That French is nicknamed “language of Molière” is a recognition of the talent of a classical author among the classics, and agile in handling all registers. An imprint that is not close to fading, while high school students of the TikTok generation who rub shoulders with the plays of the playwright, which we celebrate this week on the 400e birthday, decree it “super fun And shouting “topical” in the #MeToo era.
In the Espace Cardin studio in Paris, a dozen students from the prestigious Montaigne high school rehearsed extracts from three pieces by Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in December, for the anniversary of his birth celebrated on January 15. “With you, marriage is unfortunate and painful and your speeches make a terrible image of it,” says Zélie Henock, 17 years old. She plays Agnes, the heroine of Women’s school seeking to free herself from the grip of Arnolphe who raised her cloistered in the greatest ignorance to make her a submissive wife.
The play created in 1662, the primary objective of which is to make people laugh, is considered as a plea by Molière in favor of young people, but also by some for the education of women. The work “absolutely has its place” in today’s society, told AFP Zélie who, like her classmates in the final year, is enrolled in a theater specialty.
Strong female roles
“Speech is freed from violence [faites aux femmes]. We are fairly well trained on these subjects with social networks and current affairs, ”she adds. The teenager finds echoes in today’s society, where “we are almost all confronted in one way or another with a kind of psychological or even physical abuse”.
The staging of Sandra Faure, an actress from the Théâtre de la Ville, who is a partner of the lycée in teaching theater, highlights the authority of Arnolphe, played by Samuel Dupuis, 17, who pretends to be physically abusing Agnes when he discovers that she is in love with young Horace. For Samuel, times and situations may be different, “the links are very easily made with the life we can have today”.
Eliette Pernot, white shirt and black pants, has chosen to interpret Tartuffe, facing Hannah Bendel, in a sequined dress and heels, who plays Elmire seeking to convince her husband Orgon of the hypocrisy of the false devotee. During the famous scene where Elmire unmasks Tartuffe who wants to seduce her, Eliette puts her head between Hannah’s legs. The teacher puts them at ease: “Are you okay? I know it’s difficult ”; the two girls laugh, and the atmosphere is good-natured.
Hannah says she was “enormously touched” by the scene which reminds her of “victims of assault and sexual harassment.”
For her, “Molière made a lot of very modern characters and imagined roles that would have such a strong impact later on”.
French spirit
“It has been since the XIXe century that we say “language of Molière”. We invented an uninterrupted tradition of the French spirit, from the Gauls, through Rabelais, to him. And in the XVIIIe This idea is imposed, around La Fontaine, Boileau, Racine and Molière, of a generation of classics ”, explains Georges Forestier, professor of literature.
What did this comedy genius bring to French as we know it? “That it reaches a very large audience, even today, makes Molière a broker of a language which is an integral part of our heritage,” said Céline Paringaux, associate professor.
“But if he is an incarnation of the classical language, in reality the language of his pieces is extremely rich and willingly deviates from the norms being established in his time. We see it in Wise women : the character who carries common sense is Martine, the one who flays the French of the great grammarian Vaugelas, the one who makes mistakes everywhere, ”she adds.
Molière has had no equal in addressing all audiences, popular in tours all over France, from Carcassonne to Grenoble and Rouen, or royal at the court of Versailles. His French is understood and makes people laugh in all walks of life.
“Despite the three and a half centuries that separate us from him, he seems contemporary to us. He’s a genius handyman who never considered becoming a classic. He had the talent to pin down the snobs, the ambitious, the hypocrites… And we still know them! »According to Georges Forestier, biographer of the most famous French theater artist.
For Martial Poirson, “Molière was unaware of his genius: he was in the process of inventing it. The stainless character of his tongue sets him apart. Racine is complex. Corneille can look very old-fashioned. Molière remains alive ”.