# The Middle-Class Gentleman

By Molière.

"The Middle-Class Gentleman" by Molière is a five-act comédie-ballet first performed in 1670 before the court of Louis XIV. The play satirizes social climbing through Monsieur Jourdain, a middle-aged merchant's son desperately trying to become an aristocrat. He hires teachers in fencing, dancing, and philosophy, making a fool of himself at every turn. When he refuses to let his daughter marry her middle-class beloved, insisting on a nobleman instead, a clever scheme unfolds involving an elaborate Turkish disguise that plays perfectly to his absurd ambitions. (Summary by Project Gutenberg, written by machine.)

- Language: English
- Translator: Philip Dwight Jones
- Subjects: Comedy plays; French drama; Middle class -- France -- Drama; France -- Social life and customs -- 17th century -- Drama

[Read it](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/books/gutenberg/2992/read)
[Plain text](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/api/books/gutenberg/2992/text)

## Audiobooks of it

- [Bourgeois Gentleman](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/books/librivox/10591) by Molière (2 h 5 min, English)

From Project Gutenberg. Public domain in the United States.