World Masterpeuices

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliere, Enlightenment author and greatest comic dramatist of all times

Jean-Jaques Rousseau, philosopher, novelist, composer, language and music theorist, and single most important Enlightenment writer

Act I

SCENE 1. Moliere and Rousseau are up in heaven

R: Hey Moliere is that you?

M: Yes, may I ask your name again?

R: Yeah it's Rousseau.

M: Ah, it's been a long time since I've seen you. Sorry, my memory doesn't always serve me right anymore.

R: No, you've never met me before. I just remember learning about you back when I was on earth.

M: Oh, you're Rousseau, the Romantic writer, not to mention many other hobbies. Yes I've heard about you. Speaking of earth, things are really screwed up nowadays. Have you seen what I'm talking about?

R: Yes indeed. As a matter of fact, I was just going to check out the telescopes.

M: Oh really, I haven't been there in a while.

R: Yeah, you want to join me?

M: Sure, might as well.

SCENE 2. Moliere and Rousseau at the telescopes

R: There's a couple right over here we can use.

M: What do you want to look at?

R: Let's check out this World Masterpiece class where they're talking about me right now.

M: Sounds good to me.

R: I can't believe that. Out of all of my great literature they picked Confessions to read. That was a piece of crap I wrote just to get a few things off my chest and they're hailing it as a World Masterpiece?

M: Well, at least they're reading some of your work.

R: Whopptie doo! Why don't they have the students read some of my real masterpieces like The Social Contract or Discourse on Inequality?

M: I don't know, why don't they?

R: Haven't you read any of my works?

M: Sorry, after leaving earth and coming to this paradise, I figured it was best to stay away from anymore earthly influence.

R: Well yes, you've got a point there. But my point is that students aren't reading my really good literature, like the two I mentioned earlier, for a reason.

M: And what might that be?

R: It's simple, the public school systems are set up and funded(poorly) by the government. Trust me they don't want every college student reading The Social Contract or Discourse on Inequality. They'd have every supposed "highly educated" person in America trying to overthrow the current and long-standing government.

M: Ah, I see quite clearly now.

R: Do you really?

M: Yes of course, the government, while getting paid by these students to for education, is at the same time choosing very wisely what to teach it's pupils so as to make them a more ideal citizen and better property of the State.

R: Yes, that's it exactly. And did you know that the whole American public school system was heavily influenced by my teaching philosophies?

M: Really, so they'll use your educational ideas but they won't let the kids read your best pieces of work.

R: You catch on quick.

M: Don't get me wrong Rousseau, I may be known for making fun of people, but I can do more than make jokes.

R: I'm not doubting you old-timer.

M: Who you calling old timer?

R: You came here a hundred and some odd years before I did.

M: True but what's one hundred earth years in heaven.

R: Okay, so you're not that old, but you're still older than me. By the way, how did you get to leave earth in the first place?

M: I burst a blood vessel, how about you?

R: I don't know really? Natural causes I guess.

M: I died a happy man, despite my somewhat unhappy life. It was right after one of my stage performances. [getting caught up in the memory] I loved acting.

R: Why was your life unhappy?

M: Well it was a few things really. First of all, my marriage to someone half my age was going way down hill, then my beloved son died, and all the while a variety of groups of people I had poked fun at earlier, were starting to make my life a living hell.

R: Sounds horrible.

M: It was rough. I had to block out all the things that were going wrong in my life and just concentrate on the things that I loved.

R: Well, if it makes you feel any better, I started getting paranoid of some secret enemies and had to go into hiding before my sudden unexplained death.

M: No, that doesn't make me feel any better but the past is the past.

R: Oh look, it's quiz time.

M: Let's see who did their reading last night.

R: Just stop for second and look a higher education these days. Getting an education used to be a privilege

to most children in my time, these kids could care less whether or not they made it to class. And that's after it's already been paid for.

M: Half these kids in class can hardly keep their eyes open. Hey you in the front row, your not fooling anyone with that hat pulled down over your eyes, wake up!

R: Well, at least they have a teacher that's halfway decent.

M: Yeah, I like this guy. He seems very open minded.

R: Yeah, he is. Shoot you have to be when your living in their day and age. He also seems to interpret my writings almost exactly the way I intended.

M: It's