Benjamin Constant avait dix-neuf ans quand il rencontra Mme de Charrière, elle en avait vingt-huit de plus que lui. Pendant dix ans, ils ne purent se quitter, malgré de nombreux orages. Condamnés l'un et l'autre à vivre sans illusions et à voir - avec trop de lucidité - l'absurdité de l'existence humaine, ils se firent du mal, parce qu'ils étaient trop semblables. Sensibles à l'excès, sous un masque de scepticisme, ils étaient deux écorchés, qui prenaient plaisir à aviver leurs plaies. Belle aimait Benjamin, autant pour les défauts, que pour les qualités de cet être insaisissable, diabolique et séduisant ; mais elle commit une erreur impardonnable. Benjamin était fantasque et très jeune ; amoureuse ardente, elle affecta l'indulgence philosophique et laissa la porte ouverte à son dangereux partenaire. Lorsqu'il y eut partage - et partage avec Mme de Staël - souffrant trop, elle préféra partir. La dernière visite de Benjamin à Belle fut morose et consternante : « Je le trouve bien changé, dit-elle, peut-être sont-ce les yeux avec lesquels je le regarde, qui diffèrent de ceux d'autrefois. »

In this witty and charming French play, the audience follows Madame Pernelle, whose self-importance leads her to leave her son Orgon's house because no one pays any attention to her. The only person who happens to meet her high expectations is Tartuffe. While Tartuffe's true character of being 'the Hypocrite' is slowly revealed to the audience, Madame Pernelle remains blissfully unaware of the fraud who exploits his victims by pretending to be pious. Madame Pernelle is on the point of leaving many times, but can't leave without having the last word and finds herself coming back to admonish or criticize one more person. Molière's ´Tartuffe, or The Hypocrite´ puts a satirical spin on religious hypocrisy and will delight fans of Shakespeare's ´The Taming of the Shrew´. Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright, actor, and poet. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world literature. Molière wrote comedies, farces, tragicomedies, and comédie-ballets. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed at the Comédie-Française more often than those of any other playwright today. He was born into a prosperous family and studied at the Collège de Clermont which made him well-suited for a life in the theatre. Molière spent thirteen years as an itinerant actor, which helped him polish his comedic abilities. While acting, he began writing, combining Commedia dell'arte elements with the more refined French comedy.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The story of the Republican Party starts in the late eighteenth century with Abraham Lincoln, who left his family to travel to the American West and settle there. He built a successful community, but was killed by Indians in 1786. #2 The West was a land of opportunity for everyone, but this was not the case for the Lincolns. Their father had done well in Kentucky, but his sons would not share his fortune. The land in what is now Kentucky had not been carefully surveyed, which meant that no one had a clear deed to their property. #3 Lincoln moved his family to Indiana in 1816, but he never managed to get his feet under him there. In 1830, he gave up on Indiana and moved to Illinois to start again. #4 In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act threatened to overturn the Missouri Compromise and open the fertile western plains to slavery. Men across the North recoiled from this attempt to inject slavery into land that had been free for more than thirty years.