Moliere’s Sublimation of the Three Unities

1、Molieres Sublimation of the Three Unities【Abstract】TheThreeUnitiesisoneofthemostsignificantconceptinwesternliterarycriticism，whichhasalastinginfluenceonthedevelopmentofdrama.IntheArtofPoetry，BoileausyntheticallyexplainsthetheoryofThreeUnities.However，manyscholarsdidntapproveofthis，suchasMoliere.Inhi

2、scomedy，Tartuffe，MolieresublimatedrulesoftheThreeUnities，contributingtothecreationofdramasallovertheworld.【Keywords】theThreeUnities；Moliere；sublimation；Tartuffe【作者簡介】牛璟祎，北京师范大学。I.IntroductionThethreeUnitieswasregardedasinfalliblerulesin17thcentury.IntheArtofPoetry，Boileausyntheticallyexplainsthetheo

3、ryofThreeUnities，“ThatunityofAction，Time，andPlacekeeptheStagefull.Eventhoughthistheoryprosperedanddevelopedthedrama，tosomeextent，itisanobstaclefordramatoarriveatahigherlevel.Therefore，thefamouscomedian，Moliere，didntobeycompletelytherulesofThreeUnities.Inthecomedy，Tartuffe，hemadeansublimationoftheThr

4、eeUntiestactfully.II.BackgroundofMolieresCreationMolierewasthefounderofFrenchclassicalcomedyin17thcentury.Atthattime，classicismwasdominant，nevertheless，wecantexplainsomeofMolieresworksinvirtueofclassicaltheories，becausehenotonlyobeystheclassicalrules，butalsobreaksthroughrestrictionsofclassicismtosom

5、eextent.Hisworksreflecttherealisticlifeoftheage.Molieresatirizesthechurch，nobility，courtiersandbourgeoisie，buteulogizesthejustice，kindnessandintelligenceofthelower-class.BecauseMolieredidntobeytheclassicalrulescompletely，suchastheThreeUnities，hiscomedyTartuffefailedinpremiere.Later，Molieremodifiedth

6、isdramaseveraltimes.Afterfiveyears，thisplaywasperformedinpublic.Inordertokeephisownideasinworks，hetactfullyusestheThreeUnitiesinTartuffe，makingitaninvaluableplayinliterature.III.AnalysisMolieresSublimationoftheThreeUnitiesinTartuffeTheThreeUnitiesmeanstheunityofthetime，placeandplot.Regardingtotime，t

7、heThreeUnitiesrequiresthatthetimeoftheplayshouldbeshownin24hours.InTartuffe，whenitcomestoActOneSceneThree，Cleantesaid“Goodmorning！.Attheendoftheplay，thehousemaidwasgreeted，“Goodmorning.Fromthemorningofthefirsttothemorningofthenextday，thetimespanoftheplaylastsaday.ThisconformtotherulesofThreeUnities.

8、Infact，asaudience，whenweseethisplay，ourfeelingsofthetimeismorethanaday.Theswindler，Tartuffe，appearsinActThreeSceneTwo，however，peoplehasacommentsonhiminthebeginningoftheplay.ThehousemaidthinksthatTartuffeisproudandimpolite，evenorderingothershere，extremelyhypocritical.HerimpressiononTartuffecantbeform

9、edinoneday.Asaudience，wefeelthetimeisfurthermorethan24hourstoknowsomebodyscharacteristics.Asfortheplace，theThreeUnitiesemphasizestheplayshouldberestrictedtooneplace.InTartuffe，thestoryhappensinexactlyoneplace，intherichmanshouse.However，besidesthespaceofthehouse，therearealsosomeoverlappedspacesandter

10、ritorialspaces.InTartuffe，overlappedspacesreferstothecombinationofmentalspacewithstagespace.InActThreeSceneThree，whenAmyistalkingwithTartuffe，Amyssoniseavesdropingbehindthedoor，sothecomplexpsychologicalspaceofAmyssoninterweaveswiththerealisticspaceoftheconversation，formingaoverlappedspace.Overlapped

11、spaceisabstract，thesameastheterritorialspace.Tartuffewascreatedin17thcenturyinFrance.Atthattime，thelower-classpeopleisoppressedbythenobility，churchandgovernment.MoliererevealedthedarksocietythroughthecomedyTartuffe.Thecharactersinthisplayhavesymbolicmeanings.Tartuffeisnotonlyaswindler，butalsoanimage

12、oftheevilfeudalpowerinFrance，evenallovertheworld.Thisway，thespaceexpandsfromthenarrowstagetotheworld，fromaconcretespacetoanabstractspace.Inplot，thatistosaytheaction，theThreeUnitiestakestheruleofonesingleplotinaplay.InTartuffe，thereisonlyonemainplot，thehypocrisyofTartuffeisuncoveredlittlebylittle.Thi

13、splothasfourparts，includingAmysdaughterbeingforcedtomarryTartuffe，drivingAmyssonoutofhouse，TartuffeshypocrisybeingexposedandTartuffebeingarrestedthroughBoxEvent.AccordingtotheThreeUnities，everypartofthemainplotshouldbedepictedindetail，butMoliereonlywritesalittleaboutBoxEvent，whichprovideachanceforau

14、diencetoimagine.Inaddition，therearesomesubplotsinthisplay，suchasthescenethatTartuffeexpressedhislovetoAmy.Althoughthisisnotthepartofthemainplot，itisindispensableintheplaytoindicatehypocrisyofTartuffe.IV.ConclusionInTartuffe，MolieremakesasublimationoftheThreeUnities，includingunityoftime，placeandplot，

15、whichBoileauexplainssyntheticallyintheArtofPoetry.Molierekeepsthetimeonthestagein24hours，butmakesaudiencefeelthetimefarbeyondthis.Asidefromtheconstrainedstagespace，Molierealsousesabstractspace，thementalspaceandtheterritorialspace.Heextendsthemeaningoftheplay，makingitofincisivesatire.Asfortheplot，Mol

16、iereaddsomesubplotstothemainplot，makingtheplaymoreattractiveandinteresting.MolieresTartuffesetsagoodexampleforotherplaywrightsworks.Hemakesthecharactersmorealive，theconflictsmoreobvious，andthemoralmoredeep.HissublimationoftheThreeUnitieshasanimportantinfluenceonthedevelopmentofcomedy，pushingthecreat

17、ionofplaytoahigherlevel.References：【1】Boileau.TheArtofPoetryM.Beijing：PeoplesLiteraturePress，2020.【2】HuangYi.AnalysisoftheThreeUnitiesinClassicalEraJ.CampusNewspaperofXichangCollege，20203：62-64.【3】LiangBiao.ObeyingandTranscendingAnalysisoftheThreeUnitiesinTartuffeJ.SchoolNewspaperofMuDanUniversity，20204：