The Imaginary Invalid

The play’s Prologue explains that the purpose of the play is to celebrate and entertain King Louis XIV, who just returned from a “victorious campaign” (1). The scene is “a delightful, rural setting” (1).

The written introduction explains that all writing should exist to honor or amuse King Louis XIV. The Eclogue is a comédie-ballet, an idyllic pastoral scene in which Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, calls all the nymphs and shepherds to leave whatever they’re doing and hear the great news that the king returned home from battle, bringing peace. They all dance and sing the king’s praises, and then each one sings a song of praise as a contest for Flora to judge. But Pan interrupts with a group of fauns and tells them that their mortal songs aren’t enough for such an amazing king, and they should step aside so the players can entertain him.

In a similarly idyllic pastoral scene, a shepherdess laments that doctors are scammers who make money on naive people who buy their worthless cures. She finishes, “But the dimmest, the worst of the lot, is onstage now. It’s our play, and he’s in it” (6).