BEJART

bejart, the name of several french actors, children of marie herve and joseph bejart (d. 1643), the holder of a small government post. the family--there were eleven children--was very poor and lived in the marais, then the theatrical quarter of paris. one of the sons, joseph bejart (c. 1617-1659), was a strolling player and later a member of moliere's first company (l'illustre theatre), accompanied him in his theatrical wanderings, and was with him when he returned permanently to paris, dying soon after. he created the parts of lelie in _l'etourdie_, and eraste in _le depit amoureux_. his brother louis bejart (c. 1630-1678) was also in moliere's company during the last years of its travels. he created many parts in his brother-in-law's plays--valere in _le depit amoureux_, dubois in _le misanthrope_, alcantor in _le mariage force_, and don luis in _le festin de pierre_--and was an actor of varied talents. in consequence of a wound received when interfering in a street brawl, he became lame and retired with a pension--the first ever granted by the company to a comedian--in 1670. the more famous members of the family were two sisters. madeleine bejart (1618-1672) was at the head of the travelling company to which her sister genevieve (1631-1675)--who played as mlle herve--and her brothers belonged, before they joined moliere in forming l'illustre theatre (1643). with moliere she remained until her death on the 17th of february 1672. she had had an illegitimate daughter (1638) by an italian count, and her conduct on her early travels had not been exemplary, but whatever her private relations with moliere may have been, however acrimonious and violent her temper, she and her family remained faithful to his fortunes. she was a tall, handsome blonde, and an excellent actress, particularly in soubrette parts, a number of which moliere wrote for her. among her creations were marotte in _les precieuses ridicules_, lisette in _l'ecole des maris_, dorine in _tartuffe_. her sister, armande gresinde claire elizabeth bejart (1645-1700), seems first to have joined the company at lyons in 1653. moliere directed her education and she grew up under his eye. in 1662, he being then forty and she seventeen, they were married. neither was happy; the wife was a flirt, the husband jealous. on the strength of a scurrilous anonymous pamphlet, _la fameuse comedienne, ou histoire de la guerin_ (1688), her character has been held perhaps unduly low. she was certainly guilty of indifference and ingratitude, possibly of infidelity; they separated after the birth of a daughter in 1665 and met only at the theatre until 1671. but the charm and grace which fascinated others, moliere too could not resist, and they were reconciled. her portrait is given in a well-known scene (act iii., sc. 9) in _le bourgeois gentilhomme_. mme moliere's first appearance on the stage was in 1663, as elise in the _critique de l'ecole des femmes_. she was out of the cast for a short time in 1664, when she bore moliere a son--louis xiv. and henrietta of england standing sponsors. but in the spring, beginning with the fetes given at versailles by the king to anne of austria and maria theresa, she started her long list of important roles. she was at her best as celimene--really her own highly-finished portrait--in _le misanthrope_, and hardly less admirable as angelique in _le malade imaginaire_. she was the elmire at the first performance of _tartuffe_, and the lucile of _le bourgeois gentilhomme_. all these parts were written by her husband to display her talents to the best advantage and she made the most of her opportunities. the death of moliere, the secession of baron and several other actors, the rivalry of the hotel de bourgogne and the development of the palais royal, by royal patent, into the home of french opera, brought matters to a crisis with the _comediens du roi_. well advised by la grange (charles varlet, 1639-1692), armande leased the theatre guenegaud, and by royal ordinance the residue of her company were combined with the players from the theatre du marais, the fortunes of which were at low ebb. the combination, known as the _troupe du roi_, at first was unfortunate, but in 1679 they secured mlle du champmesle, later absorbed the company of the hotel de bourgogne, and in 1680 the comedie francaise was born. mme moliere in 1677 had married eustache francois guerin (1636-1728), an actor, and by him she had one son (1678-1708). she continued her successes at the theatre until she retired in 1694, and she died on the 30th of november 1700.