Molière, greatest artist in French theatre's history celebrated in Google Doodle

Molière, considered the world’s foremost comic dramatist and perhaps the greatest artist in the history of French theater, is celebrated in today’s Google Doodle. In a slideshow doodle, you can see a glimpse into Molière’s most memorable scenes from his play, The Imaginary Invalid and other classics like School for Wives, Don Juan, and The Miser. [caption id=“attachment_6059101” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”]  Google Doodle.[/caption] And the reason why today was picked to celebrate the great artist, is because, on this day in 1673, Molière premiered his final play —The Imaginary Invalid. As Google puts it in its blog, he was famous “for his satirical plays that fearlessly lampooned human folly and blended ballet, music, and comedy into a new genre that transformed buffoonery into witty social critique”. His bold work often offended people, and was banned. His religious satire Tartuffe was first performed in 1664 and immediately banned by the court of King Louis XIV. via GIPHY Ironically though, in 1669 the ban was lifted and Tartuffe came to be considered one of his masterworks. Born in the early 1600s, the now-known Molière, was called Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. However, in the 1640s, he refused to join his family business, joined the theatre and assumed the stage name Molière. For over a decade, Molière was imprisoned for debts before his breakthrough in 1658, when his company performed for a royal audience at the Louvre. Centuries later, Molière is now read as the greatest humourist and satirist by the French Theatre and the rest of the literary world. Also, his work is some great advice and lessons, that remain completely pertinent even now. Here’s a quote from one of his classics, “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.”