The Pretentious Young Ladies
1659
Two young provincial women arrive in Paris dreaming of aristocratic romance and wit, but what they find is pure affectation. Madelon and Cathos dismiss the honest men their father has chosen for them as boring and unsophisticated, longing instead for poetic declarations and refined conversation. When two mysterious "gentlemen" appear, complete with elegant manners and flowery speeches, both women fall hopelessly in love. The twist, which Molière delivers with gleeful precision: these aristocratic suitors are actually the rejected lovers' servants in disguise, having memorized elaborate poems written by their masters. It's a delicious revenge comedy that exposes how readily we believe what flatters us, how easily pretension masks emptiness, and how the pursuit of refinement can render us absurd. Written in 1659 as a deliberate break from Italian theatrical tradition, this one-act satire took direct aim at the French literary fashion of préciosité, the affected speech and exaggerated refinement that Molière saw as hollow posturing. The play crackles with wit because the targets haven't changed: we still confuse polish with substance, still mistake performance for depth.
