Philippe Nericault Destouches: Le Philosophe Marie Ou Le Mari Honteux De L'etre

Staged for the first time on the 15th of February, 1727 by the Comedie Francaise, Philippe Nericault Destouches' comedy, Le Philosophe marie, ou Le Mari honteux de l'etre, became one of the greatest successes of the first half of the 18th century. This play has often been discarded in literary histories in favour of other, more blatantly innovative productions of the time, yet it nonetheless constitutes a major testimony of contemporary taste in the theatrical field. While it remains faithful to Moliere's tradition, it has many surprises in store: built upon autobiographical elements, the plot about a clandestine marriage also takes a stand on a controversial article of law, refashions the character of the philosopher if not the persona itself and contains the seeds of theatrical elements to come. This edition for the first time restores the censored original text and, by confronting it to the prompter's manuscript, allows the reader to grasp the genesis of the published text. French text.