The doctor against his will

Le médecin malgré lui is a redirect to this article. For Gounod's opera, see Le médecin malgré lui (opera) .

Sganarelle, Valère and Lucas (1st act, last scene)
Engraving of the 1719 edition

Data
Title:	The doctor against his will
Original title:	Le médecin malgré lui
Genus:	comedy
Original language:	French
Author:	Molière
Publishing year:	1670
Premiere:	1666
Place of premiere:	Palais Royal , Paris
people
Sganarelle , Martine's husband Martine , wife of the Sganarelle Mr Robert , neighbor of the Sganarelle Géronte , father of Lucinde Lucinde , daughter of Géronte Léandre , Lucinde's lover Valère , servant of Géronte Lucas , husband of Jacqueline Jacqueline , housekeeper at Géronte Two farmers , Thibaut and Perrin (father and son)

The doctor against his will ( French Le médecin malgré lui ) is a comedy in three acts by the French poet Molière . The premiere took place on August 6, 1666 in the Palais Royal in Paris . The piece combines elements of the Italian commedia dell'arte with the French farce and the medieval fabliau .

action

I. act

Sganarelle is a woodcutter who is fond of alcohol. The first scene shows him having a marital argument with his wife Martine. After her husband beats her, she seeks revenge. She finds an opportunity to do so when she happens to meet Valère and Lucas, who are looking for a doctor to cure their master’s daughter from her pretended dumbness. Martine claims that Sganarelle is a famous but eccentric doctor who would only admit his professional existence with blows. Valère and Lucas take this advice and beat up Sganarelle. With the prospect of easy money, he likes to admit that he is a doctor and goes to Géronte's house.

II. Act

Géronte is desperate because his daughter Lucinde has become mute and therefore cannot enter into the marriage he has arranged . Jacqueline, Lucinde's wet nurse, thinks it makes more sense that Lucinde would marry her lover Léandre. But the father is against this connection because, in his opinion, the father does not bring enough money into the marriage. The two servants introduce the "doctor" to the host. He explains to Géronte in verbose fuss that his daughter is mute "because she has lost the language" and recommends bread dipped in wine as medicine. Léandre now appears and Sganarelle agrees to help him capture Lucinde.

III. act

Léandre is now disguised as a pharmacist. On the way to Gérontes house, he and Sganarelle meet the farmer Thibaut and his son Perrin. Thibaut asks Sganarelle to cure his wife of her complaints, and the “doctor” suggests a “prepared cheese” as medicine. After arriving at Géronte, Sganarelle makes advances to Jacqueline. She has the patient fetched and they meet Léandre. When Lucinde sees her lover, she immediately finds her language again, more than her father likes. When Géronte realizes that his daughter has been kidnapped by Léandre on Sganarelle's advice, he decides to let him hang. However, it comes to a happy ending : Léandre reports that his uncle has died and that he is his sole heir. Now he is allowed to marry Lucinde, and Martine and Sganarelle live on as a respectable couple of doctors.

History of origin

Immediately after the creation and premiere of The Misanthrope in June 1666, Molière began to write the doctor against his will , also in response to two short plays that the actor Brécourt had performed in the Hôtel de Bourgogne with the competing actors.

This is how this comedy came into being in three acts and in prose , which was recorded with great success at the premiere on August 6, 1666. Not much is known about roles. It is known that Molière played the protagonist Sganarelle, and it is believed that Armande Béjart played Lucinde.

Adaptations

The English writer Henry Fielding created an adaptation in 1732 under the title The Mock Doctor . The composer Charles Gounod published an opera in 1858 under the original title Le médecin malgré lui .

Web links

• Original text on Wikisource
• Small Stage Landau ( Memento from January 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive )