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The Bores is a character-comedy; but the peculiarities taken asthe text of the play, instead of being confined to one or two of theleading personages, are exhibited in different forms by a succession ofcharacters, introduced one after the other in rapid course, anddisappearing after the brief performance of their rôles. We do not findan evolution of natural situations, proceeding from the harmoniousconduct of two or three individuals, but rather a disjointed series oftableaux—little more than a collection of monologues strung together ona weak thread of explanatory comments, enunciated by an unwillinglistener.
The method is less artistic, if not less natural; less productive ofsituations, if capable of greater variety of illustrations. Thecircumstances under which Molière undertook to compose the play explainhis resort to the weaker manner of analysis. The Superintendent-Generalof finance, [Footnote: In Sir James Stephen's Lectures on the Historyof France, vol. ii. page 22, I find: "Still further to centralizethe fiscal economy of France, Philippe le Bel created a new ministry. Atthe head of it he placed an officer of high rank, entitled theSuperintendent-General of Finance, and, in subordination to him, heappointed other officers designated as Treasurers."] Nicolas Fouquetdesiring to entertain the King, Queen, and court at his mansion ofVaux-le-Vicomte, asked for a comedy at the hands of the Palais-Royalcompany, who had discovered the secret of pleasing the Grand Monarque.Molière had but a fortnight's notice; and he was expected, moreover, toaccommodate his muse to various prescribed styles of entertainment.
Fouquet wanted a cue for a dance by Beauchamp, for a picture by Lebrun,for stage devices by Torelli. Molière was equal to the emergency. Never,perhaps, was a literary work written to order so worthy of beingpreserved for future generations. Not only were the intermediate balletsmade sufficiently elastic to give scope for the ingenuity of the poet'sauxiliaries, but the written scenes themselves were admirably contrivedto display all the varied talent of his troupe.
The success of the piece on its first representation, which took placeon the 17th of August, 1661, was unequivocal; and the King summoned theauthor before him in order personally to express his satisfaction. It isrelated that, the Marquis de Soyecourt passing by at the time, the Kingsaid to Molière, "There is an original character which you have not yetcopied." The suggestion was enough. The result was that, at the nextrepresentation, Dorante the hunter, a new bore, took his place in thecomedy.
Louis XIV. thought he had discovered in Molière a convenient mouthpiecefor his dislikes. The selfish king was no lover of the nobility, and wasshort-sighted enough not to perceive that the author's attacks on thenobles paved the way for doubts on the divine right of kings themselves.Hence he protected Molière, and entrusted to him the care of writingplays for his entertainments; the public did not, however, see TheBores until the 4th of November of the same year; and then it metwith great success.
The bore is ubiquitous, on the stage as in everyday lif