Molière's foreword to the text states that the play is only a sketch, a mere impromptu commissioned for one of the Royal Entertainments.

A bourgeois whose attention span is limited to his own egoistic ambitions, Sganarelle is blind to his daughter's love life.

They feel it is more important to follow the rules laid by famous physicians such as Hippocrates than to save the patient.

Lisette and Lucinde decide that they will play a trick on Sganarelle to show him the errors of his ways.

At the end of the first scene, we have Lucinde pretending to be ill, forcing Sganarelle to call for doctors.

As an act of desperation, Sganarelle visits a street charlatan to purchase Orviétan, a legendary remedy that can cure any illness, but the audience never learns if he gives this to Lucinde.

The two lovers leave to get married and Sganarelle throws a party to celebrate Lucinde's recovery.

Sgaranelle signs a marriage contract which he believes is fake that gives the couple a dowry of 20,000 écus.