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Animals in MolièreAuthor(s): Quentin M. HopeSource: PMLA, Vol. 79, No. 4 (Sep., 1964), pp. 411-421Published by: Modern Language AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/460746 .Accessed: 18/11/2013 15:24

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ANIMALS IN MOLIEREBY QUENTIN M. HOPE

REFERENCES to animals, epithets hat re-duce men to the evel of animals, necdotes,proverbs, nd allusions which ssume that menand animals re n all respects like, nd appear-ances on stage of animals or of men disguised sanimals have been staple ingredients f comedyfrom Aristophanes o Ionesco. Comedy rarelyloses sight of the fact that human behavior hasits animal aspects; farce uses it as a cornerstoneof ts madhouse. t is therefore nly natural thatthe animal world hould be represented n Moli-ere comedy. t is not as generously epresented,either n ncident r n imagery, s it is in Shake-speare; no one is metamorphosed nto a donkeyfrom the shoulders up like Bottom, or dons astag's horns ike Falstaff; nor does any animalplay a part as important s Citron n Racine'sLes Plcideurs, he dog who s tried or tealingroast and whosepuppies, deposited n the ap ofthe udge in a desperate ppeal to compassion,break up the proceedings y an ill-timed esponseto the call of nature. No animals make theirpresence elt o palpably n Moliere. n fact, ni-mals appear on stage only n his pastoral plays.But their frequent ppearances n the dialogue

illustrate he richness nd variety f the resourceswhich Moliere brought to the task of writingcomedy.

I"Ah chien h double hien mltine e cervelle "

(L'Etourdi, .1675)This outburst with whichMascarillegreets he

news of one of his master's more gregious lun-ders stands as an example of the most requenttype of animal reference n Moliere: the animalname as invective. An insult ims at putting tsvictim down a peg or two; often t matters ittlewhether e is reduced to the evel of a degradedhuman being, n animal, or an inanimate bject.Yet there re several cenes n Moliere n whichthe animal names that the characters all eachother are more acutely expressive than otherforms f nvective would be. One instance s theexchange f threats nd insults eading to blowswhich akesplace between he tutors n Le Bour-geoisGentilhommei.ii-iii). The scene as a wholeis a good example of the repetition nd variationwithin clearly defined hythmic r syntacticpattern which s the most distinctive haracteris-

tic of Molieredialogue.The musicmaster aunts

the fencingmaster: Voyezun peu 'homme 'im-portance " When the dancing master oins inwith "Voila un plaisant animal, avec son plas-tron " the shorter phrase is followed by thelonger ne, homme ecomes nimal and acquiresan epithet long the way, and the abstract d'im-portance s replacedby the concrete vec on plas-Iron.A few ines ater the fencingmaster eliversa thrust: Comment petit mpertinent " nd thedancing master fires back, "Comment grandcheval de carosse " The descriptive nd vividgrand cheval e carosse nswers the rather oftypetit mpertinent. oliere has endowed his danc-ing master with a fine alent for envenomingquarrel. Any nsult deliveredwith uchrhythmicelan would have a quickening ffect n the argu-ment; but it is the animal names which thedancing master, n epitome of twirling racesand stylishness, alls his heavy-footed pponentthat underscore he pleasing contrast betweenthe two figures nd neatly onvey o the fencingmaster he message hat he sbrutal, lumsy, ndout ofplace, cart horse n a drawing-room.

When, few ines ater, the quarreling utorsjoin forces gainst the philosophy master, the

names they call him ("philosophede chien ..l'animal . . l'ane bate") do not summon upsuch a vivid mage.One may hear n them, how-ever, mocking choof the philosopher's latantself-contradiction. he intellectual ho claims todwellonly n the realm of the mind s subjectedto animal insults, he philosopher who had re-proached the others for llowing nger to makewildbeasts of them "Y a-t-il iende plus bas etde plus honteux ue cette passion, qui fait d'unhommeune bete feroce?") trikes he first lowin the rgument nd earnshimself he epithets fdog, animal, and donkey.

The insult in Moliere is usually two-edged,characterizing heperson who delivers t as wellas its victim. ince La Comtesse 'Escarbagnas sa very short play, Moliere chose to define hetitle character with a few bold and incisivestrokes. Oneof these s her way of addressing erservants: "oison bride . . grosse b6te .. bu-torde .. tete de bceuf. . . petit animalvoila encore de vos aneries." The servants recertainly ntended obe a loutish rew. They areno doubt more t home mong he nimalsof thefarm han n a salon, nd when he countess alls

one of them bouviMreheepithet sprobably more411

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412 Animals n Moliere

literal than she intends. But her invective sabove all an expression f her own irascibilityand vulgarity. When a truly ristocratic ersonlike Alceste gets angry t a servant his anguageis ntemperate ut not vulgar: maraud, raitre, m-pertinent. ut when the countess oses her tem-per, her vocabulary goes straight back to thebarnyard. ike her chateau tself, o doubt, t iswithin arshot f the farm.

The provincial nobility omes in for anotherdrubbing n Monsieur ePourceaugnac. ere thecontrast between aristocratic pretension andgrossness f manner s expressed uccinctly n thetitle tself. As Danilo Romano points out, Mon-sieur de -gnac stands for the pre-tension, Pourceau for the reality.' AlthoughMoliere's ervantes ever hrink efore n obvious

pun (Monsieur Loyal-deloyal, ffenser a gram-maire-offenser rand'mere), the pourceau inPourceaugnac is underscored here simply byNerine's nsistence pon the name, and by thecomic ndignation t awakens n her: "Quand iln'y aurait que cenom-la,Monsieurde Pourceau-gnac, j'y briulerai mes livres, ou je romprai emariage" i.i). Hugo von Hofmannsthal, hoseRosenkavalierhowsthe nfluence f Monsieur ePourceaugnac nd of Le BourgeoisGentilhomme,seems to have consciously etained his particu-lar feature when he named his baron Ochs vonLerchenau. Not that he needed to go back toMoliere for a precedent. Giving characters ni-mal names is one of the oldest and hardiesttraditions f the comic theatre.

In other plays where animal insults are lessemphatic, hey often dd a touch of color, con-tributing o a characterization r an effect hat srendered y the accumulation f many other de-tails. n L'Ecole des maris, or xample, hey reno more than a few threads n the fabric f theplay, but they do sharpen he definition f Sga-narelle's character. The lessonof the play is ad-dressed o les maris oup-garou. alere speaks of

Sganarelle's ccueil oup-garou nd refers o himas unegrosse ete. his suggests isunsociability,his clumsiness nd grossness. ganarelle lans totake sabelle back to the country with him, wayfrom he corrupting nfluences f society: danspeu nous pretendons/ ui faire ller revoir noschoux et nos dindons" (11. 261-262). He tellsValere that his courtship f sabelle is a waste oftime: "Croyez-moi, 'est tirer otre poudre auxmoineaux" 1. 550). While Sganarelle'sfavoritetheme s the criticism f the urbane pleasuresofthe town, he animal references ere bring ut acomplementary spect ofhis personality: e ikes

to sound like a gruff nd plainspoken ountry-dweller. n his description f the young gentle-men of fashion who wear ribbons n their hoes"qui vous font essembler des pigeonspattus"(1.34)his harshly atirical emper omes hrough.When Harpagon n L'Avare nveighs gainst theabsurdity nd effeminacy f modern youth hereaches nto the same barrel of animal compari-sons: "damoiseaux flouets ui n'ont non plus devigueur que des poules" (i.iv); "leur ton depoule laitee, et leur trois petits brins de barbereleves n barbe de chat" (ii.v). Such passagescut two ways: they ffer sharp caricature f therole of the eune premier, caricature n whichmany ctors have seen an indication f how Mo-liere expected such parts to be costumed andplayed. But, as usual in Moliere, he main func-

tion f hemockery s to characterize he mocker.Harpagon's animal comparisons-supported nodoubt by tone of voice and perhaps even by aflash f pantomime-are amusing xpressions fhis own crudeness, igor, and self-satisfaction.

In Dom Juan the use of animal names to de-nounceor nsult cquires distinctive esonance.Sganarelle describes his master as "un enrage,un chien, un diable, un Turc, un heretique, uine croit ni ciel,ni enfer, i loup-garou; ui passecette vie en veritable bete brute; un pourceaud'Epicure, nvrai Sardanapale" i.i). Sganarelle'sindignation s comic. He is earnest, oquacious,quaintly proud of the shreds of earning he haspicked up, and unconsciously aradoxical: t isSganarelle, he man who s all instinct, whocallsDon Juan, the man of superhuman spirations,a veritable ete rute. o be sure, here s a similarparadox and the same kind of pretentiouslyallusive language in Gros-Rene's indignantdenunciation f Marinette:

"femellenique,Crocodilerompeur, equi e cceur elonEst pire u'un atrape, u bien u'unLestrigon"

(Le Depit moureux, 1. 30-332)But if the invective n Dom Juan carries moreweight t is not only because the characters ndsituation re more nteresting. hroughout heplay Sganarelle unconsciously arodies and dis-credits erious rguments. When he accusesDonJuan of iving ike an animal he is repeating neof the most familiar charges that a preachercould hurl against a libertine. t is the mostcrushing rgument ganarelle knows, nd to ithe returns o round off his grotesque ermon n

I Essai sur e comique e Moliere Francke: Berne, 1951),pp. 43-44.





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QuentinM. Hope 413

Act v: "La necessite n'a point de loi; qui n'apoint de loi vit en b6te brute; t, par consequent,vous serez damne S tous les diables" (v.ii).Sganarelle could scarcely have made the argu-ment that the ibertine s a degraded ndividualwho ives on the animal plane look more ridicu-lous. If reason is what distinguishes man fromthe animals, Sganarelle's attempt at reasoningonly suggests hat the distinction s invalid.

DomJuan, however, s not simply protracteddialoguebetween ganarelle nd his master. DonJuan is challenged successivelyby Elvire, byDon Carlos, and by his father Don Louis, allmembers f his own class,and all as ordered ndelegant n their peech as Sganarelle s chaoticand clumsy. Each speaks for himself with hisown arguments nd his own style, yet parallels

and contrasts between these various verbalassaults upon Don Juan, while not as markedas in other plays using the same "successive n-counter" type of structure, re discernible.Sganarelle s ludicrous when he calls his mastera betebrute, ut there s nothing omic in theaccusation when it reappears in Don Louis'ringing enunciation f his son's failure o meetthe obligations f noble birth: "Apprenez enfinqu'un gentilhomme ui vit mal est un monstredans la nature" (iv.iv). When Don Louis ad-vances t, the case for he egitimacy nd ration-ality of the social fabric, ordegree, rder, nddecorum acquires dignity nd conviction. Butthis does not mean that Don Louis wins theargument. One would ike to hear from he ac-cused party. Don Juan, ike any accomplishedswindler, ontinually dazzles his victims withtalk; yet confronted ith Sganarelle, with DonLouis,or with Elvire he displays fine ommandof the arts of evasion and mutism. His servantcalls him a bete brute. His father calls him amonstre. e does not deign to answer. s therean answer mplicit n his behavior nd in some ofthe attitudes that he does express?Does he in

fact accept the animality f man as something"natural," positing a view of nature whollyopposedto that mplied n his father's tatementthat a wickednobleman s a monster n nature?The phrase n whichhe justifies ispromiscuitysuggests hat the only obligations he recognizesare those that nature ays upon man and animalalike: "Je . . . rends chacune es hommages tles tributs iu a nature nous oblige" (i.ii). YetMoliereshowshim accepting asily and withoutquestion two of the most ntricate nd unnaturalconventions ver nvented y man: seventeenth-century costume and the seventeenth-century

code of honor. Accusedof iving ike an animal,Don Juan deserves neither hat excess of honornor that ndignity.

In spite of the recurrent motifs which ink tsapparently disjointed episodes Dom Juan re-mains a baffling lay. It touches upon the man-animal comparison only briefly. Yet it seemstypical that one cannot explore ven this minormotif without ncountering he distinctive har-acteristics f the play, unique n Moliere'swork:a tendency to raise ethical and metaphysicalquestions asually nd inconclusively, nd a com-plexity n the attitudes nd behavior f the cen-tral character whichverges n incoherence.

In Le Misanthrope, s in DomJuan, the man-animal comparison ppears briefly ut signifi-cantly. Although here s plenty of rudeness n

the play, no one stoops to such plebeian pithetsas animal,blte, heval, r dne. t is not n the heatof anger that Philinte ompares men to animals;yet he is not quite as reflective nd detached she is pretending o be when he says to Alceste

Oui, e vois ces defauts ont otre me murmureComme ices nis a 'humaine ature;Et mon sprit nfin 'est pas plus ffenseDe voir nhomme ourbe, njuste, nteresse,Quedevoir es vautours ffames e carnage,Des singesmalfaisants,t des oups pleins e rage.

(11.173-178)

Philinte appears to accept with equanimityHobbes' principle omo homini upus. His pointof view contrasts with the one implicit n manyof Shakespeare's animal comparisons. WhenKingLear says that t s sharper han serpent'stooth o have a thankless hild, he is saying hatsuffering t the hands of a human being whobehaves subhumanly s more ntense than paincaused by a creature of nature behaving asnature intended t to. This assumes a naturalhierarchy which puts man with his capabilityand godlike reason above the animals. But thecomparison which s invidious n Shakespearebecomesmerely ndicative here: vicious men arenot worse than wolves, they are simply likewolves in that they can no more help beingvicious than wolves can help being wolfish.This passageseemsto end strong upport o theview that Philinte s the true misanthrope n LeMisanthrope. e appears to be a bleakly mora-listic determinist. ut to such an accusationPhilinte ould reply s Scapin does when he toois accused of amoralistic determinism: MonDieu, vous prenez mes paroles trop en philoso-phe." Philinte does like to play the sage, but he





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QuentinM. Hope 415

pouting lips, and rolling eyes. Climene, whoshares Armande's horror or a partie nimale, sfurious t Moliere or allingwomen es nimaux.She is referring o the passage n which Arnolpheaccuses women of frailty, nfidelity, nd imbe-cility, nly to conclude Dans le monde on faittout pour ces animaux-la" (1. 1579). Dorantedefends the passage: "madame, ne savez-vouspas . . . qu'en de pareilles occasions es parolesles plus etranges, t quelquechose de pis encore,se prennent ien souvent pour des marques d'af-fection, par celles memes qui les regoivent?"(Scenevi). The behavior f Moliere's charactersshows what Dorante means when he says thatit is a mark of affection o call a woman n ani-mal. In fact, it seems almost to be a way ofpatching up a quarrel. t is at the moment of

reconciliation n Le DIpit amoureux hat Gros-Rene calls Marinette bonne bete," and at thesame moment n the corresponding cene of LeBourgeoisGentilhomme hat Covielle exclaims"Qu'on est aisement madoue par ces diantresd'animaux-l'a " iii.x). These names can be seenas unconscious ributes o the powerof woman'sanimal attraction. t is the reasoning man, fullof wind and nonsense n Gros-Rene, itter ndmoralistic n Arnolphe, bservant nd critical nCoviellewho makes the caseagainst woman, he"animal difficile connaitre"; but it is the maleanimal who is delighted o be reconciled with"ces diantres d'animaux-la."Arnolphe peaks about Agnes as though hewere omething e has shaped and moulded unmorceau e cire), dish that he has prepared orhimself "mon cceur aura. . . cru la mitonnerpour moi durant treize ans" [11. 1030-31]).Alain'sfamousdefinition f woman s "le potagede l'homme" s echoed in this phrase of Arnol-phe's, as it is in another n which he describesyoung gentlemen f fashion s true devils "dontla gueule alteree/ De l'honneur eminin herche'a faire uree" (1. 655-656). All women o Arnol-

phe are animals, but Agnes, unlike some, is adocile animal that can easily be led back to theright ath f t should tray. Et si du bon cheminon l'a fait ecarter,/ Deux mots incontinent 'ypeuvent rejeter./ Mais une femme habile estbien une autre bete" (11. 18-820). When he fallsin love with her he still considers er as an ani-mal, but promotes her from humble beast ofburden aden with ustere duties to a pamperedpet and prize possession, rom donkey to race-horse.This comesout n hisextravagant romisesof sexual ardor: "Sans cesse, nuit et jour, e tecaresserai/ Je te bouchonnerai, aiserai, man-

gerai" (11. 1594-95), the food and animal com-parisons reappearing n mangerai nd bouckon-nerai. Finally, whenAgnesremains nmoved byhis declaration, is instinctive ttitude towardsher again comes to the surface n an animal epi-thet: "Je suivrai mon dessein, bete trop indo-cile,/ Et vous denicherez l'instant de la ville"(11.1609-10). Even denicher erives ome of itsexpressive orce rom ts primary meaning.

The association between animals and eroti-cism, implicit in these passages, is clearlybrought ut in the bantering rologue f Amphi-tryon. a Nuit is shocked by Jupiter's nimaldisguises:Mais de voir Jupiter aureau,Serpent, ygne, u quelque utre hose,Je ne trouve oint ela beau,Et ne m'etonne as si parfois n en cause. 11. 9-102)Mercury defends his master in the name ofpleasure:Et, dans es mouvements e leurs tendres rdeurs,Les betes ne sont pas si bates que l'on pense.

(11. 07-108)

This is the only generalization bout animal be-havior n Moliere'swork.As evidence f Moliere'stheriophily r of his position n the debate onthe animal soul it is of dubious value. What itdoes show s the care with whichhe sets the toneof the play in the prologue y striking he com-mon chord that unites gods, men, and animals:the pursuit and enjoyment f erotic pleasure.Amphitryon vokes pleasure: the pleasures offood and drink, nd the pleasures of maliciousmystification nd disguise, but above all thepleasures f making ove. Its mood s epicurean,and it proposes n epicurean definition f intel-ligence. To be intelligent s to be adept in thepursuit of pleasure. Mercury approves of hismaster's disguises: C'est agir en dieu qui n'estpas bete" (1. 79). The pun on bete ets the mood

for a playful assault upon reason, order, andcommon sense, and the reference o Jupiter'sanimal disguisesrecalls the animal pleasures oflove.

The celebration f love's omnipotence s themajor theme of Moliere's pastorals (La Prin-cessed'Elide, Mglicerte, es Amantsmagnifiques),and it is here that the animal population isthickest. The example of the animals invitesmen nd women o fall n ove,and lesrossignols,les moineaux, es brebis, es innocents nimauxprovide a proper setting for amorous activity.The familiar messageof the birds and the bees





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is one of the banalities f the genre hat Molierecould scarcely have avoided.

Vois, ous ce cheneS'entre-baiseresoiseaux moureux;Ils n'ont ien ans eurs ceuxQui les gene; Ballet des nations n Le Bourgeois

Gentilhomme)Helas quevous etes heureux,Innocents nimaux, e vivre ans contrainte, Les

Amantsmagnifiques,roisiementermede, ceneiii)

Even Orgon n Tartuffe trikes he pastoral notewhenhe evokes the weddedbliss that he expectsMariane and Tartuffe o share: "Ensemble vousvivrez, dans vos ardeurs fideles,/ omme deuxvrais enfants, omme deux tourterelles" 11. 33-

534).The sylvan setting offers urther dvantagesto Molierethe courtier ince t invites eferencesto hunting, ouis XIV's favorite astime, andto Moliere the plotmaker, ince it permits hehero to save the heroine rom timely ttack bya wild boar. Both n LesAmantsmagnifiquesndin La Princesse d'Elide Moliere enlivens thestory f the encounter with the boar by entrust-ing it to the comic figure, self-confessedpoltroon. Moron n La Princessed'Elide has anopportunity odisplay his cowardice raphicallywhen a bear appears on stage. He flatters heanimal until a group of hunters ppears, thentakes refuge n a tree and watches while theykill him, nd after he is dead rushes forward oparticipate n the triumph. Comic animal actsof one kind or another were one of the usualingredients f the commedia ell'arte, nd in noscene is Moliere closer to his Italian confreresthan n this one. (Chaplin enthusiasts may alsobe reminded f Charlie's fight with the bear atthe beginning f The GoldRush.) Like a com-media dell'arte canevas" this scene is silly andvaguely unsavory to read, but may have been

funny o watch. Moliere, ike ny good comedian,must have enjoyedportraying hevarious tagesof fear, from he first pprehension o the final,frenzied anic, and his audience of courtiers wasno doubt particularly disposed to laugh at acowardly untsman.

La Princesse d'Elide moves easily from thissort of clowning o more elevated badinage andeven to delicately ntrospective assages. At onemoment he chaste huntress, a princesse 'Elide,realizing he is falling n love, exclaims: "d'oiuvient ce poison qui me court par toutes lesveines, et ne me laisse point en repos avec moi-

meme? ors de mon oeur, ui que tu sois, nnemiqui te caches. Attaque-moi visiblement, etdeviens mes yeux a plus affreuse ete de tousnos bois, afin que mon dard et mes flechesmepuissent defaire e toi" (iv, vi). The mood hereis obviously not comic; in fact Racine uses thesame ancient ink between hunting nd chastity,and the same familiar nalogy between uncon-trolled passion and wild animals in Phezdre.Passion as enemy, passion as poison, passionmetamorphosed nto a wildbeast, passion's vic-tim weaned from he nnocent ursuits f hunt-ing---all of these seem to be anticipations fmotifs whichRacine develops. But even here hetone remains ntimate nd familiar s befitspastoral. In tragedy nos bois will become lesforets nd la plus aifreuse ete, n monstre.

The princess' troubled ntrospection s themost serious moment n the play. Its mood issoon dispelled when he calls upon two shepherd-esses to charm her melancholy with music.Moron's expression f his love-everyone is inlove in La Princesse 'Elide-lies at another x-treme, ut here too an animal reference ppears.The song n which he explains how he first ellin love with Philis while watching her milk acow, the most crudely suggestive passage inMoli'ere, s as vivid an illustration s one couldask for of the compatibility etween the rusticsetting nd eroticism:

Philis st 'objet harmantQui tient mon ceur l'attache;Et je devins on mantLa voyant raire ne vache.Sesdoigts out leins e ait, t plus lancsmille ois,Pressaientes bouts u pis d'une grace dmirable.Ouf ette deeestcapableDe me reduire ux abois. (Deuxieme ntermede,

Scene )III

"II y a du mouton edans." Le BourgeoisGentilhomme,.ii)

Animalsbelong n pastoral. They form art ofthe setting. ut in other lays they re often utof bounds, nd their nexpected btrusion n theconversation an produce an effect f comic n-congruity. n Le BourgeoisGentilhomme on-sieur Jourdain estroys he atmosphere f deli-cacy and languid refinement reated by the ove-song by bringing nto the drawing-room whifffrom he stable. He is trying o remember hewords o a song.

Monsieur Jourdain. Attendez.. la ... Commentest-ce u'il dit?





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QuentinM. Hope 417

Le Maitre Danser. ar mafoi, e ne sais.Monsieur ourdain. ly a du mouton edans.Le Maitre Danser.Du mouton? (Iii)

And then it comes back to him: "Je croyais

Jeanneton/ Plus douce qu'un mouton." Theword mouton, et off by the dancing master'sstunned epetition,makes a vivid effect. he un-expected ppearance of a sheep n the conversa-tion would be less effective, owever, f the syn-tax were ess awkward. Moliere derives a sim-ilar effect rom he same construction n Made-Ion's owlish comment on Mascarille's song inLes Precieuses idicules: Il y a de la chromatiquela-dedans" (Scene ix). It sounds as if you couldreach n and pull t out.

Mascarille himself urnishes he explication etexte which he appends to his rendition f theimpromptu ith a couple of animal referenceswhich, ike MonsieurJourdain's, tand out boldlyagainst the supposedly refined etting n whichthey ake place. Mascarille's glosson "tandis quesans songer mal" is "tandis qu'innocemment,sans malice, comme un pauvre mouton." On"tapinois" t s "en cachette; l semble ue ce soitun chat qui vienne de prendre une souris,tapinois." How did a sheep, a cat, and a mousefind heir way into this toplofty iterary onver-sation? The device is a reversal of one LaFontaine uses frequently, hen he exploits theincongruity f heroic or mythological eferencesin animal stories: "On ne s'attendait guere/ Devoir Ulysse en cette affaire." n Les Pr&cieusesridicules t is the other way around.

Animal references lso play a part in the roleof Gorgibus.Moliereuses for hefirst ime n LesPrecieuses he device of counterbalancing ne ex-treme with another. n the plays written here-after many of his best scenes nvolve he encoun-ter of extreme pposites: ncredulity nd super-stition, innocence and guile, coquetry andboorishness, ffectation nd simplicity. orgibus

is as crude as Cathos and Madelon are precious.Cathos' ridiculous xclamation Mon Dieu, machere, ue ton pere a la forme nfoncee ans lamatiere " Scene v) is splendidly escriptive. eis indeed all matter, thick presence upon thestage. His language s heavy and concrete. venhis images seem real. When he says "Je melasse de vous avoir sur les bras" (Sceneiv), onecan almost hear him groan with heweight f theload. The language of Cathos and Madelonmakes real objects like chairs or mirrors m-material. The language of Gorgibus makes realobjects even more real by reducing hem to the

plainest terms possible. This comes out in theanimal references e uses early n the play. ForCathos and Madelon, llusionistswho believe nmake-believe, ommade smake-up. or Gorgibusit s simply heepsfat nd pig's feet: Ces pendar-des-la, avec leur pommade, ont, e pense, enviede me ruiner.... Elles ont us', depuis que noussommes ci, le lard d'une douzaine de cochons,pour e moins;et quatre valets vivraient ous esjours des pieds de mouton qu'elles emploient"(Scene iii).

In the consultation cene between the fourdoctors n L'Amour Medecin animals gain enterthe conversation unexpectedly nd incongru-ously:Monsieur es Fonandrhs. aris est etrangement rand,et l faut aire e ongs rajets uand apratique onneun peu.Monsieur omes. I faut avouerque j'ai une muleadmirable our ela, t qu'on peine croiree cheminque e lui fais aire ous es ours.MonsieurDes Fonandres.J'ai un cheval merveilleux,et c'est un animal nfatigable.M1onsieur omes. avez-vouse chemin uema mulefait ujourd'hui?II.iii)

The situation s a familiar ne on and off thestage: men whose ostume r bearing ymbolizesauthority meet n privacy o consider ravemat-ters, nd launch n earnest iscussion f totallyirrelevant nd abysmally rivial ubject. Animalreferences re not an essential part of it. Butclearly, f the argument were about the relativemerits f two chaises d porteur rather han twoanimals t would be less vivid, ncongruous, ndamusing. Bergson provides an explanation forthis. He argues that when welaugh at an objector an animal t is becausewehave in one way oranother endowed t with a human attribute. fthis s true then animals, particularly omesticanimals, ound to the human race by a tight web

of analogies nd relationships, re always poten-tially funnier han things. Here it is the mule nparticular, hat expressive yrnbol f so many ofthe finest cademic qualities, hat adds a happytouch to the solemn occasion. He appropriatelysymbolizes he spirit f the gathering, nd fore-shadows things o come, since his master soongives proof of an indefatigable tubbornnessworthy f his mount.

Another delight of this passage is the trulyasinine pride which the doctors take in theiranimals. What could be more foolish, nd yetwhat couldbe more human, hanboasting bout





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the exploits f one's mule? Moliere'smost thor-ough exploration of this foible occurs in thehuntsman pisode which e added to Les Facheuxat Louis XIV's request. The long tirade n whichDorante, the huntsman, xtols the merits f hishorse s a veritable bravura passage. As he goeson it becomes hard to tell whether he is morepleased with himself r with his horse, and infact the distinction carcely seems necessarysince Dorante's horse, like Monsieur Tomes'mule, ppears to be an extension f his owner'spersonality. When he admires he splendidfeet,the broad hindquarters, he fine neck, he isadmiring imself, is acumen n purchasing heanimal, his skill n breaking him n, his shrewd-ness at holding on to him in spite of temptingoffers. f Molierewas aiming t a universal orm

of vanity he struck home here. Yet, as PercyChapman points out, there s something nfec-tious about Dorante's enthusiasm or his horse.3Dorante is a fool to be sure; but like most ofMoliere's fools he possesses great appetite forlife. Vitality n Moliere s everywhere. ere, inthe expansive and luxurious mood appropriateto an aristocratic ntertainment, oliere sum-mons up a vivid image of a magnificent orseseen through he eyes of his fatuous owner. nhis own way, Dorante's horse has as much ym-bolicvalue as MonsieurTomes' mule. The liveli-ness, the vivacity of this restless, rancing eastharmonizeswith the sportive ances and festiveactivity f the play. Like the cardplayers, uel-lists, oueurs de mail, joueurs de boules, andpetitsfrondeurs e s spirited, xuberant, nd over-flowing ith vitality.

IV"Lepetit hat st mort." LesFemmes

savantes,.461)Many references o animals n Moliere imply

add a touch of homely realism or humor. Dogsand cats form part of the setting n whichMoliere's characters ive. Pets may be on thebottom rung f the social scale but they re stillpart of the family, and, like a seventeenth-century genre painter, Moliere, following hisprinciple il faut peindre d'apres nature," ikesoccasionally o include them n the picture. Thehumor f these nimal references erives rom hesimple device of speaking or acting as if thereexisted no distinction t all between men andanimals. t is on this principle hat Sganarelle,"le medecindes paroquets," prescribeswineandbread to Lucinde in Le Me'decinmalgre'ui: "Nevoyez-vous as bien qu'on ne donne autre chose

aux perroquets, t qu'ils apprennent parler enmangeant de cela?" (ii, iv). When Mascarille, nL'Etourdi, coldsLeliefor having penly evealedhis infatuation with Celie during dinner, hespeaks of his master s if he were n animal, ndof animals as if they werehuman beings.

Sur es morceauxouches esa main elicate,Oumordus esesdents, ous tendiez a pattePlusbrusquement u'un chat dessus ne ouris,Et les avaliez out insi ue despoisgris.Puis,outre out ela, vousfaisiez ous a tableUn bruit, n triquetrac e pieds nsupportable,DontTrufaldin, eurte e deux oups rop ressants,A punipar deuxfois eux hiens res nnocents,Qui, 'ils eussent se,vous eussent ait uerelle.

(11. 523-31)The animal comparisons re typical of the pun-

gent tyle f this arly work.Mascarille omparesLelie's love for Celie to overflowing orridge. tis a blind, foolish, ncontrollable nimal urge.Lelie can no moreprevent imself rommanifest-ing his ove for Celie than cat can helpchasingmouse.On the other hand, Mascarillecredits hedogs under the table with human intelligence.They are not only able to understand hat t isfor Lelie's misbehavior that they are beingpunished, but they would also be capable ofmaking trouble for him if they were not afraidto. This exchange f rolesbetween man and ani-mal is reflected n the vocabulary. Vous etendiezla patte pplies to Lelie and ils vouseussent aitquerelle o the dogs.

When Agnes in L'Ecole des femmes tellsArnoiphe, Le petit chat est mort" and he re-sponds, "C'est dommage. Mais quoi?/ Noussommes tous mortels t chacun est pour soi,"the humor s again based on the failure o dis-tinguish etween man and animal. "Nous som-mes tous mortels" s a very bleak and dispropor-tionate eflection o make onthe death of kitten.This passage,however, s much more deeply ex-pressive than the pleasantries f Mascarille or

Sganarelle. n fact, Arnolphe's eaction oAgnes'trivial ieceofnews sa more oncentrated evela-tion of his true nature than anything he hassaid up until that moment n the play. It showshis readiness o moralize, ispeculiar mbalance,and especiallyhis inhumanity. t supports hefeeling onveyed by Arnolphe's arlier appear-ances that somehowhe is not quite all there. nthis nstance, e is indeednot all there, ince hismind s dwelling nxiously n what he will dis-cover about Horace's visits to Agnes. Moliere

I The Spirit of Moliere Princeton Univ. Press: Princeton,1940),p. 109.





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Quentin M. Hope 419

likes to catch his characters n an unguardedmoment. n "chacun est pour soi" Arnolphe x-presseshis total self-absorption nd insensibilityunconsciously. ater in the play the same effectoccurs when Horace describes Arnolphe don-nant quelquefois e grands oups sur es tables/Frappant un petit hien ui pour ui s'emouvait"(11. 158-59). Kicking friendly ittle dog is theperfect esture or Arnolphe, spontaneous x-pression f hisnervous xcitability, ismeanness,and his elf-absorption. Quipour uis'emouvait"is a particularly appy touch. The dog has moreof the milk of human kindness n him than hismaster.

WhileArnolphemoralizes ompously ver thedeath of the kitten, Agnes says nothing t all.Each of her previous ines in the play has a

wooden nd puppetlike uality that conveys heimpression hat she is a mechanical, not quitereal creature that Arnolphe has fashioned for

-himself. Le petit chat est mort" s Agnes' firstexpression of emotion in the play, the firstglimpse f her tender nd loving nature. As thescene develops, the antithesis etween her andArnolphe omes harply nto focus.He is unfeel-ing, she is compassionate, e loves no one, sheloves everyone, e tells her that everyone ooksout for himself n this world, he seems o believethat t is quite the other way around. n the oldentremetteuse ho helped Horace gain access toher house she sees a helpful nd tenderheartedaltruist who was sorry orHorace's plight. Thebribes that Horace gave "notre Alain et Geor-gette" are evidence f his generosity. he is surethat Arnolphe will love Horace as soon as hemeets him. In Agnes' world everybody oveseverybody else. Her naivete is as extreme sArnolphe's ynicism. Naturally, t is a contrastthat s built up only as the action flows orwardin the scene; but "le petit chat est mort" andArnolphe's esponse o it are an expressive ndconcise way of establishing rom the start the

confrontation f tender nd loving naivete withharsh nsensibility.L'Avare s another lay in which Moliereuses

characters' feelings owards animals to expresssomething bout their feelings owards people.Instead ofAgnes'kitten wehave Maitre Jacques'shorses.Act ii, scene , draws a splendid pictureof Harpagon's household. t is a scene of manyparadoxes. The miser prepares for a banquet.Any prospect of spending money horrifies im,but Valere's motto urging frugality o flattershis avarice that he proposes to inscribe t overthe fireplace n letters f gold. He is determined

to put up a front, ven though his valet has tostand back to the wall to hide the holes in histrousers. His horses, o underfed hat they aretoo weak to drag a carriage, dd a climacticnote to this display of shabby and derisory re-tension. When Harpagon orders Maitre Jacquesto get the horses ready Maltre Jacques inter-rupts.Mattre Jacques.Voschevaux,monsieur?Ma foi, ls nesont point du tout en etat de marcher. ene vous diraipoint qu'ils sont sur la litiere: es pauvres betes n'enont point, t ce serait fort mal parler; mais vous leurfaites observer es jeu'nes i austeres, ue ce ne sontplus rien que des idees ou des fantomes, es fagons echevaux.

Harpagon. Les voila bien malades Ils ne font rien.Maitre Jacques.Et pour ne rien faire, monsieur, st-cequ'il ne faut rien manger? I leur vaudrait bien mieux,les pauvres animaux, de travailler beaucoup, demanger de me'me.

In some respectsMaltre Jacquesresembles heother Moliere servants who talk back to theirmasters: Dorine, Martine, Nicole. Their out-spokenbluntness trikes ome,particularly inceit is played off gainst he more imid, efined, revasive anguageof the other haracters. MaitreJacques appears for the first ime n this scene.Every other character has had his word to sayagainst Harpagon and his avarice. After therestrained legance of Valere, the girlish out-burst of Elise, the sweeping hetoric f Cleante,and the curses and threats of Frosine and LaFleche, Maitre Jacques has his turn. t is typicalof Molierethat he should give to his owest ndleast clever character the most direct homethrust gainst avarice, and that the wholebusi-ness should concern omething pecific, eal, andliving, ike Maitre Jacques's horses. His argu-ment, better o work nd eat than be idle andstarve" arises naturally rom he circumstances.It is just how we would expect a coachman to

answerHarpagon, nd it s that fulfilled xpecta-tion, as in so many passages of Moliere, thatmakes t satisfying. ut there s something lseto it. The vigor and spontaneity of MaltreJacques's argument eveals n a flash he crazedillogicality fholding ightly n to money, orses,possessionsof all kinds, for no other purposethan that of holding hem.

Maitre Jacques, although outspoken, s notplainspoken. Martine's "Je parlons tout droitcomme n parle cheuxnous" is not his style. Hefancies himself uite a talker. Moliere uses hisloquacious verbal mannerisms ven more ex-





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pressively han he uses his bluntness. Symbol-ically Harpagon is the enemy of life and of allliving things. He is forever peaking of gallows,hangings, nd executions, e looksforward withequanimity to burying his own children andgrandchildren, nd says he would rather haveseen his daughter drowned than his moneystolen. Judd Hubert calls him a seventeenth-century Midas.4 Everything hat comes n con-tact with him shrivels, s paralyzed. He has adeadening touch. When Maltre Jacques waxeseloquent n his description f the horses s "desidees, ou des fant6mes, es fagons de chevaux,"he expresses n a most concentrated nd evoca-tive fashion both this deadly withering ffect,and the hollowness f Harpagon's pretension, isinsistence n owning horses for the show, for

"the idea," rather han for ny use.What is most important about MaitreJacques's horses, however, s his affection orthem. He says: "Cela me fend e cceur de lesvoir ainsi extenues; ar, enfin, 'ai une tendressepour meschevaux, u'il me semble ue c'est moi-meme, uand je les vois patir. Je m'6te tous esjours pour eux les chosesde la bouche; et c'est6tre, monsieur, 'un naturel trop dur, que den'avoir nulle pitie de son prochain." n L'Avare,as in other plays, Moliereuses the fervid ener-osity nd idealism f the children s a foil to thesordid egoism of the father; the precious andsentimental tyle of the noble characters splayed off oldly gainst hegrating arshness fthe central figure. But Moliere must have feltthe need to contrast Harpagon's egoism withsomething more primitive nd earthbound hanthe generosite urprenante, ouceurpleine d'at-traits, bonte toute engageante, en6reuse mitig,affection gissante, nd tendresse xtreme hat theyoung oversdiscover n each other. his s whereMaitre Jacques and his horses come into thepicture. Maitre Jacques s a shabby specimen fthe common run of humanity. For that very

reasonhe s, n Moliere's cheme f things, deallysuited to the task of showing p the nhumanityof Harpagon. The pitie officieuse nd tendresseextreme f the young overs s tinged with arti-ficiality nd thoroughly umorless. ut MaltreJacques is funny, ouching, nd true. Here wehave reached bedrock: unconsciously nd spon-taneously Maitre Jacques has stated what com-passionreally s,putting t at the ame nstinctivelevel as hunger or fear. He reduces feeling orone's fellow-creature o its lowest evel. MaitreJacques gives in his love for his horses the full

measure of Harpagon's alienation from he restof humanity.

As a symbol hehorses re as expressive s the"peau d'un lezard de trois ieds et demi, rempliede foin" which Harpagon the usurer ttemptsto palm off on the anonymous borrower whoturns out to be his son Cleante. Harpagon'shorses, carcely more alive or more useful thanthe stuffed izard, occupy with t a prominentplace on the list of props and possessions-lunettes, aut-de-chaussesttache vecdes aiguil-lettes, raise a l'antique, diamant, arrosse, as-sette-which help create the atmosphere f theplay and define ts central haracter.

L'Avare can be seen as a series of encountersbetween Harpagon and the other characters, neach of which a new face of his hardness and

aridity s revealed, nd another way of makingfun of him s discovered. He appears as bogey-man and as figure f fun. Maitre Jacques's ovefor his horses, idiculous s it is, casts a sinisterlight on Harpagon, for t serves as a reminderthat he loves no living thing. Then, a few mo-ments ater, Harpagon s made to appear foolishwhenMaitre Jacques ellshim, t his own behest,just what everybody hinks of him. Yet theseare not actually successive nd contrasting s-pectsof he presentation f Harpagon's haracter,for he is funny nd sinister t the same moment.If Maitre Jacques's ovefor his horses evealsbycontrast his master's nhumanity, t also ridi-culeshim effectively, ince Harpagon finds him-selfrelegated oa position ust belowthat of thehorses n the ffections f his servant. Apresmeschevaux, vous etes la personne que j'aime leplus." Harpagon is not one to appreciate thiscompliment. ike many characters n Moliere,Maitre Jacques speaks as if there were no dis-tinction at all between animals and humanbeings. His reproach o Harpagon, "C'est etre,monsieur, 'un naturel rop dur, que de n'avoirnulle pitie de son prochain" suggests n image

of Harpagon as neighbor nd fellow-creature,stablemate s it were, oa pair of maciated nags.But it is no wonder hat Maitre Jacques puts

Harpagon heekby owl with hehorses.Accord-ing to the stories whichhe repeats near the endof the scene, Harpagon does indeed descend tothe level of his animals and treat them as hisprockains-that s he grants hem he amehard-hearted nd close-fisted reatment hat he gives

4Moliere and the Comedy f ntellect Univ. of CaliforniaPress: Berkeley, 962),p. 213.





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QuentinM. Hope 421

to his fellow-man. aitre Jacques tells him omeof the wild stories hat have been going roundabout him: "Celui-la conte qu'une fois vous fitesassigner e chat d'un de vos voisins, pour vousavoir mange un reste d'un gigot de mouton;celui-ci, que l'on vous surprit, une nuit, envenant derober vous-meme l'avoine de voschevaux; et que votre cocher, qui etait celuid'avant moi, vous donna, dans l'obscurite, e nesais combien de coups de baton, dont vous nevoul'utes ien dire." Maitre Jacques's narrativereaches ts culminating oint with the return othe subject of the horses. The break-up of thescenequicklyfollows;Maitre Jacques's recollec-tion of the beating supposedly undergone byHarpagon earns him a real beating of his own.Placed in this emphatic position, the story of

Harpagon's misadventure n the stable vividlycompletes he point made in the earlier usinessabout the horses. The dovetailing f two com-ically exaggerated mages,Harpagon stealinghisownhorses' ats, and Maitre Jacques taking hefoodout of his own mouth" to keep them live-

as if the horses te bread or Harpagon te oats-completes hedramatic ortrayal f the confron-tation of nhuman varice and elemental gener-osity.

Unlike Maitre Jacques's horses, most of theanimals in Moliere make only the briefest p-pearances n the dialogue. They step nto promi-nence suddenly nd recede s quickly. But theycontribute n many different ays to the totaleffect: hey add their own dimension to thevocabulary f nvective; hey create n effect fincongruity, r stand as symbols f a moodor ahuman trait; they waken n their wners ffec-tion, pride, and even a sense of identification;finally, ike the peasants and servants who sooften refer o them and compare themselves othem, hey offer n exampleof ife t the purelyinstinctive evel which contrasts sharply andcomically with reason, uthority, ffectation, rpretense.

INDIANA UNIVERSITYBloomington

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