The Flying Doctor

Molière, 1622-1673Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.4

Word count: 22K words
Chapters: 3

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Flying Doctor by MolièreAuthor: Molière, 1622-1673,Language: English, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Oct 28, 2008

Editor's review

The Flying Doctor is an English translation of a one-act comedy by Molière, the master of French classical comedy, released free by Project Gutenberg. The work continues Molière's trademark satire, spinning humor around quacks and trickery, with a light pace and witty dialogue; it is short enough to read in one sitting. As an entry text to seventeenth-century French comedy, it vividly shows Molière's mockery of medical pretension and social vanity, and pairs well with works such as The Imaginary Invalid. The free, easily available Gutenberg English translation suits theater lovers, students in foreign literature courses, and readers who want to understand classical comedy structure. A caveat: this is an early English translation, and some jokes depend on period context, so readers may need background notes to fully appreciate them; it works better as reading for theater history and classroom discussion than for modern readers seeking complex plots.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Theater readers interested in Molière and seventeenth-century French comedy
Course students and teachers needing short public-domain English plays
Casual readers wanting a classical satirical comedy in a short time
Literature enthusiasts studying comedy structure and satirical technique

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer long, complex plots and deep character arcs
Readers unfamiliar with early English translations who need modern colloquial texts
Performance researchers expecting detailed stage directions and scholarly notes

Reading tips

Read it in one sitting, first grasping the comedy's rhythm and joke placement, then revisiting the targets of satire.
While reading, imagine the stage performance and note the exaggeration and misunderstanding techniques in the dialogue.
Compare it with Molière's other medical comedies to appreciate the continuity of his satirical themes.
For classroom use, read aloud in sections and discuss the design of character types and comic conflict.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this work long? How long does it take to read?

It is a one-act comedy and quite short; the English text can usually be finished in one or two readings, suitable for spare moments or a single class discussion.

Does the English translation convey Molière's comic effect?

The early English translation preserves the wit and satirical structure of the dialogue, but some verbal jokes depend on period context. Readers can consult background notes; overall, Molière's satirical style still comes through.

Is it suitable as an introduction to drama?

Yes. Its short length, vivid character types, and concentrated conflict make it easy to observe the basic structure of classical comedy; for deeper performance study, however, annotated editions or the French original are still needed.

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About the author

Molière, 1622-1673 Author

Molière (1622-1673), born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, was a leading figure of French classical comedy and worked in the seventeenth-century French theatre as both actor and playwright. The library holds 41 of his works, including such representative plays as Tartuffe, The Miser, and Don Juan, ou le Festin de pierre, as well as multi-volume editions of his complete works. Drawing on everyday life, his comedies expose hypocrisy, greed, and vanity with exaggerated yet incisive satire; his characters are vividly drawn and his dialogue witty and lively, conveying criticism of social ills through laughter. Public information on his early life and education is limited, so no speculation is offered here. His plays have had a profound influence on French and European theatre history and are still frequently staged today.