Note 689 — Chapter XXV

In 1664 Molière imitated the “Desden con el Desden” in his “Princesse d’Élide,” which was represented at Versailles by the command of Louis XIV., with great splendor, before his queen and his mother, both Spanish princesses. The compliment, as far as the king was concerned in it, was a magnificent one;—on Molière’s part, it was a failure, and his play is now no longer acted. The original drama of Moreto, however, is known wherever the Spanish language is spoken, and a good translation of it into German is common on the German stage.