Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician and physicist…

Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician and  physicist turned religious philosopher, had published an eighteen-letter series, Lettres provinciales, between 1656 and 1657, under the pseudonym Louis de Montalte.

Pascal had written this memorable attack on casuistry, a popular ethical method used by Catholic thinkers in the early modern period (especially the Jesuits, and in particular Antonio Escobar), in defense of the Jansenist French Roman Catholic theologian, philosopher, and mathematician Antoine Arnauld.

King Louis XIV of France, incensed by these writings, in 1660 orders all copies to be shredded and burned.

French playwright and actor Molière, despite his own preference for tragedy, which he had tried to further with the Illustre Theatre, has become famous for his farces, which are generally in one act and performed after the tragedy.

Some of these farces are only partly written, and are played in the style of Commedia dell'arte with improvisation over a canovaccio.

He also writes two comedies in verse, but these are less successful and are generally considered less significant.

Later in life Molière will concentrate on writing musical comedies, in which the drama is interrupted by songs and/or dances.

His Les précieuses ridicules (The Affected Young Ladies) had in 1659 won Molière the attention and the criticism of many, but it was not a popular success.

He now asks his Italian partner Tiberio Fiorelli, famous for his character of Scaramouche, to teach him the techniques of Commedia dell'arte.

His 1660 play Sganarelle, ou Le Cocu imaginaire (The Imaginary Cuckold) seems to be a tribute both to Commedia dell'arte and to his teacher.

Its theme of marital relationships dramatizes Molière's pessimistic views on the falsity inherent in human relationships.

This view is also evident in his later works, and is to be a source of inspiration for many later authors, including (in a different field and with different effect) Luigi Pirandello.

It describes a kind of round dance where two couples believe that each of their partners has been betrayed by the others' and is the first in Molière's 'Jealousy series' which will grow to include Dom Garcie de Navarre (a flop), L'École des maris and L'École des femmes.