Antoine Jacob
Encyclopedia
Antoine Jacob de Montfleury (1640–1685), known as Montfleury, was a French
actor
and playwright
who was a chief rival of Molière
.
He was the son of Zacharie Jacob
, who was the first to adopt Montfleury as a stage name
, and had achieved great fame as an actor and playwright himself. Both were associated with the Hôtel de Bourgogne
theatre troupe, an institution supported by King Louis XIV
.
Antoine worked as a lawyer
at first. His first notable play, The Impromptu of the Hôtel de Condé, was written as a tit-for-tat response to one Molière had staged mocking his father Zacharie. The latter would subsequently deepen the feud, shortly before his own death, by accusing Molière of incest
.
Antoine made his name as a playwright with La Femme juge et partie, which ran simultaneously with Tartuffe
and was accorded the respect of an equal work by contemporaries. But Montfleury remained committed to Spanish theatre styles after Lope de Vega
and Calderón de la Barca
, while Molière was recreating the Italian comedy of manners
in a French mold.
Montfleury was also a rival of Cyrano de Bergerac
, who once insulted Montfleury's girth in a letter, an incident which was dramatized by Edmond Rostand
in his play Cyrano de Bergerac
. In the play, in which the opening scene is anachronistically set in the year that the actor was actually born, Montfleury has enraged Cyrano by flirting with Roxane, whom Cyrano secretly loves. As a result, Cyrano has forbidden him to appear onstage for three weeks. When Montfleury does so in spite of having been warned, Cyrano drives him off just as he begins his performance, to the amusement of much of the crowd.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
who was a chief rival of Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
.
He was the son of Zacharie Jacob
Zacharie Jacob
Zacharie Jacob , known as Montfleury, was a famed French actor and playwright of the 17th century.Jacob was born in Anjou during the last years of the 16th century. He was enrolled as one of the pages to the duc de Guise, but he ran away to join some strolling players, assuming the stage name of...
, who was the first to adopt Montfleury as a stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
, and had achieved great fame as an actor and playwright himself. Both were associated with the Hôtel de Bourgogne
Hôtel de Bourgogne
Until the 16th century, the Hôtel de Bourgogne was the name of the Paris residence of the Dukes of Burgundy. Today, the last vestige is the Tour Jean sans Peur, 20 rue Étienne Marcel, in the 2nd arrondissement.-Theatre:...
theatre troupe, an institution supported by King Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
.
Antoine worked as a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
at first. His first notable play, The Impromptu of the Hôtel de Condé, was written as a tit-for-tat response to one Molière had staged mocking his father Zacharie. The latter would subsequently deepen the feud, shortly before his own death, by accusing Molière of incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
.
Antoine made his name as a playwright with La Femme juge et partie, which ran simultaneously with Tartuffe
Tartuffe
Tartuffe is a comedy by Molière. It is one of his most famous plays.-History:Molière wrote Tartuffe in 1664...
and was accorded the respect of an equal work by contemporaries. But Montfleury remained committed to Spanish theatre styles after Lope de Vega
Lope de Vega
Félix Arturo Lope de Vega y Carpio was a Spanish playwright and poet. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Century Baroque literature...
and Calderón de la Barca
Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño usually referred as Pedro Calderón de la Barca , was a dramatist, poet and writer of the Spanish Golden Age. During certain periods of his life he was also a soldier and a Roman Catholic priest...
, while Molière was recreating the Italian comedy of manners
Comedy of manners
The comedy of manners is a genre of play/television/film which satirizes the manners and affectations of a social class, often represented by stock characters, such as the miles gloriosus in ancient times, the fop and the rake during the Restoration, or an old person pretending to be young...
in a French mold.
Montfleury was also a rival of Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac
Hercule-Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac was a French dramatist and duelist. He is now best remembered for the works of fiction which have been woven, often very loosely, around his life story, most notably the 1897 play by Edmond Rostand...
, who once insulted Montfleury's girth in a letter, an incident which was dramatized by Edmond Rostand
Edmond Rostand
Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism, and is best known for his play Cyrano de Bergerac. Rostand's romantic plays provided an alternative to the naturalistic theatre popular during the late nineteenth century...
in his play Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac (play)
Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. Although there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, the play bears very scant resemblance to his life....
. In the play, in which the opening scene is anachronistically set in the year that the actor was actually born, Montfleury has enraged Cyrano by flirting with Roxane, whom Cyrano secretly loves. As a result, Cyrano has forbidden him to appear onstage for three weeks. When Montfleury does so in spite of having been warned, Cyrano drives him off just as he begins his performance, to the amusement of much of the crowd.
External links
- Montfleury et le genre comique: La carrière d’Antoine-Jacob Montfleury from the Centre Recherche pour l'Histoire de Théâtre at the SorbonneSorbonneThe Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...