The MiddleClass Gentleman

The play satirizes the bourgeois aspiration to rise above one's social class by imitating the manners and lifestyle of the nobility. The plot follows Monsieur Jourdain a wealthy but uncultured middle-class man who is desperate to be accepted by the aristocracy and attempts to transform himself into a gentleman. Jourdain spends vast amounts of money on tutors for dancing fencing music and philosophy believing that mastering these aristocratic skills will allow him to gain social status. Despite his efforts he remains oblivious to the fact that true nobility is not something that can be acquired through imitation. His obsession with social climbing leads to a series of comical misunderstandings especially as he attempts to match his manners to those of the upper class while his servants and family mock his pretensions.