Which playwright is described as the greatest of his time, with works La Tartuffe, The Misanthrope, and The School for Wives?

Which playwright is described as the greatest of his time, with works La Tartuffe, The Misanthrope, and The School for Wives?

• A. Samuel Pepys
• B. John Dryden
• C. Miguel de Cervantes
• D. Jeb-Baptiste Poquelin (Moliere)

Answer: (D)

Recognizing a central figure of 17th-century French theatre, whose comedies paired brisk wit with sharp social critique. The works La Tartuffe, The Misanthrope, and The School for Wives are all by Molière, the French playwright Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. He’s celebrated for crafting comedy of manners that satirizes social pretensions, religious hypocrisy, and marital dynamics with lively characters and sparkling dialogue. La Tartuffe exposes hypocrisy cloaked in piety; The Misanthrope probes the gap between private virtue and public performance; The School for Wives questions gender roles and education within arranged marriage, all while entertaining audiences with clever setups and memorable, often relatable, characters. This blend of insight and enduring humor is why he’s described as the greatest of his time in French theatre. By contrast, the other names listed are known for different fields or works: Pepys was a diarist, Dryden a English playwright and poet, and Cervantes a Spanish novelist, not the author of these French comedies.

Recognizing a central figure of 17th-century French theatre, whose comedies paired brisk wit with sharp social critique. The works La Tartuffe, The Misanthrope, and The School for Wives are all by Molière, the French playwright Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. He’s celebrated for crafting comedy of manners that satirizes social pretensions, religious hypocrisy, and marital dynamics with lively characters and sparkling dialogue. La Tartuffe exposes hypocrisy cloaked in piety; The Misanthrope probes the gap between private virtue and public performance; The School for Wives questions gender roles and education within arranged marriage, all while entertaining audiences with clever setups and memorable, often relatable, characters. This blend of insight and enduring humor is why he’s described as the greatest of his time in French theatre. By contrast, the other names listed are known for different fields or works: Pepys was a diarist, Dryden a English playwright and poet, and Cervantes a Spanish novelist, not the author of these French comedies.