The Imaginary Invalid

I thought the play An Imaginary Invalid was a very inventive comedy. The scenery was colorful and expressive. I appreciated the superb acting, especially from my friends who played parts. I can see why Professor Corrigan would have us watch this play. In some respect, plays or movies have a literary sense, because they began with a script that someone wrote. Whoever wrote the script had a specific scheme and aspiration. Seeing through the play or between the lines of the script can be an eye-opener to what inspired the writer. I truly enjoyed watching a play with a more analytical mindset. Plays, books, poems, and songs all complement each other. We ask the same questions about for all of these about themes, meaning, stance of the author.

The play was about a man named Argan who acts sick because of a strange fixation with doctors. I thought it was funny to see how a person’s fixation or lie could grow more and more until the separation between reality and fantasy is almost nonexistent. Argan’s maid suggests that he play dead in order to unveil the true loyalty of his second wife and daughter. He follows her advice and discovers that his second wife only wants his money and that his daughter truly loves him. In a humorous scene, Argan revives from the dead in front of his wife first and confronts his wife. Later he revives in front of his daughter, who sincerely loves him, and lets her marry the man she wishes.

Although the play is a comedy, I enjoyed it because, in my opinion, it had quality lessons. First of all, people shouldn’t live a lie because they will only get entangled in it till reality is questionable. Secondly, the true intentions and loyalty of people will be found out. Since this was a class project, I tried to find some theme or meaning within the comedy and hopefully I did.

I attended Southeastern's production of The Imaginary Invalid and watched the entire play.