Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme

“Yes, the most agreeable recompense we can receive for the things we do is to see them recognized and flattered by an applause that honors us. There is nothing, in my opinion, that pays us better for all our fatigue; and it is an exquisite delight to receive the praises of the well-informed.

The Dancing Master articulates the ethical issue of an artist or scientist who performs his or her craft solely for money. Of course, this is ironic, since all of the Masters are quick to throw away their artistic and scientific integrity to please M. Jourdain and milk him for as much money as he will pay them. They continually ply him with compliments and assuage his absurd ignorance in comical hypocrisy. They pass off their mistakes and shortcuts as some sort of secret that “people of quality” know.

“My tailor told me the people of quality dress like this in the mornings.”

M. Jourdain is obsessed with becoming a “person of quality,” or a member of the upper class. Although he has financial resources, he has no idea what that means. Therefore, he asks the men he pays to teach him how to become such a person, and they exploit his foolishness. Of course, he is also obstinate and refuses to learn what they try to teach him. It is a pointless task to teach him to be a “person of quality” because he doesn’t have the intellectual capacity to learn philosophy or understand music and dance, and he does not possess the physical acumen to become a great dancer or fencer.