SOURCE: "The Seducer as Catalyst," in Molière and the Comedy of Intellect, University of California Press, 1962, pp. 113-29.

Hubert is an American essayist and critic. In the following essay, he discusses characterization, setting, and language in Dom Juan, which he considers to be one of Molière's most controversial and unique works.

Dom Juan stands out as Molière's most controversial play. Like Tartuffe, it struck the parti dévot as an abominably irreligious work. Unlike L'Imposteur, it has appeared to many critics, irrespective of their religious convictions, as an artistic failure in spite of a certain number of redeeming scenes. A few admirers of Molière, however, regard this comedy his masterpiece, superior even to Tartuffe and Le Misanthrope. This controversy probably arose from the fact that Le Festin de Pierre differs so greatly from any other play by Molière or his contemporaries. Instead of...