''Le Médecin volant'' (''The Flying Doctor'') is a French play by

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

, The date of its actual premiere is unknown, but its Paris premiere took place on 18 April 1659. Parts of the play were later reproduced in ''

L'Amour médecin ''L'Amour médecin'' (Dr. Cupid) is a French comedy written by Molière. It was presented for the first time by order of King Louis XIV at Versailles on September 22, 1665. Molière's foreword to the text states that the play is only a sketch, ...

'', and ''

Le Médecin malgré lui ''Le Médecin malgré lui'' (; "The doctor/physician in spite of himself") is a farce by Molière first presented in 1666 (published as a manuscript in early 1667) at le théâtre du Palais-Royal by la Troupe du Roi. The play is one of sever ...

''. It is composed of 15 scenes and has seven characters largely based on stock ''

commedia dell'arte (; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...

'' roles.

Characters

* Gorgibus, an old nobleman, the father of Lucile (''Commedia dell'Arte'':

Pantalone Pantalone , spelled Pantaloon in English, is one of the most important principal characters found in . With his exceptional greed and status at the top of the social order, Pantalone is "money" in the commedia world. His full name, including fam ...

) * Lucile, daughter of Gorgibus, engaged to Villebrequin (''Commedia dell'Arte'': Innamorata) * Gros-René : Gorgibus' servant (role created by

René Berthelot René Berthelot (? – 28 October 1664), also known by his stage names Du Parc and Gros René, was a French actor and member of Molière's theatre troupe from 1647 to 1664. Life René Berthelot was born in Nantes, the son of a bourgeois, Pi ...

) * Sabine, Lucile's cousin, the source of all the intrigue in the play (''Commedia dell'Arte'':

Columbina Columbina (in Italian Colombina, meaning "little dove"; in French and English Colombine) is a stock character in the ''commedia dell'arte''. She is Harlequin's mistress, a comic servant playing the tricky slave type, and wife of Pierrot. Rudli ...

) * Valère : Lucile's lover (''Commedia dell'Arte'':

Innamorato ''Gli Innamorati'' (, meaning "The Lovers") were stock characters within the theatre style known as commedia dell'arte, who appeared in 16th century Italy. In the plays, everything revolved around the Lovers in some regard. These dramatic and pos ...

) * Sganarelle: Hero of the play, valet to Valère. (''Commedia dell'Arte'':

Arlecchino Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the ''zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian ''commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditionally be ...

), role created by Molière * A Lawyer (''Commedia dell'Arte'':

Il Dottore Il Dottore (, 'the Doctor'), commonly known in Italian as ''Dottor Balan'' or simply ''Balanzone'' (; Bolognese egl, Dutåur Balanzån) is a '' commedia dell'arte'' stock character, in one scenario being an obstacle to young lovers. Il Dottore ...

)

Plot

Gorgibus wants at all costs to marry Lucile to the old Villebrequin. However, Lucile loves Valère. Entrusting his love to Lucile's cousin Sabine and his valet Sganarelle (who takes on a double role as both himself and his twin "doctor" brother"), Valère is going to need all the help he can get to solve this problem.

The flying doctor in comedy

The theme of the "Medico Volante" or "flying doctor" belongs to the traditional repertoire of 17th century Italian comedy. There are at least two anonymous

plays known by this name, as well as one later Italian comedy, also anonymous, named ''Truffaldino medico volante, comedia nova e ridicula''. These plays take the trope of the trickster who pretends to be a doctor and put him in a situation where he's forced to play his two roles one after the other, with increasingly short intervals, eventually reaching the point of the (seemingly impossible) simultaneous presence on stage of the two characters at the same time. The plays made along this storyline were named "flying doctor comedies" because the false doctor, who had to move quickly from the roof of a house to the ground floor and back (to create the illusion that he was two people), was attached by a rope to a hoop connected to the main beam of the stage, and he appeared to be flying when he was carried between the two locations.Georges Forestier, ''Théâtre complet de Molière,'' volume I, Gallimard, « Bibliothèque de la Pléiade », 2010, p. 1723

References

External links

''The Flying Doctor''
(Project Gutenberg, full text in English translation) * Plays by Molière 1645 plays {{17thC-play-stub