The Shopkeeper Turned Gentleman

"The Shopkeeper Turned Gentleman" by Molière takes place at Mr. Jourdain's house in Paris. Jourdain is a middle-aged «bourgeois» whose father grew rich as a cloth merchant. The foolish Jourdain now has one aim in life, which is to rise above this middle-class background and be accepted as an aristocrat. To this end, he orders splendid new clothes and is very happy when the tailor's boy mockingly addresses him as «my Lord». He applies himself to learning the gentlemanly arts of fencing, dancing, music, and philosophy, despite his age; in doing so he continually manages to make a fool of himself, to the disgust of his hired teachers.