The Misanthrope - Alex Fung P4

Thoughtful laughter, an element that perfects the play, is found in the play, The Misanthrope. To generate such an element from the readers of the play, the author included irony, rhymes, and reflection of the legal systems of the time. Many examples are found in the play, including the actions and thoughts of the characters from the play, contributed in generating the sense of thoughtful laughter.

The author included many ironic examples and actions in the play in attempt to generate the sense of thoughtful laughter from the readers. For example, Celimene, a main character in the play that is attracted to many men, actually criticizes others with her friends. It is quite ironic to many that Celimene is thoughtful to be a nice and caring person when she bashes others on the inside. In addition, Alceste, another main character of the play that likes Celimene but urges her to change her ways to stop criticizing others, attempted to gain more love or to make Celimene like himself more by pulling a prank on Celimene. The prank consisted of a plan in making Celimene jealous by claiming that Alceste is now in love with Eliante, another female character of the play. Sadly, Celimene did not care much in the end. It is ironic to see that Alceste attempts to make Celimene like himself more when he claims himself to be in a relationship with another person. Furthermore, Arsinoe, a female character in the play that is attracted by Alceste, had a verbal battle between Celimene and herself. Throughout the scene of the verbal battle, one character continues to criticize one another with endless insults. Arsinoe claims that she is approved by many other men out in the society. However, the readers understand that she is only approved by others due to her age, and unlike Celimene, who is approved by others for her personality.

Though the author used many tricks and ideas to generate a sense of thoughtful laughter from the readers, irony contributed the most of all. The author used irony to show the selfishness of the characters from the play. For instance, Alceste tried to make Celimene to like himself more by attempting to cause jealousy from Celimene. In reality, one would be smart enough not to do so, knowing that it would only worsen the situation. With the help of irony, The Misanthrope successfully generated a sense of thoughtful laughter from the readers.