Women in Moliere’s Comedies

<P>This book offers a new approach to the work of the great classical author. Molière’s is obviously a patriarchal world in which women are most often treated as objects of patriarchal autocracy, which expects their submission. Yet in a number of his plays, women display ample resourcefulness in countering the patriarchal rule, often managing to outwit it. To explore this topic, the book scrutinizes Molière’s most important comedies, <I>The School for Wives</I>, <I>Tartuffe</I>, <I>The Misanthrope</I>, and <I>Don Juan</I>, all of which feature complex female characters who play important roles. They show that Molière acknowledged a fully valid space for women and recognized their right to their own lives. As a prelude, the book analyzes two comedies from the margins of Molière’s oeuvre, <I>The Ridiculous Précieuses</I> and <I>The Learned Ladies</I>, which provoked controversy and indignant feminist criticism, since they appear to deride the emancipatory efforts of the time.</P>