La Prude
comic play by Voltaire
La Prude (The Prude) is a comic play by the French philosopher and author Voltaire, written in 1739. It is based on The Plain Dealer by William Wycherly, which in turn is based on Molière's The Misanthrope. It was performed once, in 1747, having been offered to the Comédie-Française but not accepted.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “La Prude” is comic play by Voltaire. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Prude, comic and play, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “comic play by Voltaire” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q24451837. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1739 and 1747.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “La Prude”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow La Prude primary sources, La Prude archive and Prude research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “La Prude”?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “La Prude” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.