Misantrhope

Laughter can be easily related to a sitcom on TV or a comical joke, but Moliere displays a different side of comedy as he utilizes the play that evokes thoughtful laughter. In Moliere’s play, The Misanthrope, straightforward characters such as Alceste criticizes the follies in his society and the catalyst for their eventual fall, but ironically the flaws that Alceste accuses in others brings about his own downfall. The overall message through irony shows how strong one can find the shortcoming of others, but weak in understanding the frailty within oneself.
The scene automatically begins to set the stage for irony with Alceste as he complains about society’s weak code of ethics. He rants that instead of being honest and direct with each other’s feelings, human beings tend to hide their true opinions and deceive others using euphemisms to cover their lies. Alceste demonstrates his beliefs as Orante enters eager to impress Alceste with poems and hopes of establishing a friendship. Alceste, proving true to his words directly tells Orante of his lack of talent in the field of poetry, sending Orante away in anger. Alceste may feel pride at first for his honest criticism in handling the situation, but such honesty backfires as Orante soon sends Alceste into court and eventually isolation. Alceste tried to prove the absurdity within society, but barely realizes his own consequences and follies of being a human being himself. He is quick to see the mortality of others and places himself at a higher level, which blinds him to the numerous mistakes he easily makes as well.
The plot becomes even more ironic with the introduction of Celimene as thoughtful laughter continues to be evoked in the reader. Since Alceste’s first syllables in the story, a sense of enmity toward the world is understood, which accounts for the play’s title, The Misanthrope. Yet, Alceste’s status is questioned as he is madly in love with the beautiful Celimene. He goes into tirades about the deceitfulness and vain nature of human beings, though Celimene possess every aspect of humanity that Alceste scorns. Despite Celimene’s obvious flaws, he continues to pine for her, and shows the misanthrope’s weaknesses in a direction that is humorous and tragic as Alceste comes away with more trouble in his life than the perfection he claims he possesses.
Through the set up of the plot, Moliere displays his subtle humor in Alceste as the man who despises humanity, eventually meets his downfall. Yet the humor shows an important message that flaws are apparent, but what must not be forgotten are the mistakes each individual can create. Alceste places himself in a higher echelon than his peers, which backfires and shows that he is the biggest fool of all.
-ryan ng