Although the records of French playwright Moliere's early works are

Although the records of French playwright Moliere's early works are incomplete, we know that as a young man Moliere worked with a traveling theater, La Troupe de Moliere, from 1645 to 1658. Records from the time show that the troupe's extensive repertoire included only three plays written by Moliere himself: The Bungler, The Flying Doctor, and The Doctor in Love. Of these, the last seems likely to have been the first to have been truly successful—and most likely the one that made Moliere famous as a playwright, since the king of France became their patron after the troupe performed it for him upon their arrival in Paris.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?


The structure of the sentence is Premise+Missing Premise+Conclusion.

The conclusion is: Last play of Moliere became famous after the group performed the play in front of the king and after the king became their patron.

So we need to find an option that will strengthen this conclusion. In this process we can use the negation technique to arrive at the answer. If we negate the option the conclusion should not hold.


A. Any play performed by Moliere's theater troupe had to have been written by Moliere.
After negation: Any play performed by Moliere's theater troupe need not be written by Moliere.
It does not affect the conclusion so it is not the answer.

B. The fact that Moliere worked with a theater troupe did not necessarily mean that he intended to become a playwright.
After negation: The fact that Moliere worked with a theater troupe did necessarily mean that he intended to become a playwright.
It does not affect the conclusion so it is not the answer.

C. Most traveling theater troupes in seventeenth-century France were successful.
After negation: Most traveling theater troupes in seventeenth-century France were not successful.
It does not affect the conclusion so it is not the answer.


D. Most of the members of Moliere's theater troupe were playwrights themselves.
After negation: Most of the members of Moliere's theater troupe were not playwrights themselves.
It does not affect the conclusion so it is not the answer.


E. Pleasing the king of France was essential to establish Moliere's success as a playwright.
After negation: Pleasing the king of France was not essential to establish Moliere's success as a playwright.
Now if pleasing the king was not essential then Moliere would have become famous earlier.
So after negation the conclusion does not hold, so E is the correct choice.