The Would-Be Gentleman
by Moliere
- 1 Members Following
Follow a topic to see new activity, such as homework help questions and answers, in your personal feed on the homepage.
Navigate
At a glance:
- Author: Moliere
- First Published: 1671
- Type of Work: Drama
- Type of Plot: Comedy of manners
- Time of Work: Seventeenth century
- Setting: Paris, France
- Genres: Drama, Comedy, Comedy of manners, Comédie ballet
- Subjects: France or French people, Love or romance, Paris, Seventeenth century, Business or business people, Ballet or ballet dancers, Nobility, Royal courts or courtiers
- Locales: France, Europe, Paris, France
Characters Discussed
Monsieur Jourdain
Monsieur Jourdain (zhohr-DAHN), a rich, forty-year-old tradesman. Ashamed of and denying his father’s occupation, he tries to pass as a gentleman through elaborate spending of his wealth. He has a “sweet income and visions of nobility and grandeur,” says his music master, “though he is an ignorant cit.” In addition to his music master, he has also in attendance a dancing master, a fencing master, and a philosophy master, and through their instructions he hopes to ape persons of quality. He...
(The entire page is 1330 words.)
Want to read the whole thing?
Subscribe now to read the rest of this article. Plus, get access to:
- 30,000+ literature study guides
- Critical essays on more than 30,000 works of literature from Salem on Literature (exclusive to eNotes)
- An unparalleled literary criticism section. 40,000 full-length or excerpted essays.
- Content from leading academic publishers, all easily citable with our "Cite this page" button.
- 100% satisfaction guarantee READ MORE
