Béjart

:"For the Swiss ballet company, see Béjart Ballet, and its choreographer, Maurice Béjart"

Béjart, the name of several French actors, children of
Marie Hérve and Joseph Béjart (died 1643), the holder of a smallgovernment post. The family—there were eleven children—was very poor and lived in the Marais, then the theatricalquarter of Paris. One of the sons, Joseph Béjart (c. 1617–1659),was a strolling player and later a member of Molière's firstcompany (l'Illustre Théatre), accompanied him in his theatricalwanderings, and was with him when he returned permanentlyto Paris, dying soon after. He created the parts of Lélie in"L'Étourdie", and Eraste in "Le Dépit amoureux". His brother Louis Béjart (c. 1630–1678) was also in Molière's company during the last years of its travels. He created many parts in his brother-in-law's plays—Valère in "Le Dépit amoureux", Dubois in"Le Misanthrope", Alcantor in "Le Mariage forcé", and Don Luis in"Le Festin de Pierre"—and was an actor of varied talents. Inconsequence of a wound received when interfering in a streetbrawl, he became lame and retired with a pension—the firstever granted by the company to a comedian—in 1670.

The more famous members of the family were two sisters.

Madeleine Béjart (1618––1672) was at the head of the travellingcompany to which her sister Geneviève (1631–1675)—whoplayed as Mlle Hervé—and her brothers belonged, beforethey joined Molière in forming "l'Illustre Théâtre" (1643). WithMolière she remained until her death on February 17 1672. She had had an illegitimate daughter (1638) by anItalian count, and her conduct on her early travels had notbeen exemplary, but whatever her private relations with Molière may have been, however acrimonious and violent her temper,she and her family remained faithful to his fortunes. She wasa tall, handsome blonde, and an excellent actress, particularlyin soubrette parts, a number of which Molière wrote for her.Among her creations were Marotte in "Les Précieuses ridicules",Lisette in "L'École des maris", Dorine in "Tartuffe".

Her sister, Armande Grésinde Claire Elizabeth Béjart(1645–1700), seems first to have joined the company at Lyons in1653. Molière directed her education and she grew up under hiseye. In 1662, he being then forty and she seventeen, they weremarried. Neither was happy; the wife was a flirt, the husbandjealous. On the strength of a scurrilous anonymous pamphlet,"La Fameuse Comédienne, ou histoire de la Guérin" (1688), hercharacter has been held perhaps unduly low. She was certainlyguilty of indifference and ingratitude, possibly of infidelity;they separated after the birth of a daughter in 1665 and met onlyat the theatre until 1671. But the charm and grace which fascinatedothers, Molière too could not resist, and they were reconciled.Her portrait is given in a well-known scene (Act iii., sc. 9)in "Le Bourgeois gentilhomme". Mme Molière's first appearanceon the stage was in 1663, as Élise in the "Critique de l'école des femmes". She was out of the cast for a short time in 1664, whenshe bore Molière a son—Louis XIV. and Henrietta of Englandstanding sponsors. But in the spring, beginning with the fêtesgiven at Versailles by the king to Anne of Austria and Maria Theresa of Spain, she started her long list of important roles. She was ather best as Celimène—really her own highly-finished portrait—in"Le Misanthrope", and hardly less admirable as Angélique in"Le Malade imaginaire". She was the Elmire at the first performanceof "Tartuffe", and the Lucile of "Le Bourgeois gentilhomme".All these parts were written by her husband to display her talentsto the best advantage and she made the most of her opportunities.The death of Molière, the secession of Baron and several otheractors, the rivalry of the Hôtel de Bourgogne and the developmentof the Palais Royal, by royal patent, into the home ofFrench opera, brought matters to a crisis with the "comédiens du roi". Well advised by La Grange (Charles Varlet, 1639–1692),Armande leased the Théâtre Guénégaud, and by royal ordinancethe residue of her company were combined with the players fromthe Théâtre du Marais, the fortunes of which were at low ebb.The combination, known as the "troupe du roi", at first wasunfortunate, but in 1679 they secured Mlle du Champmeslé, laterabsorbed the company of the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and in 1680the Comédie Française was born. Mme Molière in 1677 hadmarried Eustache François Guérin (1636–1728), an actor, andby him she had one son (1678–1708). She continued her successesat the theatre until she retired in 1694, and she died on November 30, 1700.

References

*1911