Sganarelle makes life a living hell for his wife and family. He spends all their money on food and drink. As revenge for his sloppy existence, his wife, Martine, plays a trick on him. She hears three servants to a rich family say they need a doctor, and so she tells them that Sganarelle is the greatest doctor in the world. The servants insist to him that, as a famed doctor, he must accept a position with their employers (they beat him with sticks to persuade him), he accepts the lucrative position even though, as an alcoholic woodcutter, he has no idea what a doctor should know. He helps a rich man's daughter who has "lost" her voice.