Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliere :: essays research papers

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliere, Enlightenment author and greatest comic dramatist of all times Jean-Jaques Rousseau, philosopher, novelist, composer, language and music theorist, and single most important Enlightenment writer Act I SCENE 1. Moliere and Rousseau are up in heaven R: Hey Moliere is that you? M: Yes, may I ask your name again? R: Yeah it’s Rousseau. M: Ah, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you. Sorry, my memory doesn’t always serve me right anymore. R: No, you’ve never met me before. I just remember learning about you back when I was on earth. M: Oh, you’re Rousseau, the Romantic writer, not to mention many other hobbies. Yes I’ve heard about you. Speaking of earth, things are really screwed up nowadays. Have you seen what I’m talking about? R: Yes indeed. As a matter of fact, I was just going to check out the telescopes. M: Oh really, I haven’t been there in a while. R: Yeah, you want to join me? M: Sure, might as well. SCENE 2. Moliere and Rousseau at the telescopes R: There’s a couple right over here we can use. M: What do you want to look at? R: Let’s check out this World Masterpiece class where they’re talking about me right now. M: Sounds good to me. R: I can’t believe that. Out of all of my great literature they picked Confessions to read. That was a piece of crap I wrote just to get a few things off my chest and they’re hailing it as a World Masterpiece? M: Well, at least they’re reading some of your work. R: Whopptie doo! Why don’t they have the students read some of my real masterpieces like The Social Contract or Discourse on Inequality? M: I don’t know, why don’t they? R: Haven’t you read any of my works? M: Sorry, after leaving earth and coming to this paradise, I figured it was best to stay away from anymore earthly influence. R: Well yes, you’ve got a point there. But my point is that students aren’t reading my really good literature, like the two I mentioned earlier, for a reason. M: And what might that be? R: It’s simple, the public school systems are set up and funded(poorly) by the government. Trust me they don’t want every college student reading The Social Contract or Discourse on Inequality. They’d have every supposed â€Å"highly educated† person in America trying to overthrow the current and long-standing government. M: Ah, I see quite clearly now. R: Do you really? M: Yes of course, the government, while getting paid by these students to for education, is at the same time choosing very wisely what to teach it’s pupils so as to make them a more ideal citizen and better property of the State.