Le Médecin malgré lui
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2011) |
Le Médecin malgré lui (The Doctor in spite of himself/The Mock Doctor) is a comedy by Molière.
Contents |
[edit] Characters
- Sganarelle, a woodcutter
- Martine, Sganarelle's wife
- Géronte, a wealthy bourgeois
- Lucinde, Géronte's daughter
- Léandre, Lucinde's lover
- Valère, Géronte's valet
- Lucas, Géronte's servant
- Jacqueline, Lucas' wife
- Monsieur Robert, Sganarelle's neighbor
[edit] Synopsis
Sganarelle is mistaken for a reputable doctor, even though, as an alcoholic woodcutter, he has no idea what a doctor should know. In turn, he helps a girl who has "lost" her voice as well as her lover.
[edit] Why did Molière write this?
A widely-accepted theory as to why Molière wrote this play is that he wanted to make fun of the practices of doctors at the time, such as leeching and the four humors. Since Sganarelle is an almost complete ignorant, he even manages to mix up which side the heart and the liver are on (the heart is on the left, the liver is on the right).
It is also believed that he was forced to write this after his previous play, Le Misanthrope, turned out to be a commercial flop, despite the fact that The Misanthrope is one of his best known works.
[edit] See also
Darren wrote an opera based on Molière's play, also entitled Le médecin malgré lui. It was adapted by Henry Fielding as The Mock Doctor.
 |
This article on a play from the 17th century is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
