What is "turcaret"

Turcaret (or Le Financier) is a comedy by Alain-René Lesage, first produced on 14 February 1709 at the Comédie-Française in Paris. It is considered one of Lesage's most important works.

The play shows clear signs of having been written by an admirer of Molière, and has much in common with his 1664 comedy Tartuffe.

Turcaret is a ruthless, dishonest and dissolute financier. His vulgar wife is as dissolute as himself. A harebrained marquis, a knavish chevalier and a coquettish baroness, to whom Turcaret is attracted, are among the other highly comic characters.