Written in 1670, Moliere's Le bourgeois gentilhomme is, among other things, a comedy about social class. In this play, Moliere introduced Monsieur Jourdain, one of the most popular characters in French literature. Monsieur Jourdain is 'le bourgeois gentilhomme, ' a vain, pretentious, hopelessly naive man of the merchant class who aspires to nobility. Moliere used this character to mock a class of people for whom he had little patience, the wealthy bourgeois who attempted to buy their way into the nobility. In the course of the play, Monsieur Jourdain is duped by disdainful nobles, his servants, and even his family. Fortunately, all this deception is practiced in the cause of a happy ending.