The Misanthrope Wylie Per 1

The Misanthrope

Ashley Chang Wylie Per 1

In The Misanthrope, a comedy related to the French aristocracy by the playwright Moliere, thoughtful laughter is carefully organized to emphasize Moliere’s thoughts and ideas. Thoughtful laughter should motivate the readers to “think” with the humor created by the author. Throughout the play The Misanthrope, Moliere brilliantly balances the irony between the actions and the characters. The most significant thoughtful laughter is created by the main character Alceste and his love interest Celimene. As the story’s protagonist, Alceste is a character with irony; he contradicts himself and offends his own principles

With Alceste’s aristocracy, he is portrays as an honest but offensive person at the same time. Alceste dislikes hypocrisy and injustice, yet he fell in love with Celimene, who is dishonest and flirty. His complex, ironic characteristic contributed to awaken thoughtful laughter throughout the play The Misanthrope and emphasize the irony in the society.

The conversation between Alceste and Oronte creates humor by highlighting the irony of the characters. Just like Alceste and every other man, Oronte is also romantically attracted by Celimene. As Alceste’s rival, Oronte politely asks Alceste to read his poem and give him constructive criticism. This scene is ironic and humorous because of Alceste’s response. Even though Oronte praises Alceste’s poetic skills and tries to get a positive feedback, Alceste still insists to voice his opinion. He straightforwardly attacks Oronte’s poem with a rude attitude. With Alceste’s satirical response, Oronte feels ashamed and he couldn’t accept Alceste’s mocking criticisms. This scene shows Alceste’s reckless action that is caused by his jealousy and hatred towards Oronte.

On the other hand, Alceste’s love towards Celimene is considered as an ironic and unrealistic action as well. Alceste’s idealism of honesty is the opposite of Celimene’s phony life style. Alceste is rude and offensive when he has to deal with being honest. Unlike his close friend Philinte, he wouldn’t accept others’ flaws in a respectful way. Moliere successfully create ironic throughout the play by Alceste’s love towards Celimene, who is fake and lack of sincerity. Celimene’s lack of responsibility and uncertainty of her intention will eventually create problems.

Moliere creates thoughtful laughter by portraying the conflict of Alceste and his love interest Celimene. The conversation between Alceste and Oronte shows Alcete’s offensive, rude, and reckless attitude towards a man who is also in love with Celimene. The scene is comical and ironic; it creates thoughtful laughter and leads the story to the next stage. Moliere uses irony to emphasize the conflict in the society and relationships.