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Finn, Thomas P. Molière's Spanish Connection: Seventeenth-Century Spanish Theatrical Influence on Imaginary Identity in Molière. New York: Peter Lang (Currents in Comparative Romance Languages and Literatures 81), 2001. 178 pp. £33. ISBN 0–8204–4121–X, Forum for Modern Language Studies, Volume 43, Issue 3, JULY 2007, Page 320, https://doi.org/10.1093/fmls/cqm024
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Extract
The reading of Spanish literature in seventeenth-century Europe is undisputed, and many texts in the original Castilian as well as through translations were circulating in France. The Corneille brothers acknowledged this publicly and some of their greatest successes were achieved with their adaptation of Spanish plays; hence chapter 3 of this study examines the relationship of Le Menteur to La verdad sospechosa. Molière's own contacts with Spanish drama are not so well documented, although the most solid evidence available are the Spanish plays in his personal library, the fact that Molière did work at least once with Spanish actors, and the extended visit in Paris of Sebastián de Prado's troupe from 1659 to 1673. Molière's own plays offer other points of contact which are the focus of this study. Finn focuses in turn on Les Précieuses ridicules, L'École des maris and L'École des femmes, La Princesse d'Élide, Le Misanthrope, Dom Juan and Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, which are all examined with reference to their Spanish originals. These specific analyses also contribute to the understanding of other Molière plays not directly inspired by comedias. The merit of this investigation is not so much the comparisons of plots but the playwrights' exploration of characters, the different projections of identities, the conflicts set up with the other characters, as well as the reception of these plays by the distinct audiences and societies.
