The Imaginary Invalid
by Molière · Le Malade imaginaire
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1673
- Form
- Comedy
- Language
- French
- Length
- Short · 100 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Approachable1 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Imaginary Invalid, in The Miser and Other Plays, translated by John Wood and David CowardPenguin Classics, 2000Prose translation that keeps the interludes and the mock doctoral ceremony.
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Argan is a healthy man convinced he is dying, surrounded by doctors and apothecaries who profit from his fear. He wants to marry his daughter Angélique to a young physician so that he can have medical care in the family, while his second wife waits for him to die and leave her everything. The servant Toinette and Argan's brother Béralde expose the wife by having Argan play dead, and the play ends with a burlesque ceremony in which Argan is made a doctor himself. Molière, playing Argan, collapsed during the fourth performance and died the same night.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Imaginary Invalid are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.