Arnolphe raised his ward Agnès in the most total intellectual and human isolation, in order to make her the most submissive and the most faithful of wives. But does innocence equal ignorance? At the time of marriages of interest and arranged unions, Molière presents love as a force for liberation and self-fulfillment. In a piece where comedy and poetry mingle, he thus offers an original reflection on the emancipation of women and the power of feeling.
