The Petit Marquis, the Jeune Blondin, and the Monarch: Issues in Appropriate Costuming for Molière'sDom Juan

Abstract

Critics have long attested to the various irregularities of Dom Juan ou le Festin de pierre, one of Molière's most unusual plays. In its time, according to W. D. Howarth, it was regarded as “a curious freak.” Numerous mysteries surround the creation and production of Dom Juan. Molière wrote it to fill in a gap created by the recent interdiction of Le Tartuffe ou l'Imposteur at a time when he needed a successful play to dress up a somewhat limited and worn-out repertory. In searching for a success, it was natural that Molière should choose the highly popular Don Juan theme. Following the lead of Tirso de Molina in Spain and of Cicognini and Giliberto in Italy, the French were taking their turn: Dorimon's Le Festin de pierre ou le Fils criminel premiered in Lyon in 1658; the same year the Italian actors mounted their own commedia dell'arte version called Il convitato di pietra in Paris in the theatre of the Petit Bourbon which they shared with Molière; and the actor Villiers's version, which had the same title as Dorimon's, premiered at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in 1659. It is quite possible that all three played concurrently in Paris in the early 1660s, and Molière and his actors may well have gone to see their competitors' renditions.