This work tells the story of three women who conspire against one. The three women are Philamine, her daughter Armande and her daughter-in-law Belise. They pretend to be precious and learned women, but they are fooled by a false scholar, Trissotin, who in reality only wants the money of this rich family.
For a long time a man named Clitandre has courted Armande, who has always rejected him, preferring “the beautiful fires of philosophy’’. So he turned to Henriette, Armande’s younger sister, and fell madly in love. Now Clitandre and Henriette want to get married. However, all three women are opposed to the marriage and even more so to it, preferring Henriette to marry Trissotin. In addition, Armande expresses some jealousy at seeing her sister marry her former courtier. The father, who was on the side of the two lovers, turns his back on his wife and sides with Trissotin as well. Nevertheless, the brother supports Henriette and Clitandre’s love from the beginning to the end and sets a trap for Trissotin to reveal his true nature and his real intention.
Here Molière wanted to criticize false scholars and precious women who pretend to be women of science and letters when they are just pretending. Armande, who does not want to get married because she prefers science and men of knowledge when she herself does not possess the knowledge she wants to tame. The proof is that Trissotin has so easily fooled her with his false knowledge and bullshit. If she had a minimum of knowledge as she claims, she would have unmasked him straight away. In your opinion, could Henriette have married Clitandre in the end?
