Neoclassical
Authors
Moliére
(Jean-Baptiste
Poquelin)--sometimes referred to as the French Shakespeare; the
greatest
writer of classic comedy in Europe.
Born in Paris; baptized January 15, 1622; later in life took the stage
name of Moliére; oldest child of middle-class Parisian interior
decorator who later became royal upholsterer in the court of Louis
XIII;
educated by Jesuits at College of Clermont; renounced right of
succession
to his father's title in 1643 to form a theatrical company ("The
Illustrious
Theatre"); jailed in 1644 for debt; 1646-1658 = years in exile in the
provinces;
1658, returned to Paris and presented a comedy to the new king, Louis
XIV,
a patron of the arts; The Precious Damsels (1659), first hit; by 1661,
his theatrical company occupied the best theatre in Paris; plays
sanctioned
by the king; 1662, married Armande Bejart; 1664, introduced Tartuffe,
which Louis XIV was forced to ban because of its severe criticism
of
religious hypocrisy; after 5 years of revision, Tartuffe was
very
successfully publicly performed; 1673, while performing in his own play
(The Imaginary Invalid), he collapsed and died (February 17);
burial
allowed in parish cemetery only by intervention of Louis XIV; 1680,
Louis
XIV merged Moliére's theatrical company with another group to
form
the Comedie Française (French National Theatre), which still
exists
and is financed by the French government.
Voltaire
(François-Marie
Arouet)
Born in Paris in 1694; began writing at an early age, though his father
wanted him to study law; enjoyed success in drama, poetry, criticism,
and
fictional prose; quarrels with aristocrats sent him to the Bastille in
1717 and in 1726, after which he was exiled to England, where he taught
himself fluent English before he returned to France; served briefly as
official historiographer of France; denied permission to live in Paris
because of his outspokenness; died in Paris in 1778; nephew smuggled
his
body out of Paris in order to prevent the Church from denying Voltaire
a Christian burial.
Back to Neoclassic Page