What kind of dramatic texture does the comedy writer Molière's "Moaning Without Illness" embody?

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Avoiding medical treatment often leads to terminal illness and leads to irreversible tragic endings. Being able to perceive your illness as soon as possible and take the initiative to receive treatment makes it easier to get rid of the torment of the disease and return to the road of health.

There may be many playwrights in the world who write articles on the theme of disease, but there are no playwrights like Molière who use "no disease groaning" as a creative theme. Molière, a learned and knowledgeable man, was not only a famous 17th-century French actor, comedy writer, and theater activist, but also the founder of French ballet comedy. Between 1659 and 1673, Molière created nearly 10 theatrical works that reflected the ideological and living conditions of different classes in French society.

In Molière's works, there are both deceitful monks, extravagant and greedy aristocrats, rich merchants who spend money, resourceful girls, landlords who groan without illness, as well as ambitious usurers who see profits and forget righteousness, and bourgeoisie who make their fortunes by exploiting the poor. As Molière's last work, "Moaning without Illness" shows his meticulous observation of the sick, his concern for the mental health of human beings, and his in-depth analysis of the changeable human nature.

The protagonist of the book, Algon, is a hypochondriac who is healthy but thinks he is terminally ill. This disease, which falls because of suspected diseases, has a strong ironic and absurd meaning in itself. In addition to Algon's own imagination that he was ill, the people around him were more or less "sick".

The doctor, under the pretext of treating Algon' illness, unscrupulously extracts money, but ignores Algon's illness; Algon's wife, Bellina, looks at her husband's illness coldly and deliberately wants to inherit the property as soon as possible, so as not to suffer losses herself. At the same time, Algon's wife also opposes the innocent feelings between her daughter Gerik and her lover, hoping that they will turn against each other and part ways.

Exposed by the delicate and resourceful maid, Bellina's ruse ends in failure, and Gerik and her lover go hand in hand, and the lover eventually becomes a family. At first, Algon, who was troubled and moaned without illness, also became a doctor, taking on the responsibility of treating the sick and saving people.

Why did Molière create such a character as Algon?

According to the author's analysis, Algon is obviously healthy but suspects that he is ill, which is undoubtedly caused by a wrong self-perception, and also reflects the signs of "disillusionment", "silence" and "collapse" that people have mentally produced under the pressure of various pressures in real life. In the situation where the mental pressure is inextricable, people often doubt themselves, deny themselves, and then actively seek external help in order to achieve physical and mental peace and mental liberation.

However, this kind of effort is somewhat risky. Algon had gone to the doctor for help against the backdrop of anxiety and desperation. Who knows that when encountering a quack who is greedy for money and lacks benevolence, this shows that there is a huge randomness in life, and this randomness is uncontrollable. Due to the indifference of the object of help, which eventually led to the failure of Algon to realize the dream of self-detachment through external forces, this indirectly explains a truth: the role of the outside world in human growth and healing is very limited, even minimal, looming, and sometimes counterproductive.

Placing hope entirely on others is a gamble that can be destroyed at any time and does not solve the problem at all. Later, seeing Algon become a "hypochondria patient", the reactions of those around him were also worth playing.

Let's start with Algon's wife. When Algon suffered from a suspicious disease, as a wife, Bellina not only did not want to help her wife find medical treatment and restore her health, but was busy planning for herself, wanting to get all the property so as not to suffer losses. Such a plot arrangement also sends a signal: if two people who have been married cannot be heart-to-heart, life and death dependent, share joy, and share sorrows, it is the real misfortune, the tumor and "stubborn disease" that hinders a happy marriage.

After seeing through the nature of the doctor and his wife, Algon turned his outward gaze to himself and began to explore the inner potential of life, trying to achieve self-salvation by relying on his own strength. In the end, Algon found a path, that is, to forget his own pain, to care for others and help others with a broader, more selfless, friendlier, and purer mind, and to become a "ferryman" who helps others get out of boredom.

In the process of helping others, Algon's own soul was purified and soothed. Yeah, what in the world is more meaningful than helping others to be freed from pain and be happy? "No Disease Moaning" gives the author a new inspiration, that is, if people want to achieve physical and mental peace, they can only rely on themselves in the end. As long as you are willing, you will definitely find your own way forward and seriously solve the problems encountered.