''Arlequin Mahomet'' ( en, Arlequin Mohammed) is a one act

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

Alain-René Lesage Alain-René Lesage (; 6 May 166817 November 1747; older spelling Le Sage) was a French novelist and playwright. Lesage is best known for his comic novel '' The Devil upon Two Sticks'' (1707, ''Le Diable boiteux''), his comedy ''Turcaret'' (170 ...

. It was first performed at the Foire de Saint Laurent in

1714 Events January–March * January 21 – After being tricked into deserting a battle against India's Mughal Empire by the rebel Sayyid brothers, Prince Azz-ud-din Mirza is blinded on orders of the Emperor Farrukhsiyar as punishment. * Feb ...

. ''Arlequin Mahomet'' was performed as the second play in a series consisting of '' La Foire de Guibray'' and '' Le Tombeau de Nostradamus''. Between the three works, Lesage created a comedy in three acts.

Plot summary

Arlequin is being pursued by his debtors, so his friend Boubekir gives him a flying box so that he can flee the country. As he is flying over

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, he sees a young man about to kill himself because his true love, the Princess of

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

, is to be married to the

Kam Kaam (Gurmukhi: ਕਾਮ ''Kāma'') in common usage, the term stands for 'excessive passion for sexual pleasure' and it is in this sense that it is considered to be an evil in Sikhism. In Sikhism it is believed that Kaam can be overcome ...

of the

Tartars Tartary ( la, Tartaria, french: Tartarie, german: Tartarei, russian: Тартария, Tartariya) or Tatary (russian: Татария, Tatariya) was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bounde ...

(played by

Pierrot Pierrot ( , , ) is a stock character of pantomime and '' commedia dell'arte'', whose origins are in the late seventeenth-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne. The name is a diminutive of ''P ...

from '' La Foire de Guibray''). Arlequin agrees to help. He flies to the princess who does not want to marry the Kam and is praying to

Mohammed Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

. When she sees Arlequin in his flying machine, she believes that he is Mohammed. Arlequin tells her that she does not have to marry the Kam and presents her with a portrait of her future husband, the Prince of Persia. The Princess tells her father about this revelation, and the King and the Kam go in search of the "false Arlequin." Meanwhile, Arlequin enters the scene and flies over their heads. Arlequin beats them with his stick until the King and the Kam agree that the princess should marry the Prince. Arlequin brings the Prince to the court in his flying machine, so he can marry the princess. Arlequin, in turn, marries the princess' servant.

Characters

Arlequin Arlequin may refer to: * Harlequin, also spelled Arlequin, a comic servant character * Arlequin (band), a Japanese rock band * Arlequin (software), population genetics software * L'Arlequin, a cinema in Paris * Los Arlequíns, Mexican pro-wrestl ...

, a false Mohammed *Dahi, a merchant, the neighbor of Arlequin *Boubekir, traveler and mathematician *The King of Baraasa *The Princess, his daughter *The

of the Tartars *The Prince of

*A servant

External links

''Arlequin Mahomet''
on Gallica 1714 plays Plays by Alain-René Lesage {{18thC-play-stub