Man, 1662). A three-act comedy. Portrait of the Painter, or Criticisms of the School for Women Criticized (French: Le Portrait du Peintre ou La Contre-critique de L’École des femmes, September 1663). Part of an ongoing literary quarrel over The School for Wives (1662) by Molière. The original play had caricatured "male-dominated exploitative marital relationships", and became a target of criticism. Criticisms ranged from accusing the playwright of impiety, to nitpicking over the perceived lack of realism in certain scenes. Molière had answered his critics with a second play, The School for Women Criticized (French: La Critique de L’École des femmes, June 1663). Boursault wrote his play in answer to this second play. In The School for Women Criticized, Molière poked fun at his critics by having their arguments expressed on stage by comical fools. While the character defending the original play, a mouthpiece for the writer, is a straight man with serious and thoughtful replies. In his Portrait, Boursault imitates the structure of Molière's play but subjects the characters to a role reversal. In other words, the critics of Molière are featured as serious and his defenders as fools. There is some question on the motivations of Boursault in getting involved in the quarrel. The character Lysidas, with which he took offense, may not have represented Boursault himself but his mentor Thomas Corneille. The play in its extant published form may differ considerably from its original staged version. The vulgar Chanson de la Coquille (Song of the Shell), which targeted Madeleine Béjart for her age and sexual history, seems to have been first used in the stage version of the Portrait and then re-used by Jean Donneau de Visé. Boursault probably included other malicious and personal attacks on Molière and his associates in the stage version, which were edited out in time for publication. The modern scholar can only guess at their nature by Molière's haste to respond. Molière answered with a third play of his own, The Versailles Impromptu (French: L'Impromptu de Versailles, October 1663), which reportedly took him only eight days to write. It went on stage two weeks (or less) after the Portrait. This play takes place in the theatrical world, featuring actors playing actors on stage. Among jests aimed at various targets, Molière mocks Boursault for his obscurity. The characters have trouble even remembering the name of someone called "Brossaut". Molière further taunts the upstart as