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Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière (;〔("Molière" ). ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.〕 ; 1622–1673), was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature.〔Hartnoll, p. 554. "Author of some of the finest comedies in the history of the theater", and Roy, p. 756. "...one of the theatre's greatest comic artists".〕 Among Molière's best known works are ''The Misanthrope'', ''The School for Wives'', ''Tartuffe'', ''The Miser'', ''The Imaginary Invalid'', and ''The Bourgeois Gentleman''. Born into a prosperous family and having studied at the Collège de Clermont (now Lycée Louis-le-Grand), Molière was well suited to begin a life in the theatre. Thirteen years as an itinerant actor helped him polish his comic abilities while he began writing, combining Commedia dell'arte elements with the more refined French comedy.〔Roy, p. 756.〕 Through the patronage of aristocrats including Philippe I, Duke of Orléans—the brother of Louis XIV—Molière procured a command performance before the King at the Louvre. Performing a classic play by Pierre Corneille and a farce of his own, ''The Doctor in Love'', Molière was granted the use of salle du Petit-Bourbon near the Louvre, a spacious room appointed for theatrical performances. Later, Molière was granted the use of the theatre in the Palais-Royal. In both locations he found success among Parisians with plays such as ''The Affected Ladies'', ''The School for Husbands'' and ''The School for Wives''. This royal favour brought a royal pension to his troupe and the title ''Troupe du Roi'' ("The King's Troupe"). Molière continued as the official author of court entertainments.〔Roy, p. 756–757.〕 Though he received the adulation of the court and Parisians, Molière's satires attracted criticism from moralists and the Catholic Church. ''Tartuffe'' and its attack on perceived religious hypocrisy roundly received condemnations from the Church, while ''Don Juan'' was banned from performance. Molière's hard work in so many theatrical capacities took its toll on his health and, by 1667, he was forced to take a break from the stage. In 1673, during a production of his final play, ''The Imaginary Invalid'', Molière, who suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis, was seized by a coughing fit and a haemorrhage while playing the hypochondriac Argan. He finished the performance but collapsed again and died a few hours later.〔 ==Life== Molière was born in Paris, the son of Jean Poquelin and Marie Cressé, the daughter of a prosperous bourgeois family. He lost his mother when he was ten and he did not seem to have been particularly close to his father. After his mother's death, he lived with his father above the ''Pavillon des Singes'' on the rue Saint-Honoré, an affluent area of Paris. It is likely that his education commenced with studies in a Parisian elementary school; this was followed with his enrollment in the prestigious Jesuit Collège de Clermont, where he completed his studies in a strict academic environment and got a first taste of life on the stage.〔John W. O'Malley, ''The Jesuits; a history from Ignatius to the present'', London, Sheed and Ward, 2014, p.30 '',〕 In 1631, Jean Poquelin purchased from the court of Louis XIII the posts of "''valet de chambre ordinaire et tapissier du Roi''" ("valet of the King's chamber and keeper of carpets and upholstery"). His son assumed the same posts in 1641.〔Alfred Simon, ''Molière, une vie'' (Lyon: La Manufacture, 1988), pp. 520-21.〕 The title required only three months' work and an initial cost of 1,200 livres; the title paid 300 livres a year and provided a number of lucrative contracts. Poquelin also studied as a provincial lawyer some time around 1642, probably in Orléans, but it is not documented that he ever qualified. So far he had followed his father's plans, which had served him well; he had mingled with nobility at the Collège de Clermont and seemed destined for a career in office. In June 1643, when Molière was 21, he decided to abandon his social class and pursue a career on the stage. Taking leave of his father, he joined the actress Madeleine Béjart, with whom he had crossed paths before, and founded the Illustre Théâtre with 630 livres. They were later joined by Madeleine's brother and sister. The new theatre troupe went bankrupt in 1645. Molière had become head of the troupe, due in part, perhaps, to his acting prowess and his legal training. However, the troupe had acquired large debts, mostly for the rent of the theatre (a court for jeu de paume), for which they owed 2000 livres. Historians differ as to whether his father or the lover of a member of his troupe paid his debts; either way, after a 24-hour stint in prison he returned to the acting circuit. It was at this time that he began to use the pseudonym ''Molière'', possibly inspired by a small village of the same name in the Midi near Le Vigan. It was also likely that he changed his name to spare his father the shame of having an actor in the family (actors, although no longer vilified by the state under Louis XIV, were still not allowed to be buried in sacred ground). After his imprisonment, he and Madeleine began a theatrical circuit of the provinces with a new theatre troupe; this life was to last about twelve years, during which he initially played in the company of Charles Dufresne, and subsequently created a company of his own, which had sufficient success and obtained the patronage of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans. Few plays survive from this period. The most noteworthy are ''L'Étourdi, ou le Contretemps'' ''(The Bungler)'' and ''Le Docteur Amoureux'' ''(The Doctor in Love)''; with these two plays, Molière moved away from the heavy influence of the Italian improvisational Commedia dell'arte, and displayed his talent for mockery. In the course of his travels he met Armand, Prince of Conti, the governor of Languedoc, who became his patron, and named his company after him. This friendship later ended when Conti, having contracted syphilis from a courtesan, turned towards religion and joined Molière's enemies in the ''Parti des Dévots'' and the ''Compagnie de Saint Sacrement''. In Lyon, Mademoiselle Du Parc, known as ''Marquise'', joined the company. Marquise was courted, in vain, by Pierre Corneille and later became the lover of Jean Racine. Racine offered Molière his tragedy ''Théagène et Chariclée'' (one of the first works he wrote after he had abandoned his theology studies), but Molière would not perform it, though he encouraged Racine to pursue his artistic career. It is said that soon thereafter Molière became angry with Racine when he was told that he had secretly presented his tragedy to the company of the Hôtel de Bourgogne as well. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Molière」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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