appiness; the vexatious Sganarelle is put to confusion. The drama
is a plea, expressing the writer's personal thoughts, for nature and
for freedom. The comedy of manners is here replaced by the comedy
of character. Its success suggested to Fouquet that Moliere might
contribute to the amusement of the King at the fetes of the Chateau
de Vaux; in fifteen days the dramatist had his bright improvisation
_Les Facheux_ ready, a series of character sketches in scenes rather
than a comedy. The King smiled approval, and, it was whispered, hinted
to Moliere that another bore might with advantage be added to the
collection--the sportsman whose talk shall be of sport. At
Fontainebleau he duly appeared before his Majesty, and unkind
spectators recognised a portrait of the Marquis de Soyecourt.

Next February (1662) Moliere, aged forty, was married to the actress
Armande Bejart, whose age was half his own--a disastrous union, which
caused him inexpressible anxiety and unhappiness. In _L'Ecole des
Femmes_ of the same year he is wiser than he had shown himself in
actual life. Arnolphe would train a model wife from childhood by the
method of jealous seclusion and in infantile ignorance; but love,
in the person of young Horace, finds out a way. There is pathos in
the anguish of Arnolphe; yet it is not the order of nature that
middle-aged folks should practise perverting arts upon innocent
affections. The charming Agnes belongs of right to Horace, and the
over-wise, and therefore foolish, Arnolphe must quit the scene with
his despairing cry. Some matter of offence was found by the devout
in Moliere's play; it was the opening of a long campaign; the
_precieuses_, the dainty gentle-folk, the critical disciples of
Aristotle, the rival comedians, were up in arms. Moliere for the
occasion ignored the devout; upon the others he made brilliant
reprisals in _La Critique de l'Ecole des Femmes_ (1663) and
_L'Impromptu de Versailles_ (1663).

Among those who war against nature and human happiness, not the least
dangerous foe is the religious hypocrite. On May 12, 1664, Moliere
presented before the King the first three acts of his great
character-comedy _Tartufe_. Instantly Anne of Austria and the King's
confessor, now Archbishop of Paris, set to work; the public
performance of "The Hypocrite" was inhibited; a savage pamphlet was
directed against its author by the cure of Saint-Barthelemy. Private
representations, however, were given; _Tartufe_, in