In the following excerpt, Greenberg offers a psychoanalytic explanation for the fearful reaction against Le Tartuffe during the seventeenth-century.

Nelson is an American critic and educator whose works on French literature include Play Within a Play: The Dramatist's Conception of His Art (1958), and Corneille: His Heroes and Their Worlds (1963). In the following essay, he discusses Molière 's treatment of the relationship between appearance and reality in Le Tartuffe, Dom Juan, and Le Misanthrope, "in order to assess [the meaning of this theme for Molière 's art in particular and for comic theory in general.&#...

In this excerpt, Carmody develops a methodology for interpreting Molière's works through the lens of twentieth-century stagings. Carmody's interest is in how these stagings address issues of historical distance and Molière's status as a classic author.

In this excerpt, Fleck reviews comic theory from Aristotle to the twentieth century as a context for examining Molière's comic method in his comedy-ballets, focusing on notions of paradox and realism.

In this excerpt, McBride focuses on La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas and, particularly, on The Learned Ladies as grand aesthetic spectacles. McBride argues that the sheer theatricality of The Learned Ladies becomes more important than either its overt themes or its satire when the play is staged.

Eustis is an American critic, translator, and educator. In the following excerpt, he discusses the structure of Molière's plays and suggests that an ironic situation or paradox is at the center of each of the comedies.

In this excerpt, Harrison argues that Molière's depiction of the relationship between artistic creation and patronage demonstrates his own status as a royal servant. The critic finds that the connections Molière draws between art and power work to support the authority of the king.

In this essay, Jaymes explicates Molière's view of health and medicine, arguing that his satire of doctors is rooted in questions of responsibility and what constitutes appropriate authority. Molière, the critic contends,“seems to take serious issue with any attempt to sever the link between mind and body.… For him consulting a physician is tantamount to abdicating responsibility for one's health, an abdication that usually consists of turning one's body ove...

In the following essay, Phillips examines the changing attitudes towards Molière's drama, focusing on the criticisms of the church.

In this essay, McCann claims that the humor in the character of Harpagon in The Miser comes not from his excessive avarice but from his paradoxical but inherently logical revisions of concepts of generosity and charity. As a result, McCann suggests, Harpagon retains his humanity, even if he is not finally reformed.

Wilson is an English educator and critic. In the following essay, he discusses the characteristic comic techniques of Molière 's dialogue.

Hubert is an American essayist and critic. In the following essay, he discusses characterization, setting, and language in Dom Juan, which he considers to be one of Molière's most controversial and unique works.

In the following essay, Riggs discusses the relationships between desire, discourse, and the institutionalized world as presented in Molière's comedies.

In the following essay, Shaw examines Molière's use of comic denouements, contending that they suggest that real-life endings are not always happy.

In this excerpt, Whitton reviews the performance history of Don Juan, one of Molière's more challenging comedies from an interpretive standpoint. For Whitton, the servant character of Sganarelle is a crucial factor in interpreting the play and its ambiguous main character for modern audiences.

Howarth is an English educator and critic whose works on French literature include Life and Letters in France: The Seventeenth Century (1965), and Sublime and Grotesque: A Study of French Romantic Drama (1975). In the following essay, he discusses Molière 's view of human nature, the problems of contemporary production of Molière 's plays, and the moral function of Molière 's drama. Howarth concludes that "the cathartic function" of the Molière...

In the following essay, Kenny explores Molière's struggles in creating the new genre of musical-comedy.

In the following essay, Lindsay provides an in-depth look at Molière's L'Impromptu de Versailles, commenting on possible reasons why the play has been overlooked.

In this essay, Hartley argues that in Molière's plays a character's use of language reveals the reliability of his or her authority, and that Molière satirizes those who value language as a marker of status.

In this essay, Maber traces the sexual humor throughout Molière's works, distinguishing playwright's use of bawdy, a broad, obvious form of comedy, from his use of subtle double entendre, which requires some complicity from the audience for the humor to be realized.

Gossman is Scottish essayist and educator. In the following excerpt, he discusses "the comic hero's relation to the world" in Molière's plays, focusing on the themes of social class and the rejection of society.

In the following essay, Peacock discusses the issues surrounding the translation of Molière's plays, focusing on three types of translators: conservationists, modernists, and postmodernists.

In the following essay, Gaines delineates the connection between Marx and Molière.

In the following essay, Bermel discusses the balance between comedy and tragedy in Molière's theater.

Knutson is an American educator and critic whose writings on French literature include Molière: An Archetypal Approach (1976). In the following essay, he examines Molière's portrayal of social hierarchy and asserts that his theater may be considered "reactionary."

Mould is an American educator and critic who specializes in seventeenth-century French theater. In the following essay, he examines Molière 's treatment of the paradoxical relationship between illusion and reality in his plays.