When the French refer to their native tongue, they call it the "language of Molière". In this special edition, we're celebrating four centuries of the most read, performed and translated French writer in history.
Four hundred years after his birth, Molière remains as central to French culture as Shakespeare in the English-speaking world. The Comédie-Française, which is sometimes referred to as the house of Molière, is marking the date by recreating "Tartuffe", the play that outraged the Catholic Church and almost ended his career.
FRANCE 24's Olivia Salazar-Winspear speaks to Eve Jackson from this revered French institution and tells us more about the poetic tale of the playwright's death onstage there.
And Molière expert Professor Noel Peacock from the University of Glasgow talks to us about the writer's genius, his commentary on the place of women in society and the mark he has left outside of France.
