The Misanthrope Essay Tyler Wong P6

The Misanthrope


Nothing in life is what it seems. People greet each other in courteous manners because they are adhering to social standards. Friends, whom one “trusts”, secretly talk behind someone’s back and then lie in order to “protect” each other from the truth. Obsessed people fall hopelessly in love in a one-sided relationship and cannot unearth themselves from realizing the unrequited love. In The Misanthrope, the play-writer Moliere revealed those common hidden societal flaws through Alceste by provoking “thoughtful” laughter in the play through dramatic irony. The audience was able to see all of Alceste’s own fallacies, while he was completely oblivious to them.

By following social manner, one may not know who someone truly is. Towards the beginning of The Misanthrope, Alceste complained to Philinte about how fake people are when first impression is at hand. Not just that, one must be overly polite to them. This was demonstrated while Moliere first introduced Oronte, he was overly glorifying Alceste in order to hear his opinion of his poem. Instead of politely criticizing the poem as most people would have done, Alceste harshly told Oronte his dislikes upon the quality of it. By contrasting this with the reader’s own experiences, she would find this comical. Ironically, the truth is people are not themselves when they initially meet someone. In order to gain respect, people act respectfully. Also, in order not to hurt anyone’s feelings people usually come up with an excuse or lie to tell someone instead. This scene portrayed the opposite of what society does to show what people subconsciously want to do through Alceste’s behavior.

Friends are people who someone can trust, but betrayal is inevitable to Alceste, not only is society fake, but friends are even more fake. He claimed that friends constantly complain about each other discretely which contradicts the meaning of trust in a friendship. Philinte counteracted this accusation by showing the fact that everyone is imperfect, but Alceste remains stubborn to his points. His is ironic because Alceste argued that no one should be trusted, but he was telling Philinte all of his problems which are what friends do. Even though friends can betray each other, is it human nature to see and point out flaws. But by overseeing this slight error and moving forward, one is never lonely. The audience “laughs” internally to this due to the fact that they do the same, but are mature enough to accept and continue trusting in each other.

Through these examples it is shown how Moliere uses subtle forms of dramatic irony to create “thoughtful laughter”. Through the fake first impressions that Alceste complained to Plininte about, to the inevitable betrayal of friends, the audience as able to reflect and relate invoking the presence of thoughtful laughter.