t1o~8NDiUL

Name
Chapter 17
Class
Date
History Through literature
The splendor of France under Louis XIV influenced all of Europe. Courtiers amused
themselves at elaborate entertainments combining drama, music, and dance. One of
Louis' favorite playwrights was Moliere (1622-1673), whose troupe of players enjoyed the
kings support for many years. Moliere's plays often made fun of human weaknesses such
as snobbery. In The Would-Be Gentleman (Le bourgeois gentilhomme, 1670), a newly rich
merchant, Monsieur (Mr.) Jourdain, tries to behave like a "gentleman" but ends up looking foolish .• As you read this scene, notice how Jourdain responds to flattery. Then, on a
separate sheet of paper, answer the questions that follow.
Before you begin reading, find the meaning of these words in a dictionary:
journeyman, lackey, promenades, bourgeois.
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MODERN ERI',
EDITION
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Vocabulary
sIlO/'S
The Would-Be Gentleman
Act II, Scene 5. Master Tailor, Journeyman Tailor
(carrying Monsieur Jourdain's coat), Monsieur
Jourdain, lackeys
Monsieur Jourdain: Ah, there you are! I was just
about to get angry with you.
Master Tailor: 1couldn't come any sooner, and I've
had twenty of my men at work on your coat.
Monsieur Jourdain: The silk stockings you sent me
were so tight that I had all the trouble in the
world getting them on, and there are already
two stitches broken.
Master Tailor: They'll stretch all you need, and
more.
Monsieur Jourdain: Yes, if I keep breaking stitches.
Also, the shoes you made me hurt terribly.
Master Tailor: Not at all, sir.
Monsieur Jourdain: What do you mean, not at all?
Master Tailor: No, they don't hurt you.
Monsieur Jourdain: And I tell you they hurt me.
Master Tailor: You're imagining it.
Monsieur Jourdain: I imagine it because I feel it.
That's a fine kind of talk!
Master Tailor: Look, here is the handsomest coat in
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all the court, and the best harmonized. It's a
masterpiece to have invented a dignified coat
that isn't black, and I defy the most creative
tailors to match it in half a dozen tries.
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~ Monsieur Jourdain: What in the world is this?
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Q
You've put the flowers upside down.
Master Tailor: You didn't tell me you wanted them
right side up.
Monsieur Jourdain: Is that something you have to
specify?
Master Tailor: Yes, really. All persons of quality
wear them this way.
Monsieur Jourdain: Persons of quality wear the
flowers upside down?
Master Tailor: Yes,sir.
Monsieur Jourdain: Oh, then that's fine.
Master Tailor: If you wish, I'll put them right side
up.
Monsieur Jourdain: No, no.
Master Tailor: You have only to say so.
Monsieur Jourdain: No, I tell you; you did right. Do
you think the coat will look well on me?
Master Tailor: A fine question! I defy a painter with
his brush to make you anything more becoming. I have one man who for putting together
petticoat -breeches is the greatest genius in the
world, and another who for assembling a doublet is the hero of our age.
Monsieur Jourdain: Are the wig and the plumes as
they should be?
Master Tailor: Everything is fine.
Monsieur Jourdain: (looking at the Master Tailor's
coat}: Aha, Mr. Tailor! There's some of my
material from the last coat you made me. I recognize it all right.
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Chapter 17 Survey and Volume 1 Editions
Chapter 4 Modern Era Edition
History Through literature
• 37
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Class
History Through Literature
Journeyman Tailor: The gentleman.
to me so beautiful that I decided to cut a coat
from it for me.
Monsieur Jourdain: "The gentleman!" That's what it
Monsieur Jourdain: Yes,but you shouldn't have cut
•
Master Tailor: Do you want to try
on your coat?
•
means to be gotten up as a person of quality!
Just go on always dressing as a bourgeois, and
nobody will call you "the gentleman." Here, that's for "the gentleman."
•
, 'Look, here is
Monsieur Jourdain: Yes, give it to
handson1estcoatin
me.
Master Tailor: Wait. It doesn't go
_
(continued)
Master Tailor: The fact is that the material seemed
it from my material.
Date
all the court, and the
Journeyman Tailor: My Lord, we're
much obliged to you.
Monsieur Jourdain: "My Lord," oh,
oh, "My Lord!" Wait, my friend:
on that way. I've brought some
"My Lord" deserves something,
men to dress you to music, and
best harn1onized.' , and that's no small term, "My
this kind of coat is to be put
Lord." Here, this is what My Lord
on with ceremony. Hello there!
gives you.
Come in, all of you. Put this coat on the
gentleman in the way you do for persons of
Journeyman Tailor: My Lord, we're all going to
quality.
drink to the health of Your Eminence.
•
•
(Four tailor's apprentices enter, of whom two take off
the breeches worn for Monsieur Jourdain's exercises,
and two others the jacket; then they put his new coat
on him; and he promenades among them and shows
off his coat to them to see if it looks good-all this to
the music of the whole orchestra.)
•
Monsieur Jourdain: "Your Eminence!" Oh, oh, oh!
Wait, don't go away. "Your Eminence" to me!
My word, if he goes on as far as "Your
Highness," he'll get the whole purse. Here, this
is for My Eminence.
Journeyman Tailor: My Lord, we thank you very
Journeyman Tailor: Will the gentleman please give
humbly for your liberality.
the apprentices something to drink his health
with?
Monsieur Jourdain: A good thing he stopped; I was
going to give him the whole thing.
Monsieur Jourdain: What did you call me?
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Questions to Think About
c
1. What complaints does M. Jourdain make to
the Master Tailor? How does the Master Tailor
answer them?
2. How has the Master Tailor cheated
M. Jourdain?
3. Drawing Conclusions Why do the apprentice
tailors address M. Jourdain with titles such as
"My Lord" and "Your Eminence"? How, do
you think, does M. Jourdain reward them?
4. Humanities Link What do the manners of
M. Jourdain and the tailor indicate about society and social classes at the time of Louis XIV?
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Survey and Volume 1 Editions Chapter 17
38 • History Through literature
Modern Era Edition
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Chapter 4
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