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SGANARELLE; OU, LE COCU IMAGINAIRE
COMEDIE EN UN ACTE.
* * * * *
SGANARELLE: OR THE SELF-DECEIVED HUSBAND.
A COMEDY IN ONE ACT.
(_THE ORIGINAL IN VERSE_.)
28TH MAY, 1660.
INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.
Six months after the brilliant success of the _Precieuses
Ridicules_, Moliere brought out at the Theatre du Petit-Bourbon a new
comedy, called _Sganarelle, ou le Cocu Imaginaire_, which I have
translated by _Sganarelle, or the self-deceived Husband_. It has
been said that Moliere owed the first idea of this piece to an Italian
farce, _Il Ritratto ovvero Arlichino cornuto per opinione_, but, as
it has never been printed, it is difficult to decide at the present time
whether or not this be true. The primary idea of the play is common to
many _commedia dell' arte_, whilst Moliere has also been inspired
by such old authors as Noel Du Fail, Rabelais, those of the _Quinze
joyes de Mariage_, of the _Cent nouvelles Nouvelles_, and
perhaps others.
The plot of _Sganarelle_ is ingenious and plausible; every trifle
becomes circumstantial evidence, and is received as conclusive proof
both by the husband and wife. The dialogue is sprightly throughout, and
the anxious desire of Sganarelle to kill his supposed injurer, whilst
his cowardice prevents him from executing his valorous design, is
extremely ludicrous. The chief aim of our author appears to have been to
show how dangerous it is to judge with too much haste, especially in
those circumstances where passion may either augment or diminish the
view we take of certain objects. This truth, animated by a great deal of
humour and wit, drew crowds of spectators for forty nights, though the
play was brought out in summer and the marriage of the young king kept
the court from Paris.
The style is totally different from that employed in the _Precieuses
Ridicules_, and is a real and very good specimen of the _style
gaulois_ adapted to the age in which Moliere lived. He has often been
blamed for not having followed up his success of the _Precieuses
Ridicules_ by a comedy in the same style, but Moliere did not want to
make fresh enemies. It appears to have been a regular and set purpose
with him always to produce something farcical after a creation which
provoked either secret or open hostility, or even violent opposition.
Sganarelle appears in this piece for the first time, if we except the
farce, or rather sketch, of the _Medecin volant_, where in reality
nothing is developed, but everything is in mere outline. But in
Sganarelle Moliere has created a character that is his own just as much
as Falstaff belongs to Shakespeare, Sancho Panza to Cervantes, or
Panurge to Rabelais. Whether Sganarelle is a servant, a husband, the
father of Lucinde, the brother of Ariste, a guardian, a faggot-maker,
a doctor, he always represents the ugly side of human nature, an
antiquated, grumpy, sullen, egotistical, jealous, grovelling, frightened
character, ever and anon raising a laugh on account of his boasting,
mean, morose, odd qualities. Moliere was, at the time he wrote
_Sganarelle_, more than thirty years old, and could therefore
no longer successfully represent Mascarille as the rollicking servant
of the _Blunderer_.
This farce was published by a certain Mr. Neufvillenaine, who was so
smitten by it that, after having seen it represented several times, he
knew it by heart, wrote it out, and published it, accompanied by a
running commentary, which is not worth much, and preceded by a letter to
a friend in which he extols its beauties. Moliere got, in 1663, his name
inserted, instead of that of Neufvillenaine, in the _privilege du
roi_.
Mr. Henry Baker, the translator of this play, in the "Select Comedies of
M. de Moliere, London, 1732," oddly dedicates it to Miss Wolstenholme
[Footnote: I suppose the lady was a descendant of Sir John Wolstenholme,
mentioned in one of the notes of Pepy's Diary, Sept. 5, 1662, as created
a baronet, 1664, an intimate friend of Lord Clarendon's, and collector
outward for the Port of London--ob. 1679.] in the following words:--
MADAM,
Be so good to accept this little Present as an Instance of my high
Esteem. Whoever has any Knowledge of the French Language, or any Taste
for COMEDY, must needs distinguish the Excellency of _Moliere's_
Plays: one of which is here translated. What the _English_ may be,
I leave others to determine; but the ORIGINAL, which you receive along
with it, is, I am certain, worthy your Perusal.
Tho' what You read, at present, is called a DEDICATION, it is, perhaps,
the most unlike one of any thing You ever saw: for, You'll find not one
Word, in Praise, either of Your blooming Youth, Your agreeable Person,
Your genteel Behaviour, Your easy Temper, or Your good Sense... and, the
Reason is, that I cannot for my Life bring myself to such a Degree of
Impertinence, as to sit down with a solemn Countenance, and Take upon me
to inform the World, that the Sun is bright, and that the Spring is
lovely.
My Knowledge of You from Your Infancy, and the many Civilities I am
obliged for to Your Family, will, I hope, be an Excuse for this
Presumption in,
MADAM, _Your most obedient humble servant_
H. B.
Enfield,
Jan. 1st 1731-2.
This play seems to have induced several English playwrights to imitate
it. First, we have Sir William D'Avenant's _The Playhouse to be
Let_, of which the date of the first performance is uncertain.
According to the Biographia Britannica, it was "a very singular
entertainment, composed of five acts, each being a distinct performance.
The first act is introductory, shows the distress of the players in the
time of vacation, that obliges them to let their house, which several
offer to take for different purposes; amongst the rest a Frenchman, who
had brought over a troop of his countrymen to act a farce. This is
performed in the second act, which is a translation of Moliere's
_Sganarelle, or the Cuckold Conceit_; all in broken French to make
the people laugh. The third act is a sort of comic opera, under the
title of The History of Sir Francis Drake. The fourth act is a serious
opera, representing the cruelties of the Spaniards in Peru. The fifth
act is a burlesque in Heroicks on the Amours of Caesar and Cleopatra, has
a great deal of wit and humour, and was often acted afterwards by
itself."
With the exception of the first act, all the others, which are separate
and distinct, but short dramatic pieces, were written in the time of
Oliver Cromwell, and two of them at least were performed at the Cockpit,
when Sir William D'Avenant had obtained permission to present his
entertainments of music and perspective in scenes.
The second imitation of _Sganarelle_ is "_Tom Essence, or the
Modish Wife_, a Comedy as it is acted at the Duke's Theatre, 1677.
London, printed by T. M. for W. Cademan, at the _Pope's Head_, in
the Lower Walk of the _New Exchange_ in the _Strand_, 1677."
This play is written by a Mr. Thomas Rawlins, printer and engraver to
the Mint, under Charles the First and Second, and is founded on two
French comedies---viz., Moliere's _Sganarelle_, and Thomas
Corneille's _Don Cesar d' Avalos_. The prologue is too bad to be
quoted, and I doubt if it can ever have been spoken on any stage. This
play is written partly in blank verse, partly in prose; though very
coarse, it is, on the whole, clever and witty. Old Moneylove, a
credulous fool, who has a young wife (Act ii., Scene I), reminds one at
times of the senator Antonio in Otway's _Venice Preserved_, and is,
of course, deceived by the gallant Stanley; the sayings and doings of
Mrs. Moneylove, who is "what she ought not to be," and the way she
tricks her husband, are very racy, perhaps too much so for the taste of
the present times. I do not think any dramatist would now bring upon the
stage a young lady like Theodocia, daughter of old Moneylove, reading
the list about Squire Careless. Tom Essence is a seller of perfumes, a
"jealous coxcomb of his wife;" and Courtly is "a sober gentleman,
servant to Theodocia;" these are imitations of Sganarelle and Lelio.
Loveall, "a wilde debaucht blade," and Mrs. Luce, "a widdow disguis'd,
and passes for Theodocia's maid," are taken from Corneille.
In the epilogue, the whole of which cannot be given, Mrs. Essence speaks
the following lines:
"But now methinks a Cloak-Cabal I see,
Whose Prick-ears glow, whilst they their Jealousie
In _Essence_ find; but Citty-Sirs, I fear,
Most of you have more cause to be severe.
We yield you are the truest Character."
Nearly all the scenes imitated in this play from Moliere's
_Sganarelle_ contain nothing which merits to be reproduced.
_The Perplexed Couple, or Mistake upon Mistake_, as it is acted at
the New Theatre in Lincolns-Inn-Fields, by the Company of Comedians,
acting under Letters Patent granted by King Charles the Second. London,
Printed for _W. Meares_ at the _Lamb_, and _F. Brown_, at
the _Black Swan_ without _Temple Bar_, 1715, is the third
imitation of Moliere's _Sganarelle_. This comedy, printed for two
gentlemen, with zoological signs, was written by a Mr. Charles Molloy,
who for a long time was the editor of a well-known paper, _Common
Sense_, in defence of Tory principles. This play had little success,
and deserved to have had none, for it has no merit whatever. Our author
states in the prologue:--
"The injur'd Muses, who with savage Rage,
Of late have often been expell'd a Tyrant Stage,
Here fly for Refuge; where, secure from Harms,
By you protected, shall display their Charms...
No Jest profane the guilty scene deforms,
That impious way of being dull he scorns;
No Party Cant shall here inflame the Mind,
And poison what for Pleasure was designed."
Mr. Molloy admits in the preface that "the Incident of the Picture in
the Third act, something in the Fourth, and one Hint in the last Act,
are taken from the _Cocu Imaginaire_; the rest I'm forced to
subscribe to myself, for I can lay it to no Body else." I shall only
remark on this, that nearly the whole play is a mere paraphrasing of
Moliere's _Cocu Imaginaire_, and several other of his plays. The
scene between Leonora, the heroine, and Sterling, the old usurer and
lover (Act I.), is imitated from Madelon's description in the art of
making love in the _Pretentious Young Ladies_, and so are many
others. The servant Crispin is a medley of Mascarille from _The
Blunderer_, of Gros-Rene from _The Love-Tiff_, and of the
servant of the same name in the _Cocu Imaginaire_; the interfering
uncle of Lady Thinwit, is taken from _George Dandin_, whilst Sir
Anthony Tainwit becomes Sganarelle. The only thing new I have been able
to discover in _The Perplexed Couple_ is the lover Octavio
disguising himself as a pedlar to gain admittance to the object of his
love; and old Sterling, the usurer, marrying the maid instead of the
mistress. Moliere's farce has been lengthened by those means into a
five-act comedy, and though "no jest profane" may be found in it it is
more full than usual of coarse and lewd sayings, which can hardly be
called inuendoes. The play is a mistake altogether; perhaps that is the
reason, its second name is called _Mistake upon Mistake_.
_The Picture, or the Cuckold in Conceit_, a Comedy in one act, by
Js. Miller, is founded on Moliere, and is the fourth imitation of
_Sganarelle_. London, MDCCXLV. This play is, on the whole, a free
translation of Moliere's, interspersed with some songs set to music by
Dr. Arne. Sganarelle is called Mr. Timothy Dotterel, grocer and common
councilman; Gorgibus, Mr. Per-cent; Lelio, Mr. Heartly; Gros-Rene, John
Broad, whilst Celia's maid is called Phillis. The Prologue, spoken by
Mr. Havard, ends thus:
"...To-night we serve
A Cuckold, that the Laugh does well deserve;
A Cuckold in Conceit, by Fancy made
As mad, as by the common Course of Trade:
And more to please ye, and his Worth enhance,
He's carbonado'd a la mode de France;
Cook'd by Moliere, great Master of his Trade,
From whose Receipt this Harrico was made.
But if that poignant Taste we fail to take,
That something, that a mere Receipt can't make;
Forgive the Failure--we're but Copies all,
And want the Spirit of th' Original."
The fifth and best imitation is Arthur Murphy's _All in the Wrong_,
a comedy in five acts, first performed during the summer season of 1761,
at the Theatre Royal, in Drury Lane. Though the chief idea and several
of the scenes are taken from _Sganarelle_, yet the characters are
well drawn, and the play, as a whole, very entertaining. The Prologue,
written and spoken by Samuel Foote, is as follows:
"To-night, be it known to Box, Gall'ry, and Pit,
Will be open'd the best Summer-Warehouse for Wit;
[Footnote: Mr. Garrick, at this time, had let his playhouse for the
summer months.]
The New Manufacture, Foote and Co., Undertakers;
Play, Pantomime, Opera, Farce,--by the Makers!
We scorn, like our brethren, our fortunes to owe
To Shakespeare and Southern, to Otway and Rowe.
Though our judgment may err, yet our justice is shewn,
For we promise to mangle no works but our own.
And moreover on this you may firmly rely,
If we can't make you laugh, that we won't make you cry.
For Roscius, who knew we were mirth-loving souls,
Has lock'd up his lightning, his daggers, and bowls.
Resolv'd that in buskins no hero shall stalk,
He has shut us quite out of the Tragedy walk.
No blood, no blank verse!--and in short we're undone,
Unless you're contented with Frolic and Fun.
If tired of her round in the Ranelagh-mill,
There should be but one female inclined to sit still;
If blind to the beauties, or sick of the squall,
A party should shun to catch cold at Vauxhall;
If at Sadler's sweet Wells the made wine should be thick,
The cheese-cakes turn sour, or Miss Wilkinson sick;
If the fume of the pipes should oppress you in June,
Or the tumblers be lame, or the bells out of tune;
I hope you will call at our warehouse in Drury;
We've a curious assortment of goods, I assure you;
Domestic and foreign, and all kinds of wares;
English cloths, Irish linnen, and French petenlairs!
If for want of good custom, or losses in trade,
The poetical partners should bankrupts be made;
If from dealings too large, we plunge deeply in debt,
And Whereas issue out in the Muses Gazette;
We'll on you our assigns for Certificates call;
Though insolvent, we're honest, and give up our all."
Otway in his very indecent play, _The Soldier's Fortune_, performed
at Dorset Garden, 1681, has borrowed freely from Moliere; namely: one
scene from _Sganarelle_, four scenes from _The School for
Husbands_, and a hint from _The School for Wives_.
The joke from _The Pretentious Young Ladies_, Scene xii., page 162,
about "the half moon and the full moon" is repeated in the conversation
between Fourbin and Bloody-Bones in _The Soldier's Fortune_.
Sir John Vanbrugh also translated Moliere's _Sganarelle_, which was
performed at the Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket, 1706, but has not
been printed.
There was also a ballad opera played at Drury Lane April 11, 1733,
called the _Imaginary Cuckold_, which is an imitation of
_Sganarelle_.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
GORGIBUS, _a citizen of Paris_.
LELIO, _in love with Celia_.
SGANARELLE, _a citizen of Paris and the self-deceived husband_.
[Footnote: Moliere acted this part himself. In the inventory of his
dresses taken after his death, and given by M. Eudore Soulie in his
_Recherches sur Moliere_, 1863. we find: "a ... dress for the
_Cocu imaginaire_, consisting of knee-breeches, doublet, cloak,
collar, and shoes, all in crimson red satin."]
VILLEBREQUIN, _father to Valere_.
GROS-RENE, _servant to Lelio_.
A RELATIVE OF SGANARELLE'S WIFE.
CELIA, _daughter of Gorgibus_.
SGANARELLE'S WIFE.
CELIA'S MAID.
_Scene_.--A PUBLICK PLACE IN PARIS.
SGANARELLE: OR THE SELF-DECEIVED HUSBAND,
(_SGANARELLE: OU LE COCU IMAGINAIRE_.)
SCENE I.--GORGIBUS, CELIA, CELIA'S MAID.
CEL. (_Coming out in tears, her father following her_). Ah! never
expect my heart to consent to that.
GORG. What do you mutter, you little impertinent girl? Do you suppose
you can thwart my resolution? Have I not absolute power over you?
And shall your youthful brain control my fatherly discretion by foolish
arguments? Which of us two has most right to command the other? Which of
us two, you or I, is, in your opinion, best able to judge what is
advantageous for you? Zounds, do not provoke me too much, or you may
feel, and in a very short time too, what strength this arm of mine still
possesses! Your shortest way, you obstinate minx, would be to accept
without any more ado the husband intended for you; but you say,
"I do not know what kind of temper he has, and I ought to think about
it beforehand, if you will allow me." I know that he is heir to a large
fortune; ought I therefore to trouble my head about anything else?
Can this man, who has twenty thousand golden charms in his pocket to be
beloved by you, want any accomplishments? Come, come, let him be what he
will, I promise you that with such a sum he is a very worthy gentleman!
CEL. Alas!
GORG. Alas, indeed! What is the meaning of that?
A fine alas you have uttered just now! Look ye! If once you put me in a
passion you will have plenty of opportunities for shouting alas! This
comes of that eagerness of yours to read novels day and night; your head
is so full of all kinds of nonsense about love, that you talk of God
much less than of Clelie. Throw into the fire all these mischievous
books, which are every day corrupting the minds of so many young people;
instead of such trumpery, read, as you ought to do, the Quatrains of
Pibrac and the learned memorandum-books of Councillor Matthieu,
[Footnote: Gui du Faur de Pibrac (1528-1584) was a distinguished
diplomatist, magistrate, and orator, who wrote several works, of which
the _Cinquante quatrains contenant preceptes et enseignements utiles
pour la vie de l'homme, composes a l'imitation de Phocylides,
Epicharmus, et autres poetes grecs_, and which number he afterwards
increased to 126, are the best known. These quatrains, or couplets of
four verses, have been translated into nearly all European and several
Eastern languages. A most elegant reprint has been published of them, in
1874, by M. A. Lemetre, of Paris.]
[Footnote: Pierre Matthieu (1563--1621), a French historian and poet
wrote, among other works, his _Tablettes de la vie et de la mort,
quatrains de la Vanite du Monde_, a collection of 274 moral
quatrains, divided in three parts, each part of which was published
separately in an oblong shape, like a memorandum book; hence the name
_Tablettes_.]
a valuable work and full of fine sayings for you to learn by heart;
the Guide for Sinners
[Footnote: _La guide des pecheurs_, the Guide for Sinners, is a
translation in French of an ascetic Spanish work, _la guia de
pecadores_, written by a Dominican friar, Lewis, of Granada.]
is also a good book. Such writings teach people in a short time how to
spend their lives well, and if you had never read anything but such
moral books you would have known better how to submit to my commands.
CEL. Do you suppose, dear father, I can ever forget that unchangeable
affection I owe to Lelio? I should be wrong to dispose of my hand
against your will, but you yourself engaged me to him.
GORG. Even if you were engaged ever so much, another man has made his
appearance whose fortune annuls your engagement. Lelio is a pretty
fellow, but learn that there is nothing that does not give way to money,
that gold will make even the most ugly charming, and that without it
everything else is but wretchedness. I believe you are not very fond of
Valere, but though you do not like him as a lover, you will like him as
a husband. The very name of husband endears a man more than is generally
supposed, and love is often a consequence of marriage. But what a fool I
am to stand arguing when I possess the absolute right to command.
A truce then, I tell you, to your impertinence; let me have no more of
your foolish complaints. This evening Valere intends to visit you, and
if you do not receive him well, and look kindly upon him, I shall...
but I will say no more on this subject.