Farce de Maître Pathelin

La Farce de Maître Pierre Pathelin is a short play from the Late Middle Ages. It seems pretty insubstantial and I would never have read it if not required for a French class, but it is actually riotously funny. There are important historical themes here to be sure—the uncertainty of currency and purchasing on credit, the dichotomy between urban and country life, and the consequences of usurping conventional language among them—but what most impressed me is how current the humor remains today. It is incredible to realize that more than five hundred years ago authors were cracking lawyer jokes and reveling in bathroom humor. Humanity, for all its "progress", is remarkably persistent and unchanging.


P.S. When I typed in "farce de maitre pierre pathelin" on Goodreads' search engine, it asked me if I meant, "farce de maitre pierre potholing." Yup, that's exactly what I meant!… (lisätietoja)