Description

"Far from being bound to the laws of a man, like an enslaved slave, marry, my sister, to philosophy." Armande: Act I – Scene 1<div> The Learned Ladies is the penultimate play written by Molière in 1672, a year before his death. It is undoubtedly his most accomplished work, with a brilliantly conceived and executed choice of rhymes. Along with Tartuffe and The Misanthrope, it forms the trio of Molière's masterpieces in alexandrine verse.</div><div> The plot: In Chrysale's household, the women (Bélise, his sister; Philaminte, his wife; and Armande, one of his two daughters) have seized power and decided to dedicate their lives to knowledge. Amidst misunderstandings, romantic rivalries, and witty verbal sparring, the play contrasts common sense with pretension, sincerity with affectation. Driven by a gallery of colorful characters—pedants, the vain and self-serving, the proud, touchy, and hypocritical, as well as the reasonable, lucid, and sincere—The Learned Ladies remains a remarkably modern work, still resonating today with its critical perspective on appearances and intellectual excesses.</div><div> An essential classic, funny and incisive, which continues to charm and provoke thought.</div>