The Imaginary Invalid, The Hypochondriac, or The Would-Be Invalid (French title Le Malade imaginaire, [lə malad imaʒinɛːʁ]) is a three-act comédie-ballet by the French playwright Molière with dance sequences and musical interludes (H.495, H.495 a, H.495 b) by Marc-Antoine Charpentier.

It premiered on 10 February 1673 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris[1] and was originally choreographed by Pierre Beauchamp.

[2] Molière had fallen out with the powerful court composer Jean-Baptiste Lully, with whom he had pioneered the comédie-ballet form a decade earlier, and had opted for the collaboration with Charpentier.

Angelique is ready to talk to him, but Argan must leave the room for a short while (presumably the result of an "injection" [i.e., enema] he's just had).

We quickly find out that she has been talking almost non-stop about the qualities of a young man named Cléante since she met him at a play six days ago.

This is amazing gall for a servant, and Argan becomes so incensed that he chases Toinette around the room threatening to kill her.

Once his new wife has calmed him, Argan asks if she has contacted a notary; he intends to change his will to include (and heavily favour) Béline.

The notary warns Argan that he can't leave his wife anything, but instructs him on several devious and underhanded methods whereby Béline could get all the money.

When Angelique comes in, she is shocked to find Cléante there, but manages to cover her reaction.

Then Argan invites Cléante to stay as a guest as Angelique is introduced to her fiancé, Thomas Diafoirus.

What Mr. Diafoirus is most happy about in his son, though, is that he blindly adheres to the ancient medical beliefs and refuses to believe the new modern ideas like "circulation of the blood."

He adds that with ordinary people he is less accountable to anybody and, as long as procedure is followed, there is no need to worry so much about the results; the rich are much more difficult since they actually seem to expect to be cured.

Cléante gives her a scroll of music with no words and tells everyone that it is a short piece from an improvised opera.

She answers him in the same form, telling him that she really loves him and despises the man her father wants her to marry.

On her way out, Béline stops to tell Argan that she saw Angelique talking with a young man who ran away as soon as they were spotted.

After much coaxing and Louison faking her own death, she tells him that the man claiming to be Angelique's music teacher came to her window and told her over and over how he loved her.

At the mention of his daughter's name, Argan flies into a rage and Beralde calms him by telling him about a dance troupe that has come to amuse him.

Now that they have both enjoyed the interlude, Beralde wants to have a chat with his brother, but Argan insists he must take a short walk first (he's had another "injection").

Now that Argan has returned, Beralde first asks his brother why he would want to send his daughter to a convent.

Beralde points out that sending them to a convent was Béline's idea and suggests that she might want the children out of the way for her own reasons, but Argan gets angry and leaps to her defense.

Beralde asks Argan not to take the remedy and to put it off until tomorrow, but this makes Fleurant very angry and he storms off to tell Dr. Purgon about this interference.

Just then Mr. Purgon enters in a furious temper, having been told that his cure was sent back, and rages at Argan.

Left with Beralde again, Argan cries and says that he can already feel his system shutting down, just as Mr. Purgon had told him.

Argan begins to get angry again, but Toinette steps in and says she has a solution to prove to Beralde how much Béline loves her husband.

She calls him many horrible names, then asks Toinette to help her cover up his death until she can get his money.

An hour-long version adapted by Richard MacDonald was broadcast on the NBC radio series Great Plays on 15 December 1940.

In 1998, the L.A. Theatre Works recorded and released a production (ISBN 978-1-58081-360-0) featuring an adaptation by Beth Miles (who also directed the production) based on the John Wood translation (without the tragic twist ending; see above) and performed by The Actors' Gang.

There is also a full, dramatized version (with music), directed by Yuri Rasovsky, included in Seven Classic Plays, an audiobook produced by Blackstone Audio.