How did Molière's time and The Hypocrite become a classic?

On the afternoon of June 23, The Flyover Art Centre held a lecture on the theme of "Watching Modern Hypocrites Through Molière". Professor Shen Lin of the Central Academy of Drama, Peng Tao, Professor of Drama and Literature of the Central Academy of Drama, Luo Xiang, Associate Professor of the Department of French at the School of Foreign Languages of Peking University, and Annie, the host, had an interesting and nutritious dialogue around the text and drama of "The Hypocrite" in less than 2 hours of activity time.

The following is a wonderful excerpt from this lecture

Molière's time with

How did "The Hypocrite" become a classic?

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Luo Xiang, Associate Professor of the Department of French, School of Foreign Languages, Peking University

In fact, as early as 1928, Mr. Jiao Juyin once said that we were too familiar with the name Molière, and that he had almost become a representative symbol of comedy in our history. That is to say, when Molière came to China in the early 20th century, the theater industry was already well known. Molière achieved this, on the one hand, because his comedies were indeed elegant, young and old, and very witty and humorous. On the other hand, because he lived in an era when French comedy art was in ruins, he was able to lead the way.

We know that in the 17th century, the status of comedy was relatively low when the status of drama was relatively improved. Tragedy has become a relatively mainstream literary form, but what is comedy? There's no decent text, gags, all sorts of vulgar jokes, so a lot of people look down on comedy. It wasn't until Molière appeared that the status of comedy really changed. He thinks that tragedy is nothing, crying and shouting, pretending, talking about human suffering all day long, who does not know human suffering, he thinks it is not nothing, comedy is powerful, what is comedy like? Through a comical performance, he said that the common weakness of human beings was presented carelessly and without a trace, which he said was clever. And not only that, but the more clever point is that in the aesthetic atmosphere that requires restraint at that time, I laugh at you and satirize you, and at the same time make you happy, not feeling scolded at all, not angry at all, which is the highest level that a true comedy writer can achieve.

△ Stills from "The Hypocrite"

So Molière felt that comedy was a very simple thing, and in this context, Molière created the play "Hypocrite" that we talk about today, and the play "Hypocrite" is regarded as a landmark work of classical comedy today, mainly for several reasons.

The first is the formal cause. The formality of this play strictly adheres to the laws of classicism, and the laws of classical drama are very complicated to say, and we will briefly summarize them today. Friends who have first seen the script know that this play is divided into five acts, the five-act structure is the most basic classical structure required by the tragedy of classicism, the place has always been in the living room of their home in Orgon, the time is in one day, so many things have happened without more than 24 hours, the plot has always been around the Daldiov scam, there are not too many branches, it can be said that the strict observance of the trinity law of time, place, and plot unity, as a comedy Its language is very good, but unfortunately we can't see it in the translation, Its original text is a 12-syllable Alexander poetic style, which strictly adheres to the poetic format required by classicism, and the plot is realistic and reasonable, the characters behave moderately, very decently, and it can be said that the formal norms of classicism are perfectly implemented.

The second reason why he has become a classic is that while he abides by this classical law, he is open to absorbing many techniques of Italian improv comedy and traditional French farce, so the expression is very rich and multi-faceted, full of witty comedy. We know that there is a word lazzi in Italian improv comedy, which is called treasure playing treasure and funny according to Chinese, in fact, it is a set of very distinct style word games, often containing word games, erotic hints, juggling, body movements, all of which are played together to assist the development of the plot and form a very strong comedic effect.

The third point is that "Hypocrites" is famous for its classic characters, its characters are very rich, and now Dardiov has become a synonym for hypocrites, just like we Chinese say that you are a Yue Buqun, a hypocrite. In fact, the image of Daldiv is not so simple, he is not a pure bad person, or he is very rich as a bad person. He has a lot of tricks, can bend and stretch, sometimes hateful and sometimes ridiculous, and every scene we see in the script deepens his character richness a step further. This person is step-by-step, playing a wonderful combination of cards, and the eight sides are exquisite, and the image is particularly vivid and plump. Prior to this, this delicate and profound comedic character had not appeared in the entire history of French theater, showing Molière's very profound life experience and observation ability.

The significance of "The Hypocrite" for China today

Peng Tao, Professor of Dramatic Literature at the Central Academy of Drama

At present, when we look at Molière's text, I think that in today's China, if a Chinese director were to rehearse "Hypocrites", what would be the most immediate question? The first is to recognize hypocrisy. In real life, hypocrisy may not be so obvious. When we read the script of The Hypocrite, you can know from the first act the true face of Dardiff, who appears as a devout believer, but whose heart is full of all kinds of dark desires. In Molière's play, the opposition between good and evil is clear to the reader. But in real life, I think that if the so-called hypocrisy is clear at a glance, it is not hypocrisy. In many cases, it is difficult to discern the true face of hypocrisy. So for the present, for Chinese audiences, what is the most positive point of Molière's script? It is to enable us to reflect on or be aware of the hypocritical people and things that exist in our real life. It is precisely because in real life, many times, we can't see the truth hidden behind hypocrisy, and it is precisely because it is not so clear at a glance that it will cause you confusion, you do not know how to choose your position.

Molière said: "If the purpose of comedy is to whip human weakness, then I see no reason to spare any class of people." This particular shortcoming, in one country, has far more dangerous implications than others. What shortcomings does Molière refer to? It's hypocrisy. Molière said: "Drama is the most effective means of correcting mistakes. Morally, the best preaching in a serious book is often less powerful than the playfulness of a satirical work, and to criticize most people, nothing catches up to portray their shortcomings. Allowing these shortcomings to be ridiculed by the public is the most effective way to combat vices. ...... People would rather be bad people than be ridiculed. Thus, in effect, Molière is using comedy as a means of struggle, he is fighting against people and things like Daltief in life.

If a Chinese director goes to rehearse "Hypocrites" today, I think it also takes courage, he needs the courage to point out where the hypocrisy in our real life is hidden, and this sharp puncture will stimulate some people. Strictly speaking, when each of us laughs at Daltief ourselves, we will also look at whether there is such a place as him in ourselves, and we cannot say that we are like him, but do we at some point have the same vices of being attacked by Molière? Do we have the courage to face the hypocrisy in life and fight it, I think this is where this play has practical significance for today's Chinese audiences.