About the work
The Learned Ladies (Les Femmes savantes) is a five-act verse comedy by Molière, first performed on 11 March 1672 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris, one of his last major verse plays.
Plot
The young Clitandre loves Henriette, but her mother Philaminte and aunt Bélise, absorbed almost entirely in literature and philosophy, want her to marry the vain scholar and poet Trissotin instead. When uncle Ariste fakes the family's financial ruin, Trissotin withdraws his suit, revealing his true interest in the family's fortune, and Henriette is free to marry Clitandre.
Cultural significance
Through the character of Trissotin, a satire of Molière's critic Charles Cotin, the play continues his earlier attacks on pedantry, préciosité and literary vanity, and ranks among his most accomplished comedies of character.