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The enormous theatrical production of Spain and France in the early and
mid-seventeenth century provides numerous examples of characters who assume
other identities by manipulating widespread beliefs, rumor and even attire,
and in so doing, they explore and expand the otherwise restrictive societal
criteria for identity. The mercurial, complex and resilient characters of
the Spanish "comedia"--whose existence as such challenges society's
power to impose upon them static, simplistic identity criteria--find their
counterparts in the French dramatic world whose characters ardently seek
to create their own subjectivity. | |
1 |
|
Despite the dissimilarity in plot between Tirso de Molina's Don Gil de
las calzas verdes (1615) and MoliËre's Le Bourgeois gentilhomme
(1670)--it should be noted that there is little evidence to support the
notion of a single "comedia" that served as MoliËre's model
for this play1 --both continue the rich tradition
of incorporating musical routines into the story not merely because they
fit logically into the action (for this is not always the case), but because
festive song and dance is a way of creating a more pliant ambiance in which
identity alternatives can flourish.2 This
becomes evident in Le Bourgeois gentilhomme in the form of a dance
number (known as the "Ballet des Nations") that ends the play.
This musical production is the culmination of the triumph of M. Jourdain's
imaginary world over the real world of the society that surrounds him (Defaux
1980, 273).3 | |
2 |
There is one stanza that deserves our special attention. MoliËre has
"un Espagnol"
sing: | | 3 |
| Alegrese
enamorado
Y tome mi parecer
Que en esto de querer
Todo es hallar el vado. (V, 6, "troisiËme entrÈe")
(Be glad, suitor
and take my lead
for when it comes to love
Finding the ford is everything).4 | |
|
|
The last two verses seem to sum up the guiding force in M. Jourdain's life.
His intense desire to join the ranks of the nobility resembles that of a
lover longing to be united with her/his beloved. Although M. Jourdain never
actually reaches his goal of noble status, he exhausts virtually all means
available to induce society's confirmation of his imaginary identity.5
| | 4 |
|
In addition, "vado" is an interesting word choice. Its figurative
meaning is a solution or a way around the problem, while its literal meaning
indicates a passage from one side to another. Just as one would look for
a ford to traverse a stream, M. Jourdain adamantly seeks passage across
the gulf separating the bourgeois from the nobility. In this musical and
festive atmosphere, his final defeat is unimportant. The song seems to praise
not the outcome, but the relentless pursuit of the goal, incarnated in M.
Jourdain. Thus, on the surface, while the Spanish verses of this musical
routine may refer to the persistence of the traditional suitor of the "comedia"
as he tries to overcome obstacles to his beloved, there is also an intriguing
subtext which emphasizes the seemingly boundless energy M. Jourdain expends
in order to find a way to realize his imaginary identity. | |
5 |
|
While the song and dance in Don Gil de las calzas verdes ("La
Molinera", 864-901) is not closely related to the theme of imaginary
identity, it is reminiscent of the ambiance created by the machinations
of DoÒa Juana in her attempt to win back Don MartÌn, the man
who seduced, then abandoned her. Despite being promised to Juana, MartÌn
follows his father's orders to leave her so that the young man will be free
to marry the wealthier DoÒa InÈs. Juana decides to pursue
MartÌn both under the pseudonym of DoÒa Elvira and disguised
as a man named Don Gil de las calzas verdes (green britches). She eventually
wins him back at the end of the play. | |
6 |
|
In a scene near the end of Act I, Juana, disguised as Gil, dances with InÈs
and DoÒa Clara, InÈs' friend. The accompanying
song describes a mill which metaphorically reaps its power from human
jealousy in order to continue operating: | |
7 |
|
...this suggests that Juana's
ingenuity in creating jealousy among the several characters by means of
her disguises and her suspicion about the fidelity of one's mate will keep
the mill running and will provide the motivating force to produce the result
she so ardently desires (Hesse 1980, 59) | |
|
|
"La Molinera" provides a metaphoric description of the emotional
atmosphere which Juana must create and in which she must function if the
multiple identities she assumes are to be believed. It is an atmosphere
in which social class and actual behavior have little bearing on identity
construction: | | 8 |
| ...[la
piËce] s'edifie sur l'axe polysÈmique de l'identitÈ,
entendue comme ressemblance et similitude, singularitÈ ou individualitÈ
propre, et sur les signes extÈrieurs de l'identitÈ, essentiellement
l'apparence, la voix...et le nom. (Ly 1983, 183).
(...[the play] is built on the polysemic axis of identity, understood as
resemblance and similarity, singularity and individuality itself, and on
the exterior signs of identity, essentially appearance, voice...and name.) |
| |
| Musical
routines, then, are regularly integrated into the "comedia" as
coherent and pertinent components of the play that reinforce its basic plot
and the environment in which it (the plot) unfolds. | |
|
|
As seen earlier, the confluence of song and dance in Le Bourgeois gentilhomme
plays a key role in M. Jourdain's identity construction (Mazouer 1993, 75).
As the protagonist is preparing the melodies and dance in order to woo the
"marquise," DorimËne, it is only natural that he see a preview
of them at the end of Act I and that the full spectacle be presented at
the conclusion of the dinner with the "marquise" at the end of
Act III. The famous "cÈrÈmonie turque" ends Act
IV, and Act V concludes with the "Ballet des Nations" during which
ClÈonte weds Lucille, M. Jourdain's daughter, and Dorante marries
DorimËne (Abraham 63-66). | |
9 |
|
In addition to their logical distribution throughout the play, these musically
choreographed productions are also an exterior manifestation of the methodology
used by M. Jourdain to confirm his noble identity. Story and the performing
arts become inextricably intertwined. Thus, M. Jourdain has discovered a
medium in which appearances are given special emphasis and the possibilities
of transforming and expanding one's identity are greatly increased. He turns
his life into theatre, that magical place where disbelief is suspended and
the normal limits of human existence are pushed back. This is evident in
Act II where the tailors fit him for a new suit: |
| 10 |
| DËs
lors, [the tailors' ballet], ce ´gentilhommeª se rÈvËle
au spectateur, de maniËre toute cinÈtique, comme un bourgeois
incurablement rigide qui, dans le sens littÈral aussi bien que dans
le sens pÈjoratif de l'expression franÁaise, ´se donne
en spectacle.ª
(From that point, [the tailor's ballet], this "gentleman" reveals
himself to the spectator, in a completely kinetic way, as an incurably rigid
bourgeois who, in the literal as well as pejorative sense of the French
expression, "makes a spectacle of himself," Brody 1968, 315) |
| |
|
This spectacle is infectious, spawning a musical, dream-like world of potentialities
yet to be realized. Indeed M. Jourdain certainly believes that a nobleman
already exists within him and that all his noble persona lacks is an accurate
imitation of the actions of the "gens de qualitÈ," (people
of quality): | | 11 |
| ...il
ne voit point de mal...de vouloir singer et hanter la noblesse, de vouloir
apprendre toutes ces belles choses qui font de vous une personne de qualitÈ.
Jourdain fait la roue. Il veut que le monde l'admire, et il le dit. (Defaux
1980, 281)
(...he sees nothing wrong in wanting to ape and frequent the nobility, in
wanting to learn all these fine things that make one a person of quality.
Joudain is putting on airs. He wants the world to admire him and he says
so.) | | |
| There is
little doubt M. Jourdain equates appearances with authentic identity. He
does not intend to deceive anyone with his new persona, for he truly believes
that looking the part and being the part are identical. | |
|
|
For this reason he is disinterested in any skill that he cannot show off
or that has no immediate applicability. He declines the offer of the "maÓtre
de philosophie" to teach him logic, ethics and physics, opting instead
for a spelling lesson (during which M. Jourdain thoroughly enjoys the exaggerated
pronunciation of vowels) and a tutoring session to help him write a love
letter to the "marquise" (II, 4). He also learns the terms "prose"
and "poetry" which are valuable to him, not because M. Jourdain
is ignorant of the difference between the two (he has known the difference
for years without being aware of the terms), but rather because it is demonstrable,
albeit useless, knowledge that he may flaunt before others (III, 3). M.
Jourdain must attract attention, must be seen, heard and well-known in his
community because it is in conjunction with and/or in defiance of his community
that he will construct his new persona. Consequently, he spends much of
the play trying to imitate the noble arts of music, dance, fencing, gastronomy
and even courtship. But because he has not been instructed from birth in
these areas, he must hire teachers ("maÓtres") so he may
learn them. | | 12 |
|
M. Jourdain is in line with long-standing "comedia" tradition,
equating noble identity with noble appearance and noble reputation. He seeks
only to show off his acquired merchandise and knowledge for public consumption
in the hopes he will convince the community that he belongs in its upper
echelons. To this end, he tries to influence what others say about him and
how they see him. He insists that the "maÓtre de musique"
and the "maÓtre ý danser" remain until his tailor
arrives so they may see him in his new suit in the style of "les gens
de qualitÈ;" even a walk through the city becomes a carefully
choreographed event as he tells his valets to follow behind him during the
promenade "afin qu'on voie bien que vous Ítes ý moi"
("so they see that you belong to me," III, 1); he explains to
his wife the benefit of having others notice the Count Dorante frequenting
their home (III, 3); and he is of course thrilled to be the center of attention
at the musically dramatized ceremony where he receives the empty title of
"Mamamouchi" (IV, 5). M. Jourdain believes the only difference
between himself and the nobility to be their reputations in the community,
how they are perceived by the rest of society. He accepts the premise that
noble reputation is acquired through external manifestations and so seeks
to imitate them in order to achieve noble identity. | |
13 |
|
Ironically for M. Jourdain, his exaggerated and inaccurate emulation of
the nobility is indeed the natural expression of his bourgeois identity.
Whereas the protagonist believes he is communicating what he considers to
be his true noble identity, his actions are, in reality, only more evidence
that he cannot escape from the ostentatious consumerism that characterize
many of MoliËre's bourgeois. M. Jourdain makes no conscious effort
to trick anyone. His project is executed in good faith, for he truly believes
he is participating in the ordinary activities of the nobility. Nonetheless,
in a very real sense, it is more difficult for M. Jourdain to distinguish
himself from the bourgeoisie than it is for him to imitate the upper classes
and since he chooses the fine arts to make the distinction, he cannot hide
the bourgeois origin from which he wants to escape. | |
14 |
|
Thus imitation and differentiation in the performing arts are crucial themes
in this play and even the agents of these arts--the "maÓtres"--try
to prove their superiority over their rival, the "maÓtre de
philosophie." The latter tries to elevate his stature by pointing out
how one must set himself apart from the rest of society by stoically ignoring
the insults of others (II, 3). He, of course, quickly betrays his own observation
by falling into the same argument which preceded his arrival, bickering
and then brawling with the other "maÓtres" over which art
form is more important. | |
15 |
|
But M. Jourdain's awkward attempts to participate in the fine arts--an activity
that usually identifies one as a member of the upper classes--only make
him the object of scorn for his family and servants. This ridicule, however,
far from making him see that he is at best a poor imitator of aristocratic
ways, only reassures him of his ascendancy and his family's low social status
which, for M. Jourdain, prevents them from fully understanding him. |
| 16 |
|
While this ritual may have had a similar prototype in the "comedia,"6
my interest lies with those characters who convince their community of the
veracity of an imaginary persona--a notion embodied in the protagonist of
Tirso's Don Gil de las calzas verdes.7
Indeed, it is Juana's gift for generating multiple and believable personas
that remains constant in this otherwise unpredictable and intricate "comedia."8
| | 17 |
|
Juana succeeds in producing a persona out of her own remarkable ingenuity
and astuteness, yet she is nonetheless aware that she needs society's cooperation.
Appearances may prompt the community to recognize and authenticate a particular
identity without investigating the individual's motivations for putting
forth such appearances, but the collectivity must have a reason for such
collaboration. It is society's need to believe in this imaginary persona
that Juana exploits and which allows her to conjure up a new state of things: |
| 18 |
| ([Juana
crea una] misteriosa seudo-realidad en que se embrollan los otros personajes
gracias a su avaricia, sus celos, su deseo de hallar un esposo gal·n
o una mujer rica, y sus propias decepciones unos de otros. (Varey 1989,
367)
([Juana creates a] mysterious pseudo-reality in which the other characters
embroil themselves due to their avarice, their jealousy, their desire to
find a handsome man or rich woman, and their own deceptions of one another.) |
| |
| Juana is
then using society's own weaknesses against itself. She does not change
the criteria for identity, but wrests control over it from the collectivity
and uses them to her own advantage. Juana exploits the vulnerabilities of
society and not only convinces it of a false identity, but actually forces
the collectivity to submit itself to her own machinations and, in the process,
to accept her version of what is true and what is false. | |
|
|
Turning back to MoliËre's work, M. Jourdain would like to pick up where
Juana leaves off. As successful as Juana is in her endeavor, it is important
not to lose sight of the reason she undertakes such a project: | |
19 |
|
La realidad nueva no fue creada
para evadirse, sino como medio para alcanzar una meta. Por sus varios papeles,
trucos y distorsiÛn de la verdad, Juana crea un laberinto m·s
que desagradable para MartÌn. Esto le devuelve al mundo de la realidad.
Lograda su meta, Juana abandona su personalidad mltiple. (Hesse 1981, 271)
(The new reality was not created as an escape, rather as a means to a goal.
Through her various roles, tricks and distortion of the truth, Juana creates
a more than unpleasant maze for MartÌn. This returns him to the real
world. Her goal achieved, Juana abandons her multiple personality.) |
| |
| While the
temporary nature of Juana's plan may not constitute a full-scale indictment
of society's authority to decide identity, it does provide the blueprint
for M. Jourdain's attempt to impose indefinitely his imaginary persona on
his community. To that end he spares no expense not only to acquire noble
accoutrements, but to buy a permanent aura that heightens his attempts to
create a new reality. Lessons and new clothes are but two of his high-priced
commodities: | | |
| ...the
expenses involved in acquiring a noble mistress are massive: 18,000 livres
to Dorante to serve as go-between...a costly diamond, feasts, serenades,
and entertainment. Jourdain's road to noble privilege runs through the means
of personal relations purchased with his family's patrimony.... (Gaines
1984, 159) | | |
| This is
no temporary project with a short-term goal. M. Jourdain is far too business-conscious
(remember his quick addition, without pen or paper, of Dorante's debt, III,
4) to spend his money for a new status of which he will quickly dispose
after he tires of it. On the contrary, it is very telling that he is willing
to sacrifice a good portion of his family wealth in order to create a melodic,
dance-filled world in which all others comply with his desire to be recognized
as a nobleman. | | |
|
The "Mamamouchi" ceremony of the final
act is of course the materialization of this compliance. The collectivity
finally concedes defeat not to the authenticity of M. Jourdain's noble persona,
but rather to the impossibility of derailing his individual imaginary identity.
Indeed, he is so certain of his identity, he continues to see his wife as
the stubborn one: | |
20 |
|
Vous venez toujours mÍler
vos extravagances ý toutes choses; et il n'y a pas moyen de vous
apprendre ý Ítre raisonnable. (V, 6)
(You always come along and mix your foolishness into everything; and there
is no way to teach you to be reasonable.) | |
|
|
M. Jourdain's enduring struggle to wrest this concession from society does
more than make us laugh at an obvious and ridiculous impostor. Although
he is never a serious threat to society's fabric, the result of M. Jourdain's
project is that he exposes the collectivity's reliance on precarious criteria
for the creation and distribution of identity as well as its impotence when
it comes to correcting the outrageous behavior of its members. Neither ridicule
nor reasonable discourse have any effect on M. Jourdain. Even ClÈonte,
the "honnÍte homme" of the work par excellence,
makes no headway when he explains to the protagonist that, although he (ClÈonte)
is not of noble lineage, merit makes him worthy to marry Lucille (III, 12).
ClÈonte is, thus, forced to enter M. Jourdain's lyrical world of
disguises to win his daughter's hand. But the young man's masquerade as
the son of the "Grand Turc" has some very serious ramifications.
The fact that he must hide his real identity only reinforces the futility
of the individual's struggle against a society which extols appearances
and respects vacuous titles (Mishriky 1982, 149). | |
21 |
|
M. Jourdain is certainly not aware of ClÈonte's ruse, and it is impossible
to predict how he would react if he were aware of the trick. Yet it is important
to remember that ClÈonte is only being practical and M. Jourdain
is only being consistent. Despite ClÈonte's dislike for society's
preference of appearances over identity, he finds he must say what the reluctant
father wants to hear (or more accurately, show him want he wants to see)
in order to marry the one he loves. As for M. Jourdain, the title of "Grand
Turc" convinces him that he is marrying off his daughter to someone
of noble rank. | | 22 |
|
Imaginary identity (for M. Jourdain) and role-playing (for all the others)
help to break out of the impasse. M. Jourdain's community is unable to shake
his myopic view of himself from the outside and the bourgeois is equally
incapable of convincing the collectivity of his noble identity. Something
has to give and Covielle, the valet who organizes the whole masquerade of
the "Mamamouchi" ceremony, explains to Mme Jourdain why they had
to penetrate M. Jourdain's world of melody and prancing: | |
23 |
|
...ne voyez-vous pas bien que
tout ceci n'est fait que pour nous ajuster aux visions de votre mari; que
nous l'abusons sous ce dÈguisement, et que c'est ClÈonte lui-meme
qui est le fils du Grand Turc? (V, 6)
(...don't you see that this is only to accommodate the hallucinations of
your husband; we are tricking him with this disguise, and it's Cleonte himself
who is the son of the Grand Turk.)
| | |
|
In the end, music, dance and the unrelenting conviction of one man deny
the collectivity's right to determine identity and its prerogative to punish
those who would challenge such an authority. Don Gil de las calzas verdes
may have allowed a glimpse at an individual overpowering her community,
but M. Jourdain is unique in that he obtains a societal concession without
deceit. At no time does his community actually believe he is truly of noble
lineage, yet it remains incapable of converting him and too weak to expel
him. The whole musical, festive atmosphere of the play (which eventually
governs everyone's behavior) indicates society has lost the authority it
reserved for itself to be the final arbiter of identity. To break the stalemate
between itself and an unyielding individual, society must relinquish this
favored position. It is by no means an unconditional surrender, but rather
a compromise. M. Jourdain is satisfied (at least temporarily) with the recognition
he receives and society neutralizes the immediate threat to the marriage
of two young lovers. | |
24 |
Extending the moment
M. Jourdain is the culmination of many French characters
in that he represents the individual who does not conquer society, but rather
fights it to a stalemate, forcing the entire community to play a role, to
pretend to adopt the individual's point of view. This is a dramatic departure
from the dynamic of the individual and society in many "comedias,"
where the individual promoting an imaginary identity is made to relinquish
role-playing at the end of the work--such as the title-character of Tirso's
Marta la piadosa--or surrenders the mask like Juana in Don Gil
de las calzas verdes. | |
25 |
|
French comedy hypothesizes on what would happen if this moment of illusion,
seemingly evoked into existence with such ease in the "comedia",
were extended to a lifetime. Juana poses this "what if?" question
by actualizing false identities and making others believe them, if only
temporarily. Her will to succeed with her ruse not only completes the task
at hand, but also reveals the diverse spectrum of identity possibilities.
The temporary nature of such imposture was obviously no obstacle to MoliËre's
notion that such role-playing could be expanded and integrated into some
of his more complex characters as well as into a buffoon such as M. Jourdain.
Nevertheless, MoliËre, ever aware of the awesome power of the collectivity,
instills his protagonist with a deep and durable resilience, demonstrating
the constant, and sometimes painfully slow, progress of the subject as s/he
resists society's efforts to dictate identity. It would seem that "extending
the moment" leads to a truce between the individual and society rather
than to a clear victory in the struggle for the right to create and determine
"authentic" identity. | |
26 |
|
Yet, north and south of the Pyrenees, the truce is unstable. If French comedy
of the era does not complete, but rather pushes forward the identity experiments
undertaken by Spanish playwrights in the first half of the seventeenth century,
then two elements key to the advancement of the subject are revealed; the
will and the weapons. Whereas French comedy supplies the stubborn character
who tirelessly resists the efforts of society to convert her/him, it lacks
the Spanish weapons--the numerous ways a "comedia" character tricks
and dupes the community. Thus the Spanish and French notions of subjectivity
do not differ so much as they compliment each other and when combined, will
be a formidable opponent of any society that seeks to control them. |
| 27 |
NOTES
1. There is an "entremÈs" (a short skit
usually put on between acts of a featured play) by Moreto which resembles
MoliËre's basic plot, but it is not at all certain that the French
playwright even knew of its existence, (Husz·r 1907, 241). It seems
undeniable, however, that MoliËre had more than a passing knowledge
of Moreto's El DesdÈn con el desdÈn (1654) during the
composition of La Princesse d'Elide (1664).
2. I wish to express my thanks to the Association for
Hispanic Classical Theater for its permission to use scenes from Don
Gil de las calzas verdes and to Debbie Berg Beyer and her students at
Western Illinois University for permission to use scenes from their production
of Le Bourgeois gentilhomme.
3. The Spanish verses in this concluding act were, in
all probability, written by MoliËre himself (Husz·r 1907, 244).
4. Unless otherwise indicated, all translations are mine.
5. Gaines notes that M. Jourdain neglects the most common
path of social, upward mobility in the seventeenth century, that of buying
"lands and offices," (1984, 159).
6. Husz·r mentions Lope's La boba para otros
y la discreta para sÌ and Rojas' El DesafÌo de Carlos
Quinto as possible models for MoliËre, (1907, 243).
7. In terms of the capability to create new identities
seemingly at will, the protagonist, DoÒa Juana, as her name implies,
could easily be considered the ancestor of Tirso's legendary trickster,
the approximate earliest dates of composition for Don Gil... and
El Burlador.. being 1615 and 1616- 20, respectively. While in pursuit
of the man who wronged her, Juana even creates a DoÒa Elvira. Even
though there exists no concrete evidence to suggest MoliËre knew of
Tirso's heroine, the similarity of function and name to MoliËre's Done
Elvire is intriguing.
8. Hesse affirms that "it contains, perhaps, the
most involved plot in Golden Age drama," (1962, 389). | |
|
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Dramaturgie et sociÈtÈ. Eds. Jean Jacquot, Elie Konigson
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---. "The Nature of the Complexity in Tirso's Don Gil." Hispania
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Vega y Carpio, Lope de. La dama boba. Ed. Francisco Tolsada, Zaragoza:
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