A Nieśwież Sganarelle Comedy

Patryk Kencki

Abstract

Introduction to Franciszka Urszula Radziwiłłowa's translation of Molière's Le médecin malgré lui. Among the comic characters created by Molière, three are special: Scapin, Mascarille, and Sganarelle. The comedies that feature them found their way to Old Polish stages, being performed either in the original language or in Polish translation or adaptation. The oeuvre of Franciszka Urszula Radziwiłłowa contains Polish adaptations of three plays by the French playwright. Besides Les précieuses ridicules and Les amants magnifiques, there is also Le médecin malgré lui translated by the duchess into Polish as Gwałtem medyk. The comedy shows Sganarelle’s adventures as he is forced to play a doctor. Sganarelle appears in several plays by Molière. Inasmuch as in the first of them (Le médecin volant) we see a rather typical wily servant, he takes on more individual qualities in later comedies, becoming characteristically cowardly and imprudent. The edition of the Polish adaptation by Duchess Radziwiłłowa provides a chance to take a look at Sganarelle and other stock characters that can be regarded as Harlequin’s close relatives. Thus, the introduction to the edition focuses on these characters in Molière’s work, setting them side by side with some insights about Harlequin, who appears in the Duchess’s plays several times. Additionally, the introduction traces out the reception of Le médecin malgré lui in Poland in the first half of the 18th century and examines Radziwiłłowa’s translating techniques. The conclusion stresses the metatheatrical aspect of Sganarelle as an archetypal comedian.