Molière and La Fontaine

Jean DE LA FONTAINE, (1621-1695). This great French poet who was born in Chateau-Thiérry was a protégé of Fouquet. Failing to obtain patronage from Louis XIV, who disliked him, he was supported by the dowager duchess of Orleans, Madame la Sablière and Monsieur and Madame d'Hervart. At Fouquet's demise, he published the Elegy to the Nymphs of Vaux, remaining a courageous supporter of the friend who had been instrumental in encouraging his career as a poet.

His verse Contes or 'Tales' had already made him a celebrity by the time his Fables came out between 1668 and 1694. These telling observations of life almost always end with a lucid remark founded on good sense; the fables are so widespread now, they serve as proverbs. He was a sensual man who was fond of chaste pastorals, fickle despite his praise of faithfulness. He was a courtier who all the same, could be a sincere friend; his life mirrored his creative work, in its perfect combination of naturalness and art.

Jean-Baptiste POQUELIN, known as MOLIERE (1622-1673) This famous French playwright was born in Paris, the son of a tapestry maker, and valet de chambre to the King. He studied with the Jesuits in the College of Clermont before turning to the stage. With a family of actors, the Béjarts, he created the Illustre-Théâtre (1643) which was a failure. For fifteen years subsequently (1643-1658) he directed a group of traveling players. He moved to Paris in 1659. At Vaux-le-Vicomte in 1661 he performed the Ecole des Maris and then a ballet-comedy written for the fête of August 17 called Les Fâcheux. Protected by the royal family, he composed numerous plays in verse and prose to entertain the court or Parisian audiences. His greatest works make use of type-cast but vivid characters to attack personal or public vices.

His principle comedies are Les Précieuses Ridicules (1659), L'Ecole des maris (1661), L'Ecole des Femmes (1662), Dom Juan, L'Amour Médecin (1665), Le Misanthrope and Le Médecin malgré lui (1666), L' Avare (1668), Tartuffe (1669), Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (1670), Les Fourberies de Scapin (1671), Les Femmes Savantes (1672), and Le Malade Imaginaire (1673). Molière died during the fourth performance of this last play.