La Dispute is a prose comedy written by Pierre de Marivaux, shown for the first time on 19 October 1744 by the Theatre-Italien in the Hotel de Bourgogne.
The story involves four orphans (2 boys and 2 girls) that have been raised in isolation, from the world and from each other. An aristocrat releases four human guinea pigs into a sinister 'Garden of Eden' to cause them to consider the question of whether man or woman is more faithful.
One of Marivaux's last pieces, La Dispute was received as a huge failure. It is a funny, erotic and cruel masterpiece.
An adaptation was produced at Dublin's Peacock Theatre in early 2009.