Moliere's "The Imaginary Invalid"
Moliere's "The Imaginary Invalid" is a farcical play about a hypochondriac who is so obsessed with his health and money that he ends up neglecting his family. The story involves several different themes and plots within one family. A new interpretation of this 17th century play is now being performed at the Arts Club Theater; it incorporates some new changes and modernizations in addition to the traditional improvisation. Morris Panych has definitely succeeded in delivering a new, more comical version of Moliere's final play.
Moreover, the dominant theme of this play is body versus mind. The play is about a wealthy, but stingy man who believes that he is constantly sick
(Argan). However, there is an obvious doubt to whether he is really sick or if he is just imagining his illness. Therefore, the primary theme is Argan's internal struggle of body vs. mind. This theme is developed throughout the play into smaller themes such as masculinity versus femininity, greed versus love, and death versus life.
Two of the major changes from the text to the play are Argan's degree of illness and his death. In the text, there are very few elaborate descriptions of
Dr. Purgon's treatment. However in the play by Panych, there is no shortage of enemas and other "bathroom" related scenes. I originally thought this change was for comical purposes, but after some additional thought I questioned whether
Argan was imagining his illness or if he really was ill. In the text, by not having too many bathroom scenes, Argan seems to be imagining his illness (thus, he is the imaginary invalid). In Panych's stage version, Argan shows several symptoms of being ill; this definitely confuses the original play by Moliere.
One of the original purposes of the play was to criticize, among other things, the medical profession in Moliere's time. Now, if Argan really was sick, does that mean that the doctors were correct in their analysis? No, it doesn't. I believe that Panych intended to show that it was the doctors' treatments that made Argan ill and eventually killed him.
Another major change from Moliere's version is Beralde's gender and role in the play and in the family. Beralde is transformed into Argan's sister, instead of his brother. Panych saw male versus female as a major theme. If you look at the structure of the original play, all the people who truly love Argan and mean him well are female, except for Beralde. In fact out of all the different characters who take advantage of Argan, only one of them is female-
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliere wrote Tartuffe during the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment. One of the main characteristics of the Age of Enlightenment was a push towards using reason over emotions to make decisions. The leaders of the enlightenment truly believed that the world could be made a better place if people did this. In Tartuffe, when the characters use their emotions to make their decisions they find themselves in undesirable situations. While those who let their emotions rule them find their lives spinning out of control, there are other characters in the play who try to approach them with reason and logic. Out of these characters the lady’s maid Dorine stands out as the voice of reason.
In conclusion I think that the stage directions and dramatic irony are significant to the play, and without them there would be no need for a lot of the events that happen in the play.
Introductory Paragraph: Propaganda is a tool of influence that Adolph Hitler used to abuse the German population by brainwashing them and completely deteriorating an entire race. How does one person get the beliefs of an entire country? Hitler put Joseph Goebbels in charge of the propaganda movement. Goebbels controlled every element of propaganda, there were many varieties of Nazi Propaganda. Propaganda was also being used as a tool to gain the support of the German population for the war, and supporting their government. The Jew’s were the targeted race and were completely pulverized by the Nazi’s. Hitler not only tried to destroy an entire race, he gained complete control of an entire country.
In Moliére’s Tartuffe (Moiré 1664), the reader is able to see a great contrast of Extreme and Moderate characters. Extreme characters being those who are seen as over the top, or very passionate people, and the moderate characters having a more calm and subtle approach to ideas. The extreme characters in this case would be Madam Pernelle, Orgon, Tartuffe, and Dorine. The moderate characters are seen as Cleante and Elmire.
The Flawed Characters of Tartuffe To be perfect is to be inhuman. Human nature is complete with many flaws and imperfections, one of which is represented in the play "Tartuffe", by Moliere. “Tartuffe” was written specifically to show the reader a basic flaw in human nature. This flaw is shown through two characters, Madame Pernelle and Orgon.
Since Thomas was elected to the House of Burgesses, new and exciting opportunities were in store for him. Thomas Jefferson was appointed to the Second Continental Congress in 1776 as a delegate from Virginia. During the Second Continental Congress, a committee including John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman, and Thomas Jefferson were responsible for designing a formal declaration of independence. The committee appointed Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence. On July 4, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was accepted. The Declaration of Independence explains the purpose of government, the reasons why the colonies were breaking away from England, and declaring their independence. “The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.”- Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson is an exceptionally persuasive and strong author, and for this he was chosen to write the document that is the basis of this country. Thomas Jefferson also contributed to the making of the official seal of Congress and the motto for the new country. E Pluribus Unum, or one out of many, is the motto that was adopted for the seal of
During Hitler’s reign in Germany, propaganda was his main method of control. He and the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or Nazis, believed that to remain in control, it is necessary to prevent any and all internal unrest through strictly regulated popular opinion. The mission was to keep public opinion in favor of the Nazi party’s ideology. One of the primary aspects of their ideology was extreme anti-Semitism and racial inequality. Within years they were able to introduce this belief to nearly all of the German people through heavy influence by propaganda. Hitler was able to stabilize and dictate his Germany for years through propaganda aimed to control the lives of the youth, the opinions of the general public, and beliefs about the war effort and well-being of the country.
Joseph Goebbels who becomes the Nazis master propagandist established the Reich chamber of culture. This organization was established to deal with all aspects of culture. As the heads of ministry of the public enlightenment and propaganda he controlled the flow of the public information through the press, radio, and film. Each department issued instructions as to the themes and styles that were acceptable and unacceptable to be produced. (http://www.historyonthenet.com/Nazi_Germany/Propagranda.htm).
What I feel is one of the most important aspects of the play is the
By far, the most enduring aspect of Jefferson is the philosophies he held. These philosophies were brought up during his contentious debates against Hamilton during Washington’s presidency. At first, Hamilton prevailed and saw his philosophies become policies. Though, later, Jefferson was able to implement his philosophies himself. These famous philosophies of Jefferson were simple. He envisioned an agrarian democratic society, where the states had an upper hand in terms of federal-state power, and the Constitution was read in a strict sense (i.e. not permitting anything not specifically stated). In terms of foreign relations, Jefferson favored the French. This was not a long-lived love, though, with the many horrible things that happened between the U.S. and the French. These opinions held by Jefferson were opposite Hamilton, and both managed to be the foundations of their own parties: the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists, respectively. He also hated the thought of the president holding a sense of nobility, as will become evident during his presidency.
Characterisation is vastly different in the film when compared to the play. This, however, is done so as to make more sense to a modern
are two main plots in the play, both based upon the theme of love. The
"I cannot improve on it, and assuredly never shall," said Molière of his satire The Misanthrope, {1} and the critic Nicholas Boileau-Despréaux concurred by accounting it one of Molière's best plays.{2} But the French public did not like it much, preferring the dramatist's more farcical The Doctor in Spite of Himself--a play that, according to tradition, was written two months after The Misanthrope's premiere to make up for the latter's lack of success.{3} In fact, The Misanthrope horrified Rousseau, who thought that its aim was, in Donald Frame's words, "to make virtue ridiculous by pandering to the shallow and vicious tastes of the man of the world."{4} Both he and Goethe after him regarded Alceste, the protagonist, as a tragic figure rather than a comic one.{5}
With the passing of the notable ancient Greek greats, a new era in philosophy emerged. The Medieval period fostered an outburst of Islamic culture and thought, with many significant philosophers leading the way. Amongst these was Averroes, who thrived during the early 12th century. His many areas of interest allowed him to be a very learned and experienced individual, enabling him to produce many publications elaborating his thoughts. One of these publications is The Decisive Treatise, in which he discusses the role that philosophy plays in religion and how that impacts society. According to Averroes, in The Decisive Treatise, philosophy is a required part of religion that provides educated individuals with a deeper understanding of sacred texts.
3. Shipley, Joseph T. The Crown Guide to the World's Great Plays. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1984. 332 - 333.