Turcaret is a comedy

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 by Alain-René Lesage

Alain-René Lesage

Alain-René Lesage was a French novelist and playwright. Lesage is best known for his comic novel The Devil upon Two Sticks , his comedy Turcaret , and his picaresque novel Gil Blas .-Youth and education:Claude Lesage, the father of the novelist, held the united...

, first produced on 14 February 1709

1709 in literature

The year 1709 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*February 2 - Alexander Selkirk, the original Robinson Crusoe, is rescued and returns to civilisation.*April 12 - The Tatler is founded by Richard Steele....

 at the Comédie-Française

Comédie-Française

The Comédie-Française or Théâtre-Français is one of the few state theaters in France. It is the only state theater to have its own troupe of actors. It is located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris....

. It is considered one of Lesage's most important works.

The play shows clear signs of having been written by an admirer of Molière

Molière

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...

, and has much in common with Tartuffe

Tartuffe

Tartuffe is a comedy by Molière. It is one of his most famous plays.-History:Molière wrote Tartuffe in 1664...

.

Turcaret is a ruthless, dishonest and dissolute financier. His vulgar wife is as dissolute as himself. A harebrained marquis, a knavish chevalier and a coquettish baroness, to whom Turcaret is attracted, are among the other highly comic characters.