[6] His real name was Zacharie Jacob. A gentleman by birth, he had been educated for the army and had served the Duc de Guise as page, but his passion for the theatre led him to become an actor. In spite of the ridicule to which he was subjected by Molière, he was an excellent tragedian, and in parts made up of "transports and bursts of rage" much admired. His death, which occurred in 1668, is said to have been caused by over-exertion as Orestes in Racine's _Andromaque_. [7] _Œuvres complètes de J. Racine_ (_édit. d'Aime-Martin_), vi. 136. [8] See p. 33, _infra_. [9] M. Gustave Larroumet, _La Comédie de Molière, l'auteur et le milieu_, p. 85. [10] Hawkins, "Annals of the French Stage," ii. 61. [11] They were both married women and the wives of actors, who joined Molière's company at the same time. At this period, and indeed for long afterwards, actresses bore officially the title of "demoiselle," as did all women other than the wives of the nobility, or of ennobled citizens, or daughters of noble parents who had married citizens: these were styled "dame" and "madame." Thus, we find Colbert, before he rose to fame, "offering a coach to _Mademoiselle_, his wife;" the mother of La Bruyère described in a legal document as a "_demoiselle veuve_"; while La Fontaine, in his correspondence, invariably refers to his wife as "_Mademoiselle_." People spoke also of _la_ Du Parc, _la_ de Brie, _la_ Béjart, _la_ Molière, and so forth, a custom which has continued to this day. This _la_, which appears so contemptuous, was not the exclusive property of actresses or of women of the people. Madame de Sévigné and Saint-Simon employ it for ladies of the fashionable world, but, by preference, for those of medium virtue: _la_ Beauvais, _la_ Montespan, &c.; and eighteenth century writers frequently make use of it in referring to the mistresses of Louis XV.: _la_ Châteauroux, _la_ Pompadour, _la_ Du Barry. Nowadays, however, it is no longer a term of contempt; "it has become a particle which confers nobility and immortality on great singers and _tragédiennes_, if the race is not extinct."--M. J. Noury, _La Champmeslé_, p. 94. [12] M. Henri Chardon, _Nouveaux documents sur la vie de Molière: M. de Modène, ses deux femmes, et Madeleine Béjart_. [13] Jal, _Dictionnaire critique de Biographie et d'Histoire_: Article "Béjart." [14] M. Henri Chardon, _Nouveaux documents sur la vie de Molière: M. de Modène, ses deux femmes, et Madeleine Béjart_. [15] M. Larroumet, _La Comédie de Molière_, 105 _et seq._ [16] _La Comédie de Molière_, p. 134. [17] Molière was responsible for the plot, the prologue, the first act, and the first scenes of the second and third acts; Quinault contributed all the lyrical matter, with the exception of the Italian plainte, which, like the music, was by Lulli; Pierre Corneille wrote the rest. [18] Mr. W. E. Henley in the _Cornhill Magazine_, xli. 445. [19] Gaboriau's _Les comédiennes adorées_, 269.