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Les Fourberies de Scapin

 

 
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Les Fourberies de Scapin
 
 
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Les Fourberies de Scapin (literally, "Scapin's deceits") is a 3-act comedy
Comedy

Comedy as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse generally intended to amuse, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western culture origins are found in Ancient Greece....
 by French
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 playwright
Playwright

A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works may be written specifically to be performed by actors or they may be closet dramas or literary works written using dramatic forms but not meant for performance....
 Molière
Molière

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also known by his stage name Moli?re, was a French playwright and actor who is considered one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature....
 first staged on May 24, 1667 in Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
. This play was shadowed by the play Psyché
Psyche

Psyche may refer to:Astronomy*16 Psyche, an asteroidComputers and software*Psyche, a code name for Red Hat Linux 8.0Fiction...
 and brought small profits to the group: an average of 300 "livres" per show (which is only small if one considers their yearly pension of 6000 "livres" from the king.). This play was originally written in French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
 but, like many of Molière
Molière

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also known by his stage name Moli?re, was a French playwright and actor who is considered one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature....
's plays, has been translated into many different languages.






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Encyclopedia


Les Fourberies de Scapin (literally, "Scapin's deceits") is a 3-act comedy
Comedy

Comedy as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse generally intended to amuse, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western culture origins are found in Ancient Greece....
 by French
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 playwright
Playwright

A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works may be written specifically to be performed by actors or they may be closet dramas or literary works written using dramatic forms but not meant for performance....
 Molière
Molière

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also known by his stage name Moli?re, was a French playwright and actor who is considered one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature....
 first staged on May 24, 1667 in Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
. This play was shadowed by the play Psyché
Psyche

Psyche may refer to:Astronomy*16 Psyche, an asteroidComputers and software*Psyche, a code name for Red Hat Linux 8.0Fiction...
 and brought small profits to the group: an average of 300 "livres" per show (which is only small if one considers their yearly pension of 6000 "livres" from the king.). This play was originally written in French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
 but, like many of Molière
Molière

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also known by his stage name Moli?re, was a French playwright and actor who is considered one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature....
's plays, has been translated into many different languages. Bill Irwin and Mark O'Donnell adapted this play into what is simply called Scapin. Despite a few alterations and modernization of language, the play still retains much of its original structure

Characters


Scapin
Scapino

Scapino, Scappino, or Scapin, is a zanni character from the commedia dell'arte. His name is related to the English word "escape" in reference to his tendency to flee from fights, even those which he himself began....
: Léandre's valet and "fourbe" (a rough translation of "fourbe" is "a deceitful person")
Léandre: Son of Géronte and lover of Zerbinette
Octave: Son of Argante and lover of Hyacinthe
Géronte: Father of Léandre and of Hyacinthe
Argante: Father of Octave and of Zerbinette
Hyacinthe: Daughter of Géronte and lover of Octave
Zerbinette: Daughter of Argante and lover of Léandre
Silvestre: Octave's valet
Carle: "fourbe"
Nérine: Hyacinthe's wet nurse
Two Porters

Story


In their fathers' absence, Octave has secretly married Hyacinthe and Léandre has secretly married Zerbinette. But the fathers return from a trip with marriage plans for their respective sons. Scapin, after hearing many pleas for help, comes to their rescue. Thanks to many tricks and lies, Scapin manages to come up with enough money from the parents to make sure that the young couples get to stay married. But, no one knows who Hyacinthe and Zerbinette really are. It ends in the classic "And they lived happily ever after," and Scapin is even brought to the head of the table at the ending feast (even though he has to fake a fatal wound to make it happen).

Analysis


Scapin


Scapin
Scapino

Scapino, Scappino, or Scapin, is a zanni character from the commedia dell'arte. His name is related to the English word "escape" in reference to his tendency to flee from fights, even those which he himself began....
 was a "halunke" of the highest degree, constantly lying and tricking people to get ahead. Also, after reading some of his lines, we can see that Molière
Molière

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also known by his stage name Moli?re, was a French playwright and actor who is considered one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature....
 intended him to be an arrogant, pompous man who would act as if nothing were impossible for him (see quote in the next section). However, by looking at his accomplishments in another light, we can see that he was a diplomatic genius. He manages to play the other characters off of each other very easily, and yet manages to keep his overall goal (to help the young couples) in sight.

Famous quotes from the play


"À vous dire la vérité, il y a peu de choses qui me soient impossibles, quand je veux m'y mêler."
Scapin, Act 1, Scene 2
(Roughly, "To tell you the truth, there are few things that I find impossible, when I want to do them.")

"Il vaut mieux encore d'être marié que mort."
Scapin, Act 1, Scene 4
(Roughly, "It's better to be married than to be dead.")


"Mais que diable est-il allé faire dans cette galère?"
Géronte, Act 2, Scene 7
(Roughly, "What the devil was he doing in that galley?)


(On a side note, this line prompted a new word in French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
: "galère" now also has the meaning "a cumbersome, painful affair.")

Bibliography


All of these pages are in French.