About the work
Molière wrote "Dr. Cupid" in 1665 as a three-act comedy-ballet with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully. It premiered before Louis XIV in Versailles on 14 September 1665, with the public premiere following on 22 September at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris.
Plot
Sganarelle's daughter Lucinde falls into melancholy because her father refuses to let her marry the man she loves. She then feigns illness; the physicians Sganarelle summons contradict each other on diagnosis and treatment without helping her. Only her lover Clitandre, posing as a doctor, "cures" her through a mock wedding that Sganarelle takes for mere ritual – until the ruse is revealed and the marriage has already taken place.
Cultural significance
The play is a pointed satire of the 17th-century medical profession, portraying its members as profit-driven and at odds over their methods; some characters allude to actual Parisian physicians of the time. Italian composer Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari set the story to music in 1913 as the opera "L'amore medico".