This Saturday we celebrate the 400th anniversary of the birth of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known as Molière. An event all the more striking as this interval of four centuries has only confirmed the place of the playwright in the hearts of the French… to the point that we speak of the “language of Molière”.
Three months before the presidential election, it’s time for division. No union on the left, a right – and above all, an extreme right – at loggerheads. However, one man managed to reach a consensus, and even to join the two shores: Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known as Molière. Monday, in a gallery, the contender LR Valérie Pécresse demanded the pantheonization of the playwright and Thursday, the socialist Anne Hidalgo followed in his footsteps. A consecration that the Elysée excluded at this stage.
In any case, Molière did not wait for this campaign to bring the nation into unison. To the point that he annexed French, nicknamed “the language of Molière”. As we celebrate this Saturday the 400th anniversary of his birth in 1622 in Paris, the “theater” asserts himself more than ever as the boss of our Republic of Letters. The academic Martial Poirson and the actor Francis Perrin, two men who know him very closely, explain to BFMTV.com the reasons for a success that time only confirms.
An expression that comes from afar
“Langue de Molière”: the expression is famous, not far from the cliché. It must be said that it has been in circulation for a long time. “The expression appears gradually in the second half of the 19th century, but intensifies with the generalization of education after the Ferry laws. We need shared references”, resituates the historian Martial Poirson, author this year of Moliere. From mountebank to favorite and of Moliere. The making of a national glory. The professor continues:
“The promotion of the French language as a vector of national unity is done under the banner of Molière and will participate in eliminating local dialects.”
The “language of Molière” is definitely very Third Republic. “We see in his theater a lesson in civic morality, a school of virtue for the young citizen”, develops Martial Poirson. This is the time when students are asked to write their compositions “in the manner of Molière”. If necessary, we will even twist his texts to embody the references of modern France. Thus, we remove the embarrassing memory of the darling of the Court and the king by divine right Louis XIV to make the author of the Tartuffe the patron saint of the Republic and of secularism.
A trend that is rooted even more deeply in our history, underlines the academic: “The national hero Molière, it begins in the 18th century, with Diderot, Voltaire, because we see in him the prefiguration of the role of reason.”
The actor behind the text
A philosopher of the Enlightenment, then a teacher at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the man of the theater of the 17th century has remained our contemporary. Another effect of his tongue. “It has a very fluid verse which imposes a very direct relationship and which means that this language has aged very little”, considers Martial Poirson, also curator of the exhibition “Molière. The factory of a national glory”, at the Espace Richaud in Versailles until April 17.
“We feel that it’s written by an actor! I played Corneille, Racine and it’s not the same!” enthuses Francis Perrin to BFMTV.com. By a troop leader and for his troop. “Molière said to his actors: ‘Say the most natural verse in the world'”, unfolds our interlocutor.
Writing in spite of itself
According to his personal account book, Francis Perrin has played 9,500 performances since the beginning of his career and figures at “at least 2,000” those relating to Molière’s repertoire and this, through 17 different pieces. These days, he is touring all over France with his staging of Women’s school, that he plays as a family. He is therefore well placed to remind us that the “language of Molière”, originally intended for the boards, is above all a living word:
“He wrote the roles thinking of himself, his body, observing himself. That’s why he preferred to play Sganarelle than Dom Juan!” “When The Precious Ridicules were printed, he was furious!” notes Francis Perrin again.
To revere Molière’s literature as a relic before which to bow down would therefore be a mistake. Martial Poirson also scraps against this spirit of seriousness: “Today, we respect Molière’s texts to the comma… but the commas are not his!”
How to describe, then, this “writing in spite of itself”? “Molière’s style is the break in tone, the mixing of registers – from vulgar comedy to the refinement of comedy-ballet – the skill, that is to say the interaction with the spectators , vocality. Hence the fact that it lends itself to both music and language”, characterizes the teacher-researcher.
The “language of Molière” and more
As it is such a good paste, “the language of Molière” is exported particularly well. And it is no longer just ours. “It’s been a long time since Molière belongs to us!” Rejoices Martial Poirson who illustrates:
“He is the most read, most played French-language author in the world.”
Even the Francophonie appears too narrow: thus, a translation of doctor in spite of himself in Wolof is in preparation for this year. “Talking about arranged marriages, the abusive power of the Churches, the dowry, has resonances on many cultures in the world today”, ends to explain the historian.
What we find in Molière
Molière imposed himself in the hearts and minds of the French, personifying a real or supposed national spirit. He has made our language shine on the great stage of the world to the point of crossing all borders, including linguistic ones. Molière speaks to everyone… and everyone has their own. “What I like about him is the wholeness of his characters, their suffering, even among the dirty guys”, confides Martial Poirson: “There is a fragility of the character which is precious and which explains the pleasure that we still have to read it today”.
“The strength of Molière is to take a drama and turn it into a comedy”, approves Francis Perrin who, as soon as he discovered the author, understood that he was dealing with “an extraordinary guy”.
The actor takes one of his replicas everywhere with him. We have it find in The Critique of The School for Women“It’s a strange business to make decent people laugh.” “He said everything as an actor and as an author”, laughs Francis Perrin. And rather than in the Pantheon, it is undoubtedly in this amusement that we will have to continue to seek the triumph of the “language of Molière”.
