Google doodle celebrates the work of the French playwright Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière on February 10. The doodle gives a view from his final play Imaginary Invalid and other classics like School for Wives, Don Juan, and The Miser.
Molière influence was such that French language itself is often referred to as the “language of Molière”.
Thirteen years as an itinerant actor helped him polish his comic abilities while he began writing the more refined French comedy. His extant works includes comedies, farces, tragicomedies, comédie-ballets, and more. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed at the Comédie-Française more
often than those of any other playwright today.
The reason why the doodle is dedicated to the writer today is because on this day in 1673, Molière premiered his final play, Le Malade Imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid), satirizing the medical profession.
He starred in the title role of Argan, a severe hypochondriac who tries to convince his daughter to forsake her true love and marry his doctor's son, so as to save on medical bills.
His satirical plays criticized human folly and also blended ballet, music, and comedy into a new genre.
One of the most famous moments in Molière's life was his last, which became legend - he collapsed on stage in a fit of coughing and haemorrhaging while performing in the last play he had written and which ironically was entitled The Imaginary Invalid. Nevertheless, he insisted on completing his performance.
The superstition that green brings bad luck to actors is said to have originated from the colour of the clothing he was wearing at the time of his death.
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