Molière moves to the grander Theâtre du…
December 1662 CE
Molière moves to the grander Theâtre du Palais-Royal, still with his Italian partners, in 1662 and marries Armande, whom he believes to be the sister of Madeleine; she may have instead been her illegitimate daughter with the Duc of Modène.
The same year, on December 26, he premieres L'École des femmes (The School for Wives), subsequently regarded as a masterpiece.
It pokes fun at the limited education that is given to daughters of rich families, and reflects Molière's own marriage.
Both this work and his marriage attract much criticism.
The play sparks the protest called the "Quarrel of L'École des femmes."
On the artistic side he responds with two lesser-known works: La Critique de "L'École des femmes", in which he imagines the spectators of his previous work attending it.
The piece mocks the people who had criticized L'École des femmes by showing them at dinner after watching the play; it addresses all the criticism raised about the piece by presenting the critics' arguments and then dismissing them.
This is the so-called Guerre comique (War of Comedy), in which the opposite side is taken by such writers as Donneau de Visé, Edmé Boursault, and Montfleury.