The Misanthrope Essay. Asher p.3

Taci Chin-Robinson

The Misanthrope Essay

In The Misanthrope, by Moliere, French high society is introduced in a play that balances a playful and light plot and writing scheme with an undertone that still manages to criticize that very society. The play revolves around Alcest, the misanthrope who constantly airs his distain for the society in which he lives. Contrasting Alcest’s cynicism is his love for Celimene, a coquette, who to the very core reflects the society which Alcest distains. The buildup of the plot leads to a powerful scene, but because of the light way Moliere wrote the plot and used fanciful rhyming, the very climax of the play manages to evoke thoughtful laughter weakening the excitement for the actual scene and causing the reader to reflect upon a larger picture.

What drives the thoughtful laughter of The Misanthrope is its context. The play was introduced to a society that, unlike the one the play portrays, struggled with immense poverty. The play revolves around an immature love story, which involves Alcest trying to woo Celimene. The lofty lifestyle which members of their society are gifted is spent on trivial pursuits such as petty lawsuits, and remedial poetry writing. Along with the plot, the rhyme scheme is also used in order to queue the reader that the play is meant to be light, hinting at a deeper meaning. The deeper the plot delves into the characters plights, the more thoughtful laughter is evoked. This is because unlike the problems of the actual society, the characters’ problems manage to be trivial in comparison.

The moment of the play that evokes the most thoughtful laughter is the climax. The point in the play that is meant to be the most serious moment does this because the entire conflict is trivial in context. When Celimene’s mocking letters are revealed to her many suitors, including Alcest, each man besides Alcest revoke their love for her. They do so because Celimene managed to attack their public image. Unlike worrying about growing hungry, such as those French citizens who lived outside of high society, the characters of the play constantly worry about their public image. Lawsuits are a common appearance in the play, whenever there is a potentially libelous statement made. The comical revelation that the most important conflict of the play revolves around rejected love and defamation of public image evokes thoughtful laughter, because the audience must take into account all the struggles of those outside the high society.

Solitarily, The Misanthrope, manages to tell a story of a cynical protagonist who is doomed for heartache when he falls in love with a coquette. However, when the context of the play is introduced the play is transcended to a nimble yet critical work that portrays a larger struggle.