Women in Molière’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>