Lives of the most eminent literary and scientific men of France, Vol. 1 (of 2)Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft
Science
Lives of the most eminent literary and scientific men of France, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft
Authors, French -- Biography
In 1769, his eulogy was made the subject of a prize. It was gained by
Chamfort; and, on the day of its public recital, two Poquelins were
hunted out from their obscurity, and an honourable place assigned them
among the audience; and there they sat, living epigrams on the bigotry
which in former days expunged Molière's name from their genealogical
tree.
His remains, unhonoured at first, were destined to several mutations
during the revolution. A stone is at present erected to their honour, in
the cemetery of Père la Chaise; but it may be considered a cenotaph, as
there is every reason to doubt the identity of the remains placed
beneath.
His troop of comedians did not long survive him. The theatre had been
shut on his death, and not reopened till a fortnight after; when his
widow, in contempt of decency, filled a part. She became manager; but
was speedily deserted by the best actors, and soon after the use of the
theatre was transferred to Lulli. Madame Molière applied to the king,
and obtained the use of another; but within a few years this company no
longer existed: amalgamated at first with that of the Marais, and soon
after with that of the Hôtel de Bourgogne, there remained only one
company of actors in France, called the king's troop. Molière's widow
soon after married Guerin, an actor; her career was not reputable:
frivolity and misconduct long deprived her of the public esteem. She
continued to act till the 14th October, 1694, when she retired from the
stage with a pension of 1000 livres. From this time she partly redeemed
past errors by leading a perfectly respectable life till she died, 30th
November, 1700. Of Molière's three children one only survived, a
daughter. She was placed in a convent by her mother; but, resisting her
wish to take the veil, she returned home. A grown up daughter interfered
with madame Guerin's arrangements; and Molière's orphan child was
unhappy and neglected. Unable to induce her mother to make any
arrangement for her marriage, she allowed herself to be carried off by
M. Claude Rachel, sieur de Montalant, a widower with four children, and
forty-nine years of age. Her mother was soon reconciled; and they all
together went to live at Argenton. Madame de Montalant died in 1723, at
the age of fifty-seven. She had no children; and not only does the
posterity of Molière no longer exist, but even the many descendants of
his numerous brothers and sisters have left no trace--and the family of
Poquelin is extinct.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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