Misanthrope timed Essay (wylie p6)

French comedy during the mid- 1600 consisted of mostly hypocrisies of society and satirization of social behaviors. French Writer, Moliere, used thoughtful laughter in his play, Le Misanthrope, to capture the judgmental aspect of society and allow the readers and audiences to connect to the theme of the story with a comical laughter. There are several incidents in the story when a character awakens laughter and a connection to the theme.

Celimene is portrayed as a lovable young lady with a flirtatious and satirical personality. She is the character in the story that everyone pursued and adored; however, her satirical nature eventually leads to her down fall and triggering a thoughtful laughter. During the final scenes of the story, when a discreet letter written by Celimene was read by Acaste and Clintandre, all was revealed of her hypocritical feelings toward the rest of the characters. The letter disclosed that Celimene had no true feeling toward any of her suitors despite her flirtation. This twist of even initiates a laughter because her personality caused her to lose all of her pursuers, and at the same time it ties back to the theme of Le Misanthrope, the hypocrisies of social behavior. Her behavior has ultimately cost her reputation and friendships.

Celemene is the epitome of a thoughtful laughter, her actions and personality shows a horrible social behavior that is criticized by the play. Her wrong doings contributed to the theme of Le Misanthrope.

James Jin