but also of all the people around him.
Innate vanity and the desire to quickly become an aristocrat makes a blind fool out of the bourgeois, at whose expense teachers of dancing, music, fencing and philosophy, as well as a host of tailors and Jourdain’s patron, a certain Count Dorant, feed. In his quest for the upper class, Jourdain does not allow his daughter to marry her beloved young bourgeois named Cleont, which forces the young man to commit deception and start that same Turkish farce.
In five acts of the comedy, the viewer watches how an enterprising and prudent merchant becomes obsessed with the idea of becoming something other than who he really is. His stupid behavior describes the summary. “A Bourgeois in the Nobility” is a play consisting of five acts of unequal duration. What happens in them is outlined below.
Structure of the play and the original performance
Today, “A Tradesman in the Nobility” is one of the most popular comedies and is staged in theaters all over the world. Many directors decide to rework and revised versions of the production. Few people stage this comedy exactly in the form in which it was conceived by Moliere. Modern productions shorten not only the ballet, but also the musical and poetic scenes, making the comedy more like a summary. “The Bourgeois in the Nobility” in the original production by Moliere really looks like a farce in the medieval sense of the word.
The fact is that the original production is a comedy-ballet, where dance plays a special role in the satirical attitude towards the main character. Of course, the main value of the comedy is not lost if you omit the ballet scenes, but the original performance can transport the viewer to the theater of the 17th century. An important role is also played by the music written by Jean-Baptiste Lully, whom Moliere himself called his co-author. "A Tradesman Among the Nobles" uses music and dance as literary devices necessary to develop characters.
Plot and summary. "A tradesman among the nobility" by action
A comedy consists of a number of episodes and comic situations, each of which is described in a separate act. In every act, Jourdain is made a fool by his own unjustified ambitions. In the first act, the main character faces the flattery of dance and music teachers, in the second they are joined by fencing and philosophy teachers, each of them trying to prove the superiority of their subject and its value for a real aristocrat; the dispute between the pundits ends in a brawl.
The third act, the longest of the five, shows how blind Jourdain is, who allows his imaginary friend Count Dorant to extract money from himself, bribing him with flattery, lies and empty promises. The fourth act of the comedy gives rise to a Turkish farce, in which a disguised servant initiates Jourdain into the ranks of the non-existent Turkish nobility. In the fifth act, blinded by his fulfilled ambitions, Jourdain agrees to the marriage of his daughter and maid.
Act One: Preparing for the Dinner Party
In Jourdain's house, two masters are waiting for the owner - a dance teacher and a music teacher. The vain and stupid Jourdain aspires to become an aristocracy and desires to have a lady of his heart, which is the Marquise Dorimena. He prepares a glorious feast with ballet and other entertainment, hoping to impress the noble person.
The owner of the house comes out to them in a bright robe, citing the fact that this is how all aristocrats dress in the morning these days. Jourdain asks the masters for their opinion regarding his appearance, to which they shower him with compliments. He watches and listens to the program, joins in the performance of a pastoral serenade and convinces the masters to stay to look at his new suit, tailored in the latest fashion, which is about to be brought to him.
Act two: teachers' squabble and a new suit
A fencing teacher comes to the house and a dispute arises among the masters about which art is more necessary for an aristocrat: music, dancing or the ability to stab with a rapier. The argument escalates into a brawl with fists and shouts. In the midst of a brawl, a philosophy teacher enters and tries to calm down the raging masters, convincing them that philosophy is the mother of all sciences and arts, for which he receives cuffs.
Having finished the fight, the battered philosophy teacher begins a lesson from which Jourdain learns that, it turns out, he has been speaking in prose all his life. At the end of the lesson, a tailor enters the house with a new suit for Jourdain. The bourgeois immediately puts on a new thing and basks in the praise of flatterers who only want to take even more money out of his pocket.
Act three: plans
Getting ready for a walk, Jourdain calls the maid Nicole, who laughs at the appearance of the owner. Madame Jourdain also comes to the noise. Having examined her husband’s outfit, she tries to explain to him that with his behavior he is only entertaining onlookers and complicating life for himself and his loved ones. A wise wife tries to explain to her husband that he is behaving stupidly and everyone is profiting from this stupidity, including Count Dorant.
The same Dorant comes for a visit, greets Jourdain affectionately, showers him with a wave of compliments regarding his suit, and simultaneously borrows two thousand livres from him. Taking the owner of the house aside, Dorant informs him that he has discussed everything with the marquise and this evening he will personally escort the noble lady to dinner at Jourdain’s house so that she can enjoy the gallantry and generosity of her secret admirer. Of course, Dorant forgets to mention that he himself is courting Dorimena and the cunning count attributed all the signs of attention from the extravagant merchant to himself.
Madame Jourdain, meanwhile, is trying to arrange her daughter’s fate. Lucille is already of marriageable age, and young Cleontes is courting her, to whom the girl reciprocates. Madame Jourdain approves of the groom and wants to arrange this marriage. Nicole happily runs to tell this news to the young man, because she, too, is not averse to marrying Cleont’s servant, Koviel.
Cleont personally comes to Jourdain to ask for Lucille's hand in marriage, but the madman, having learned that the young man is not of noble blood, flatly refuses him. Klenot is upset, but his servant - the cunning and shrewd Koviel - offers his master a plan with the help of which Jourdain will happily marry Lucille to him.
Jourdain sends his wife to visit his sister, while he waits for Dorimena to arrive. The Marquise is sure that the dinner and ballet are a sign of attention to her from Dorant, who chose Jourdain’s house in order to avoid a scandal.
Act four: dinner and initiation into mamamushi
In the midst of a rich dinner, Jourdain's wife returns home. She is outraged by her husband's behavior and accuses Dorant and Dorimena of being a harmful influence. The discouraged marquise quickly leaves the feast, Dorant goes after her. Jourdain would also have run out after the marquise, if not for the curious guests.
A disguised Coviel enters the house and convinces Jourdain that his father was a purebred aristocrat. The guest convinces the owner of the house that the son of the Turkish Sultan is visiting the city at this very time, who is also crazy about his daughter. Would Jourdain want to meet his promising son-in-law? By the way, the uninvited guest knows Turkish very well and could take the place of an interpreter during negotiations.
Jourdain is beside himself with delight. He kindly receives the “Turkish nobleman” and immediately agrees to give him Lucille as his wife. Cleont, disguised as the son of the Sultan, speaks in gibberish, and Koviel translates, offering Jourdain immediate initiation into the ranks of the Turkish nobility - the non-existent noble rank of mamamushi.
Act Five: Lucille's Marriage
They dress Jourdain in a robe and turban, give him a curved Turkish sword and force him to pronounce oaths in gibberish. Jourdain calls Lucile and gives her hand to the Sultan's son. At first the girl doesn’t want to hear about it, but then she recognizes Cleont under his overseas clothes and happily agrees to fulfill his daughter’s duty.
Madame Jourdain enters; she does not know about Cleont’s plan, so she resists with all her might the marriage of her daughter and the Turkish nobleman. Koviel takes her aside and reveals his plan. Madame Jourdain approves of her husband's decision to immediately send for a notary.
Moliere, “The Bourgeois in the Nobility”: a brief analysis
To some extent, "The Bourgeois in the Nobility" is just a light farce comedy, but it is still a favorite work of European literature, and Mr. Jourdain is one of Moliere's most memorable characters. He is considered the archetype of the bourgeois with aristocratic ambitions.
Jourdain's image is not dynamic and shallow; he stands out for one main character trait - vanity, which makes him a one-sided character. Other heroes are no different in the depth of their inner world. "A Tradesman among the Nobility" is distinguished by a minimum of characters. The deepest and most complete of them is Madame Jourdain. She is the least comical and represents the voice of reason in this play.
The satire in the work is kept to a minimum, but is clearly visible. Jean Baptiste Moliere easily ridicules vanity and a person’s inability to be in his place. In the person of Jourdain, an entire class of the French public is exposed to obvious ridicule - merchants who have much more money than intelligence and education. In addition to the bourgeoisie, flatterers, liars and those who want to get rich from the stupidity of others receive a fair share of ridicule.
So, on our agenda we have Moliere. “The Bourgeois in the Nobility” is a book written by the author based on a real and completely anecdotal case. The Turkish ambassador, who was at the court of Louis XIV, had the imprudence to notice that the king’s horse had more precious stones than the monarch himself. The offender was under house arrest for several days. Then he was sent home, and in order to take revenge on Porte, a parody of the ceremony customary in Turkey was staged in the courtyard.
"The Bourgeois in the Nobility", Molière. Summary of Act 1
Music and dance teachers are waiting for Mr. Jourdain. He invited them both to decorate a dinner in honor of an important person. Jourdain decided to become like the gentlemen. Teachers like both the pay and the owner's treatment, but they think he lacks taste. For some time now he has been trying to do everything the same as noble gentlemen. The household also experience a lot of inconvenience because of his desire to become a nobleman. He orders a robe for himself and livery for the servants, so that it would be like in noble houses. Jourdain also decided to study dance and music.
"The Bourgeois in the Nobility", Molière. Summary of Act 2
The teachers quarrel: everyone wants to prove that only with his help will Jourdain achieve his goal. A shabby philosophy teacher begins his lesson. They decide to put logic and ethics aside and move on to spelling. Jourdain asks to write a love note to a lady. At the age of forty, he is surprised to learn that there are poems, and there is also prose. The tailor brings the gentleman a new suit. It is, of course, sewn according to the latest fashion. Jourdain notices that the tailor's clothes are made from his own fabric. But the apprentices “spread out” in front of him so much that the master was even generous with tips.
“The Bourgeois among the Nobility” Moliere. Summary of Act 3
The new outfit makes the maid Nicole laugh. But Jourdain still can’t wait to walk around the city in it. The wife is not happy with her husband's whims. She considers spending on teachers unnecessary, and does not see the benefit of his friendship with the nobles, since they perceive him only as a cash cow. But Jourdain does not listen to her. Moreover, he is secretly in love with the Marquise Dorimena, with whom Count Dorant brought him together. And the diamond, and the ballet, and the fireworks, and the dinner - all this is for her. When Madame Jourdain goes to visit her sister, he plans to host the Marquise. Nicole overheard something and told the mistress. She did not notice anything, since her head was occupied with her daughter Lucille. The girl sends Nicole to Cleont to say that she agrees to marry him. The maid does not hesitate, since she herself is in love with his servant and even hopes that their wedding will take place on the same day. Jourdain does not consent to his daughter’s marriage, since Cleont is not a nobleman. The wife, admonishing her husband, says that it is better to choose a rich and honest son-in-law than a poor nobleman, who will then begin to reproach Lucille for not being of noble birth. But it is almost impossible to convince Jourdain. Then Koviel offers to joke with him.
"The Bourgeois in the Nobility", Molière. Summary of Act 4
Dorimena and Dorant come to Jourdain. The count himself was in love with the marquise and attributed all the gifts and luxurious receptions to himself. Therefore, he teaches his “friend” that it is indecent in society to even hint to a lady about his gifts and feelings. Suddenly Madame Jourdain returns. Now she understands where her husband's money went. She reproaches Dorant for following Jourdain's lead. The Count says that it was he who spent on everything. Offended, Dorimena leaves. The couple continue to argue. At this moment, Koviel, Cleonte's servant in disguise, arrives. He introduces himself as an old friend of Jourdain's father and reports that he was a nobleman. Of course, the tradesman fell for this hook. He is delighted that he is a hereditary nobleman, and hurries to announce this news to everyone. In addition, it turned out that the son of the Turkish Sultan himself wants to become Jourdain’s son-in-law. Only for this, the newly minted nobleman needs to be promoted to “mamamushi”. Jourdain is not worried about the upcoming ceremony, but about his daughter’s stubbornness. Actors dressed as Turks and Cleont himself appear. They speak some kind of gibberish language, but it doesn’t confuse you at all. Dorant, at the request of Koviel, participates in the drawing.
Moliere, "The Bourgeois among the Nobility." Summary of Act 5
Dorant invites Dorimena to Jourdain’s house to watch a funny show. The Marquise decides to marry the Count in order to stop his wastefulness. Cleont arrives, dressed as a Turk. Lucille recognizes him as her beloved and agrees to the marriage. Only Madame Jourdain is opposed. Everyone gives her signs, but she stubbornly ignores them. Then Koviel takes her aside and directly says that everything is a setup. They sent for a notary. Jourdain gives his maid Nicole as his wife to Koviel (the interpreter). The Marquise and the Count intend to use the services of the same notary. While waiting for him, everyone watches the ballet.
ACT I
It would seem, what else does the venerable bourgeois Mr. Jourdain need? Money, family, health - he has everything you could want. But no, Jourdain decided to become an aristocrat, to become like noble gentlemen. His mania caused a lot of inconvenience and unrest for his household, but it played into the hands of a host of tailors, hairdressers and teachers, who promised him, through their art, to turn a simpleton into a brilliant noble gentleman. So now two teachers - dance and music - together with their students were waiting for the owner of the house to appear. Jourdain invited them to decorate the dinner he was throwing in honor of a titled person with a cheerful and elegant performance.
Presenting himself before the musician and dancer, Jourdain first of all invited them to evaluate his exotic robe - the kind, according to his tailor, all the nobility wear in the morning - and the new liveries of his lackeys. Apparently, the size of the connoisseurs' future fees directly depended on the assessment of Jourdain's taste, which is why the reviews were enthusiastic. The robe, however, caused some hesitation, since Jourdain could not decide for a long time how it would be more convenient for him to listen to music - with or without it. Having listened to the serenade, he found it a bit bland and, in turn, performed a lively street song, for which he again received praise and an invitation, in addition to other sciences, to also take up music and dancing. Jourdain was convinced to accept this invitation by the teachers’ assurances that every noble gentleman would certainly learn both music and dancing.
A pastoral dialogue was prepared for the upcoming reception by the music teacher. Jourdain generally liked it: since you can’t do without these eternal shepherdesses and shepherdesses, fine, let them sing to themselves. Jourdain really liked the ballet presented by the dance teacher and his students.
ACT II
Inspired by the success of the employer, the teachers decided to strike while the iron was hot: the musician advised Jourdain to organize weekly home concerts, as is done, according to him, in all aristocratic houses; the dance teacher immediately began to teach him the most exquisite of dances - the minuet.
Exercises in graceful body movements were interrupted by a fencing teacher, a science teacher - the ability to deliver blows, but not receive them himself. The dance teacher and his musician colleague unanimously disagreed with the fencer’s statement about the absolute priority of the ability to fight over their time-honored arts. The people got carried away, word for word - and a couple of minutes later a fight broke out between three teachers.
When the philosophy teacher arrived, Jourdain was delighted - who, if not the philosopher, should admonish the fighting. He willingly took up the task of reconciliation: he remembered Seneca, warned his opponents against anger that demeans human dignity, advised them to take up philosophy, this first of the sciences... Here he went too far. They began to beat him like the others.
The battered, but still uninjured, philosophy teacher was finally able to begin his lesson. Since Jourdain refused to study both logic - the words there are too tricky - and ethics - why does he need the science to moderate his passions, if, anyway, once he breaks up, nothing will stop him - the learned man began to initiate him into the secrets of spelling.
Practicing the pronunciation of vowel sounds, Jourdain rejoiced like a child, but when the first delights passed, he revealed a big secret to the philosophy teacher: he, Jourdain, is in love with a certain high-society lady, and he needs to write a note to this lady. For the philosopher it was a piece of cake - in prose or poetry... However, Jourdain asked him to do without this very prose and poetry. Did the respectable bourgeois know that here one of the most stunning discoveries in his life awaited him - it turns out that when he shouted to the maid: “Nicole, give me your shoes and nightcap,” the purest prose came from his lips, just think!
However, in the field of literature, Jourdain was still no stranger - no matter how hard the philosophy teacher tried, he was unable to improve the text composed by Jourdain: “Beautiful Marquise! Your beautiful eyes promise me death from love.”
The philosopher had to leave when Jourdain was informed about the tailor. He brought a new suit, made, naturally, according to the latest court fashion. The tailor's apprentices, while dancing, made a new one and, without interrupting the dance, dressed Jourdain in it. At the same time, his wallet suffered greatly: the apprentices did not skimp on flattering “Your Grace,” “Your Excellency,” and even “Your Lordship,” and the extremely touched Jourdain did not skimp on tips.
ACT III
In a new suit, Jourdain intended to stroll through the streets of Paris, but his wife resolutely opposed his intention - half the city was already laughing at Jourdain. In general, in her opinion, it was time for him to come to his senses and leave his stupid quirks: why, one might ask, does Jourdain need fencing if he does not intend to kill anyone? Why learn to dance when your legs are already about to give out?
Objecting to the woman’s senseless arguments, Jourdain tried to impress her and the maid with the fruits of his learning, but without much success: Nicole calmly pronounced the sound “u”, not even suspecting that at the same time she was stretching her lips and bringing the upper jaw closer to the lower one, and with a rapier she easily struck Jourdain received several injections, which he did not deflect, since the unenlightened maid did not inject according to the rules.
For all the nonsense that her husband indulged in, Madame Jourdain blamed the noble gentlemen who had recently begun to make friends with him. For the court dandies, Jourdain was an ordinary cash cow, and he, in turn, was confident that friendship with them would give him significant—what’s their name—pre-ro-ga-tives.
One of these high-society friends of Jourdain was Count Dorant. As soon as he entered the drawing room, this aristocrat paid several exquisite compliments to the new suit, and then briefly mentioned that this morning he had spoken about Jourdain in the royal bedchamber. Having prepared the ground in this manner, the count reminded him that he owed his friend fifteen thousand eight hundred livres, so there was a direct reason for him to lend him another two thousand two hundred - for good measure. In gratitude for this and subsequent loans, Dorant took on the role of intermediary in matters of the heart between Jourdain and the object of his worship - the Marchioness Dorimena, for whose sake the dinner with the performance was started.
Madame Jourdain, so as not to be disturbed, was sent to her sister for lunch that day. She knew nothing about her husband’s plan, but she herself was concerned about the fate of her daughter: Lucille seemed to reciprocate the tender feelings of a young man named Cleont, who, as a son-in-law, was very suitable for Madame Jourdain. At her request, Nicole, interested in the young lady’s marriage, since she herself was going to marry Cleont’s servant, Koviel, brought the young man. Madame Jourdain immediately sent him to her husband to ask for her daughter's hand in marriage.
However, Cleont did not meet Jourdain’s first and, in fact, only requirement for the applicant for Lucille’s hand - he was not a nobleman, while the father wanted to make his daughter, at worst, a marquise, or even a duchess. Having received a decisive refusal, Cleont became despondent, but Koviel believed that all was not lost. The faithful servant decided to play a joke with Jourdain, since he had actor friends and the appropriate costumes were at hand.
Meanwhile, the arrival of Count Dorant and Marchioness Dorimena was reported. The count brought the lady to dinner not out of a desire to please the owner of the house: he himself had been courting the widow marquise for a long time, but did not have the opportunity to see her either at her place or at his place - this could compromise Dorimena. In addition, he cleverly attributed all of Jourdain’s crazy spending on gifts and various entertainments for her to himself, which ultimately won a woman’s heart.
Having greatly amused the noble guests with an elaborate, awkward bow and the same welcoming speech, Jourdain invited them to a luxurious table.
ACT IV
The Marquise, not without pleasure, devoured exquisite dishes to the accompaniment of the exotic compliments of the eccentric bourgeois, when all the splendor was unexpectedly disrupted by the appearance of the angry Madame Jourdain. Now she understood why they wanted to send her to dinner with her sister - so that her hubby could calmly waste money with strangers. Jourdain and Dorant began to assure her that the count was giving the dinner in honor of the marquise and that he was paying for everything, but their assurances in no way moderated the ardor of the offended wife. After her husband, Madame Jourdain took on the guest, who should have been ashamed to bring discord into an honest family. The embarrassed and offended marquise got up from the table and left the hosts; Dorant followed her away.
Only the noble gentlemen had left when a new visitor was reported. It turned out to be Koviel in disguise, introducing himself as a friend of Mr. Jourdain’s father. The late father of the owner of the house was, according to him, not a merchant, as everyone around him said, but a real nobleman. Coviel's calculation was justified: after such a statement, he could say anything without fear that Jourdain would doubt the veracity of his speeches.
Koviel told Jourdain that his good friend, the son of the Turkish Sultan, had arrived in Paris, madly in love with his, Jourdain’s, daughter. The Sultan’s son wants to ask for Lucille’s hand in marriage, and in order for his father-in-law to be worthy of his new family, he decided to initiate him into a mamamushi, or in our opinion, a paladin. Jourdain was delighted.
The son of the Turkish Sultan was represented by Cleont in disguise. He spoke in terrible gibberish, which Koviel allegedly translated into French. The appointed muftis and dervishes arrived with the main Turk, who had a lot of fun during the initiation ceremony - it turned out to be very colorful, with Turkish music, songs and dances, as well as the ritual beating of the new convert with sticks.
ACT V
Dorant, privy to Coviel's plan, finally managed to persuade Dorimena to return, tempting her with the opportunity to enjoy a funny spectacle, and then also an excellent ballet. The count and marquise, with the most serious looks, congratulated Jourdain on conferring a high title on him, and they were also impatient to hand over their daughter to the son of the Turkish Sultan as soon as possible.
At first, Lucille was reluctant to marry the Turkish jester, but as soon as she recognized him as Cleonte in disguise, she immediately agreed, pretending that she was dutifully fulfilling her daughter’s duty. Madame Jourdain, in turn, sternly declared that the Turkish scarecrow would not see her daughter like his own ears. But as soon as Koviel whispered a few words in her ear, the mother changed her anger to mercy.
Jourdain solemnly joined the hands of the young man and the girl, giving a parental blessing for their marriage, and then they sent for a notary. Another couple, Dorant and Dorimena, decided to use the services of the same notary. While waiting for the representative of the law, everyone present had a wonderful time enjoying the ballet choreographed by the dance teacher.
Year of writing:
1670
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The comedy The Tradesman among the Nobility was written in 1670 by Molière. The comedy was shown for the first time in the presence of King Louis XIV. This play was very different from everything that Moliere had previously written, since it did not have the dynamic intrigue that was always present in the author’s works.
We bring to your attention a brief summary of the comedy Bourgeois among the Nobility.
It would seem, what else does the venerable bourgeois Mr. Jourdain need? Money, family, health - he has everything you could want. But no, Jourdain decided to become an aristocrat, to become like noble gentlemen. His mania caused a lot of inconvenience and unrest for the household, but it was beneficial to a host of tailors, hairdressers and teachers, who promised to use their art to make a brilliant noble gentleman out of Jourdain. So now two teachers - dance and music - together with their students were waiting for the owner of the house to appear. Jourdain invited them to decorate the dinner he was throwing in honor of a titled person with a cheerful and elegant performance.
Presenting himself before the musician and dancer, Jourdain first of all invited them to evaluate his exotic robe - the kind, according to his tailor, all the nobility wear in the morning - and the new liveries of his lackeys. Apparently, the size of the connoisseurs' future fees directly depended on the assessment of Jourdain's taste, which is why the reviews were enthusiastic.
The robe, however, caused some hesitation, since Jourdain could not decide for a long time how it would be more convenient for him to listen to music - with or without it. Having listened to the serenade, he found it a bit bland and, in turn, performed a lively street song, for which he again received praise and an invitation, in addition to other sciences, to also study music and dancing. Jourdain was convinced to accept this invitation by the teachers’ assurances that every noble gentleman would certainly learn both music and dancing.
A pastoral dialogue was prepared for the upcoming reception by the music teacher. Jourdain, in general, liked it: since you can’t do without these eternal shepherdesses and shepherdesses, okay, let them sing to themselves. Jourdain really liked the ballet presented by the dance teacher and his students.
Inspired by the success of the employer, the teachers decided to strike while the iron was hot: the musician advised Jourdain to organize weekly home concerts, as is done, according to him, in all aristocratic houses; the dance teacher immediately began to teach him the most exquisite of dances - the minuet.
Exercises in graceful body movements were interrupted by a fencing teacher, a teacher of science - the ability to deliver blows, but not receive them himself. The dance teacher and his fellow musician unanimously disagreed with the fencer's statement about the absolute priority of the ability to fight over their time-honored arts. The people got carried away, word for word - and a couple of minutes later a fight broke out between three teachers.
When the philosophy teacher arrived, Jourdain was delighted - who else but the philosopher should admonish the fighting. He willingly took up the task of reconciliation: he remembered Seneca, warned his opponents against anger that demeans human dignity, advised him to take up philosophy, this first of the sciences... Here he went too far. They began to beat him like the others.
The battered, but still uninjured philosophy teacher was finally able to begin his lesson. Since Jourdain refused to study both logic - the words there are too tricky - and ethics - why does he need the science to moderate passions, if it doesn’t matter, once he breaks up, nothing will stop him - the learned man began to initiate him into the secrets of spelling.
Practicing the pronunciation of vowel sounds, Jourdain rejoiced like a child, but when the first delight passed, he revealed a big secret to the philosophy teacher: he, Jourdain, is in love with a certain high-society lady, and he needs to write a note to this lady. For a philosopher this was a piece of cake - in prose or poetry. However, Jourdain asked him to do without this very prose and poetry. Did the respectable bourgeois know that here one of the most stunning discoveries in his life awaited him - it turns out that when he shouted to the maid: “Nicole, give me your shoes and nightcap,” the purest prose came from his lips, just think!
However, in the field of literature, Jourdain was still no stranger - no matter how hard the philosophy teacher tried, he was unable to improve the text composed by Jourdain: “Beautiful Marquise! Your beautiful eyes promise me death from love.”
The philosopher had to leave when Jourdain was informed about the tailor. He brought a new suit, made, naturally, according to the latest court fashion. The tailor's apprentices, while dancing, made a new one and, without interrupting the dance, dressed Jourdain in it. At the same time, his wallet suffered greatly: the apprentices did not skimp on flattering “Your Grace,” “Your Excellency,” and even “Your Lordship,” and the extremely touched Jourdain did not skimp on tips.
In a new suit, Jourdain intended to stroll through the streets of Paris, but his wife resolutely opposed his intention - half the city was already laughing at Jourdain. In general, in her opinion, it was time for him to come to his senses and leave his stupid quirks: why, one might ask, does Jourdain fencing if he does not intend to kill anyone? Why learn to dance when your legs are about to give out anyway?
Objecting to the woman’s senseless arguments, Jourdain tried to impress her and the maid with the fruits of his learning, but without much success: Nicole calmly pronounced the sound “u”, not even suspecting that at the same time she was stretching her lips and bringing the upper jaw closer to the lower one, and with a rapier she easily struck Jourdain received several injections, which he did not deflect, since the unenlightened maid did not inject according to the rules.
For all the nonsense that her husband indulged in, Madame Jourdain blamed the noble gentlemen who had recently begun to make friends with him. For the court dandies, Jourdain was an ordinary cash cow, and he, in turn, was confident that friendship with them would give him significant—what’s their name—pre-ro-ga-tives.
One of these high-society friends of Jourdain was Count Dorant. As soon as he entered the drawing room, this aristocrat paid several exquisite compliments to the new suit, and then briefly mentioned that this morning he had spoken about Jourdain in the royal bedchamber. Having prepared the ground in this manner, the count reminded him that he owed his friend fifteen thousand eight hundred livres, so there was a direct reason for him to lend him another two thousand two hundred - for good measure. In gratitude for this and subsequent loans, Dorant took on the role of intermediary in matters of the heart between Jourdain and the object of his worship - the Marchioness Dorimena, for whose sake the dinner with the performance was started.
Madame Jourdain, so as not to be disturbed, was sent to her sister for lunch that day. She knew nothing about her husband’s plan, but she herself was concerned about the fate of her daughter: Lucille seemed to reciprocate the tender feelings of a young man named Cleont, who, as a son-in-law, was very suitable for Madame Jourdain. At her request, Nicole, interested in the young lady’s marriage, since she herself was going to marry Cleont’s servant, Koviel, brought the young man. Madame Jourdain immediately sent him to her husband to ask for her daughter's hand in marriage.
However, Cleont did not meet Jourdain’s first and, in fact, only requirement for the applicant for Lucille’s hand - he was not a nobleman, while the father wanted to make his daughter, at worst, a marquise, or even a duchess. Having received a decisive refusal, Cleont became despondent, but Koviel believed that all was not lost. The faithful servant decided to play a joke with Jourdain, since he had actor friends and the appropriate costumes were at hand.
Meanwhile, the arrival of Count Dorant and Marchioness Dorimena was reported. The count brought the lady to dinner not at all out of a desire to please the owner of the house: he himself had been courting the widow marquise for a long time, but did not have the opportunity to see her either at her place or at his place - this could compromise Dorimena. In addition, he cleverly attributed all of Jourdain’s crazy spending on gifts and various entertainments for her to himself, which ultimately won a woman’s heart.
Having greatly amused the noble guests with an elaborate, awkward bow and the same welcoming speech, Jourdain invited them to a luxurious table.
The Marquise, not without pleasure, devoured exquisite dishes to the accompaniment of the exotic compliments of the eccentric bourgeois, when all the splendor was unexpectedly disrupted by the appearance of the angry Madame Jourdain. Now she understood why they wanted to send her to dinner with her sister - so that her hubby could calmly waste money with strangers. Jourdain and Dorant began to assure her that the dinner in honor of the Marquise was being given by the count, and he was paying for everything, but their assurances in no way moderated the ardor of the offended wife. After her husband, Madame Jourdain took on the guest, who should have been ashamed to bring discord into an honest family. The embarrassed and offended marquise got up from the table and left the hosts; Dorant followed her away.
Only the noble gentlemen had left when a new visitor was reported. It turned out to be Koviel in disguise, introducing himself as a friend of Mr. Jourdain’s father. The late father of the owner of the house was, according to him, not a merchant, as everyone around him said, but a real nobleman. Coviel’s calculation was justified: after such a statement, he could say anything without fear that Jourdain would doubt the veracity of his speeches.
Koviel told Jourdain that his good friend, the son of the Turkish Sultan, had arrived in Paris, madly in love with his, Jourdain’s, daughter. The Sultan's son wants to ask for Lucille's hand in marriage, and in order for his father-in-law to be worthy of his new relatives, he decided to initiate him into mamamushi, in our opinion - paladins. Jourdain was delighted.
The son of the Turkish Sultan was represented by Cleont in disguise. He spoke in terrible gibberish, which Koviel allegedly translated into French. The appointed muftis and dervishes arrived with the main Turk, who had a lot of fun during the initiation ceremony: it turned out to be very colorful, with Turkish music, songs and dances, as well as with the ritual beating of the initiate with sticks.
Dorant, privy to Koviel's plan, finally managed to persuade Dorimena to return, tempting her with the opportunity to enjoy a funny spectacle, and then also an excellent ballet. The count and marquise, with the most serious air, congratulated Jourdain on conferring a high title on him, and they were also impatient to hand over their daughter to the son of the Turkish Sultan as soon as possible. At first, Lucille did not want to marry the Turkish jester, but as soon as she recognized him as Cleonte in disguise, she immediately agreed, pretending that she was dutifully fulfilling her daughter’s duty. Madame Jourdain, in turn, sternly declared that the Turkish scarecrow could not see her daughter like his own ears. But as soon as Koviel whispered a few words in her ear, the mother changed her anger to mercy.
Jourdain solemnly joined the hands of the young man and the girl, giving a parental blessing for their marriage, and then they sent for a notary. Another couple, Dorant and Dorimena, decided to use the services of the same notary. While waiting for the representative of the law, everyone present had a wonderful time enjoying the ballet choreographed by the dance teacher.
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