2 h 5 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if money can buy every lesson in nobility, but not an ounce of good sense?
In Molière’s five-act comedy The Middle-Class Gentleman, Monsieur Jourdain has wealth from his father’s cloth trade, but wants noble status. He spends on fine clothes and lessons in fencing and philosophy, certain he can learn his way into a grander life. His teachers and new friends have reasons to encourage him.
Madame Jourdain and the maid Nicole see the foolishness behind his ambitions. The charming Count Dorante sees a source of money and favours. Meanwhile, Jourdain’s daughter Lucile loves Cléonte, an honest young man who refuses to pretend to noble birth. Her father’s hunger for rank threatens something far more precious than appearances.
What you’ll discover
- Lessons that feed vanity Watch Jourdain pursue noble manners through fencing, philosophy, and the surprising discovery of prose.
- Plain words, sharp laughter Meet a practical wife and outspoken maid who refuse to admire their household’s costly foolishness.
- A count with motives Follow Dorante’s polished friendship as he turns Jourdain’s longing for status to his own advantage.
- Love against social rank Feel the stakes for Lucile and Cléonte when honest love meets a father’s social ambitions.
- Worth beneath the costume Enjoy a comedy-ballet that asks whether respect belongs to noble birth or good character.
Who will love it
For anyone who enjoys sharp social comedy, French theatre and farce with a point, with plain-speaking servants, social pretension and love tangled up in questions of rank.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Jourdain wants to be a nobleman
- Lessons in fencing, philosophy and prose
- Madame Jourdain and Nicole speak plainly
- Dorante uses Jourdain for money and favours
- Love and rank block the young couple
- A comedy-ballet about vanity and honest worth
Who’s who
- Monsieur JourdainA rich cloth merchant's son who is ashamed of his origins and spends freely to look and act like a nobleman.
- Madame JourdainHis practical wife, who mocks his pretensions, distrusts his new friends and wants a plain, honest life for her family.
- LucileThe Jourdains' daughter, who loves Cléonte and hopes her father will let her marry him.
- CléonteAn honest young man in love with Lucile, who refuses to claim a noble birth that he does not have.
- DoranteA charming count who borrows money from Jourdain and uses his house and gifts to court a marquise.
- DorimèneA marquise courted by Dorante, who comes to Jourdain's house as a guest.
- NicoleThe Jourdains' maid, who speaks her mind and cannot help laughing at her master's costumes.
- CovielleCléonte's quick-witted servant, who is ready to use cunning to help his master win Lucile.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print hardcover
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Le Bourgeois gentilhomme in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Le Bourgeois gentilhomme
by Molière · 1671
Monsieur Jourdain buys lessons and fine clothes to become a nobleman, while titles stand in his daughter's way.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
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In short
In French it is called Le Bourgeois gentilhomme. The king had reason to enjoy the joke, since it laughs at a rich townsman who tries to buy his way into the court's world.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Jourdain wants to be a nobleman
The play opens in the house of Monsieur Jourdain, a man who has grown rich from his father's cloth trade. He is not poor, not stupid and not cruel. His great weakness is that he is ashamed of where his money came from. He wants to be taken for a gentleman of rank, and he is willing to spend a great deal to get there.
To learn the ways of the nobility, Jourdain fills his house with teachers. A music master and a dancing master arrive first, and they discuss their arts while quietly hoping to be paid well. Their real concern is his purse, and they say what keeps it open.
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What is The Middle-Class Gentleman about?
It is a comedy about Monsieur Jourdain, a wealthy merchant who wants to be a nobleman. He hires teachers, buys fine clothes and befriends a count, while his family and servants try to bring him back to common sense.
Who wrote The Middle-Class Gentleman and when?
Molière wrote it, and it was first performed in 1670 for King Louis XIV at Chambord. It is a comedy-ballet, with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully, so it combines spoken scenes, song and dance.
What does the French title Le Bourgeois gentilhomme mean?
It means roughly a commoner who wants to be a gentleman. Bourgeois refers to a prosperous townsman, and gentilhomme to a man of noble birth. The title itself holds the joke.
The author
Molière
1622–1673 · French playwright and actor
Molière was the stage name of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, a French playwright and actor born in Paris in 1622. He toured France with a theatre company before returning to Paris in 1658. He wrote comedies, including Tartuffe, The Miser, and The Imaginary Invalid. He died in Paris in 1673.
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