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L'avareL'Avare is a five act satirical comedy by French playwright Molire. Its title is usually translated as "The Miser" when it is performed in English. Warning: This article may contain plot details The play was first performed in 1668 at the Palais Royal in a period when Moliere's company was on the one hand under considerable establishment pressure to modify its output but on the other hand under the protection of Louis XIV himself. The Miser's plot, which involves a rich money-lender whose feisty children long to escape from his penny-pinching household and marry their respective lovers, is firmly a comedy of manners which is presumably what the 17th century French upper classes objected to. It is less savage, however, and somewhat less realistic than Moliere's earlier play Tartuffe which attracted a storm of criticism on first performance. The play is also notable for the way in which it sends up certain theatrical conventions. Many comedies from the Elizabethan period onwards contain asides which are delivered by characters to the audience and which the other actors ignore. In L'Avare however characters generally demand to know who exactly these asides are being delivered to. The play's ending is also self-consciously ridiculous, mocking the pat endings of many comedies that end in sudden revelation and marriage. Fortunately this joke is preserved for modern audience of a certain age because the conclusion of the play is now rather reminiscent of the emotional climax of the Star Wars trilogy, namely that an unexpected character turns out to be everyone's father.
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