The Old Debauchees. A Comedy

In Short

This brisk eighteenth-century farce follows the efforts of an aging merchant, Jourdain, to save his soul from Purgatory by forcing his daughter, Isabel, into a convent. The scheme is orchestrated by Father Martin, a corrupt priest who seeks to isolate and seduce the girl. Isabel and her lover, young Laroon, work together to expose the clergyman’s hypocrisy through a series of clever traps. It is a cynical, high-energy comedy that has endured as a biting satire on the exploitation of faith for personal power.

The Story

The plot is set in motion by Old Jourdain, a merchant who lives in terror of his own past sins. He spends his days in constant prayer, governed by the manipulations of Father Martin, who exploits Jourdain’s fear of Purgatory to demand his complete obedience. Martin’s primary goal is to secure the future of the merchant’s daughter, Isabel, by forcing her into a nunnery. Once she is cloistered, Martin believes he can manipulate her into becoming his mistress under the guise of religious devotion.

Isabel, however, is far from a passive victim. She is betrothed to young Laroon, a spirited man who shares his father’s skepticism toward the priesthood. When Father Martin maneuvers to delay the wedding, the Laroons and Isabel realize the priest is playing a dangerous game. Old Laroon, a loud and blustering hedonist, takes particular offense at the priest’s interference, while young Laroon and Isabel plot to catch Martin in a compromising situation.

The tension rises when Martin convinces the superstitious Jourdain that his daughter is destined to give birth to a future Pope. Martin directs Isabel to wait in her darkened room for a "divine spirit" to visit her—a transparent ruse to facilitate his own entry. Meanwhile, the elder Laroons attempt to intervene by staging their own deceptions, with Old Laroon even donning a friar’s habit to mock the priest’s jargon and threaten him with the terrors of the afterlife.

The climax arrives when young Laroon disguises himself and waits in Isabel’s dark chamber. When Father Martin enters, expecting a submissive girl, he is instead confronted by his own hypocrisy. The ruse is successful; the priest is caught in the act of solicitation. The elder Laroon and the other characters burst in to witness the humiliation of the cleric. As the truth is revealed, Jourdain finally sees through the priest’s machinations and abandons his plan to force his daughter into a convent. The play ends with the restoration of the intended marriage between Isabel and young Laroon, while the humiliated Martin is cast out. Beatrice, a friend of Isabel who had initially planned to join a nunnery, decides upon witnessing the priest’s downfall that she would much prefer the company of a layman, leaving the characters to celebrate their victory with a bottle of wine.

How It Unfolds

The religious trap Father Martin preys on the merchant Jourdain’s intense fear of the afterlife, successfully commanding him to sacrifice his daughter’s future to the Church. This sets up a direct conflict between the young couple’s desire for marriage and the priest’s scheme to secure his own access to Isabel.

The rising tension The elder Laroon, outraged by the priest’s interference, attempts to bully the merchant into defiance while simultaneously mocking the clergy. Meanwhile, Martin attempts to consolidate his power by feeding the merchant’s daughter elaborate, blasphemous lies about her "divine" destiny.

The trap is set Isabel and young Laroon coordinate a ruse, using the priest’s own instructions for a secret meeting as the bait. They arrange for young Laroon to lie in wait in the dark, turning the priest’s predatory visit into a public exposure.

The final confrontation The scheme reaches its peak as Father Martin reveals his true intentions in the dark, only to be seized and exposed before the gathered household. The merchant, forced to confront the reality of the priest’s corruption, breaks free of his psychological chains.

The resolution The priest is disgraced, and the merchant repents his gullibility, finally consenting to the marriage of his daughter. The play concludes with a celebratory shift in tone, emphasizing the triumph of human agency over institutional manipulation.

The People

Isabel is the play’s intellectual center. She desires marriage to young Laroon and refuses to be an instrument of her father’s religious anxieties. She ends the play having successfully navigated a dangerous power struggle through her own wit.

Father Martin is the antagonist, a man driven by greed and lust. He wants to control Jourdain’s estate and satisfy his predatory urges, using the language of piety to mask his villainy. He ends the play utterly defeated and exposed.

Old Laroon is an aging rake who values physical life over spiritual doctrine. He wants his son to marry well and possesses a deep, instinctive hatred for priests. He remains unchanged throughout, continuing his boisterous rejection of religious authority.

Jourdain is a man of significant means but weak character. He wants only to avoid the fires of Purgatory, a desire that stands in the way of his daughter’s happiness. He ends the play enlightened, though still somewhat prone to his own follies.

Young Laroon seeks the hand of Isabel and acts as the pragmatic partner in her schemes. He wants to expose the priest’s hypocrisy, and he succeeds in doing so by playing the part of the "Spirit" in the final act.

In Its Own Voice

Describing his own history of defying the clergy, Old Laroon claims:

"Of all the Actions of my Youth, there are none I reflect on with so much Pleasure as having burnt half a Dozen Nunneries, and delivered several hundred Virgins out of Captivity."

After being caught in his ruse, Father Martin expresses the true, cynical nature of his order:

"That Superstition which tears thy Bowels, feeds ours."

Upon realizing the extent of the priest’s deception, Isabel reflects on her successful defiance:

"For when a Woman sets her self about it, Nor Priest, nor Devil can make her go without it."

What It's Really About

The play is a direct examination of the intersection between personal guilt and institutional authority. It argues that religious fear is often a tool used by the powerful to extract wealth and compliance from the vulnerable. The story poses the question: how much of our suffering is the result of genuine moral failing, and how much is manufactured by those who benefit from our self-doubt? By centering the narrative on the "superstitious" merchant, the author illustrates how easily the human conscience can be turned against the self. Ultimately, the work champions the secular intelligence of the young and the honest over the manufactured piety of the established church.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy the biting satire of the Enlightenment era will find this work both familiar and shocking. It moves at a frantic, theatrical pace, shifting quickly from moments of dark, psychological torment to laugh-out-loud farce. The dialogue is sharp, and the characters are archetypes of their time—the blustering old soldier, the manipulative cleric, and the defiant heroine.

Modern readers might find the period-specific obsession with Purgatory and the specific brand of anti-clericalism slightly removed from contemporary life, but the underlying critique of manipulative authority is timeless. The play does not shy away from the darker implications of its subject matter, particularly regarding the way the priest targets the young woman. However, the energy with which Isabel and her lover dismantle the priest’s power is immensely satisfying. It is an ideal read for those who like their comedy with a sharp, cynical edge and who appreciate stories where the underdog—or in this case, the clever daughter—turns the tables on a powerful, corrupt antagonist. It feels less like a dry historical document and more like a rowdy, clever, and deeply human play that still knows how to take a well-aimed shot at hypocrisy.