Online Essay (Isabelle R, ash.p2.t2)

Isabelle Rosenthal

Timed AP Essay: The Misanthrope

‘The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter.’ – George Meredith

From The Misanthrope, choose a scene or a character that awakens ‘thoughtful laughter’ in the reader. Write a carefully organized essay in which you show why this laughter is ‘thoughtful and how it contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.

‘Thoughtful laughter’ is a strange concept. At first glance, it seems to be an oxymoron – how can laughter, the very definition of unthinking amusement, be in any way thoughtful? However, thoughtful laughter has been used countless times historically, especially in the Enlightenment. One particularly fine example of a character that inspires thoughtful laughter is that of Oronte, the offended poet, in Moliere’s famous play The Misanthrope.

The first clue that Oronte is not as virtuous as he may seem is his love for Celimene. Throughout the play, nearly all the male characters are shown to be pining after her, but Oronte’s love is more ardent than most. Unlike Alceste, the misanthrope himself, he does not love Celimene despite her flaws, all the while aware that she is fundamentally a dishonest gossip. Rather, Oronte idealizes Celimene, and the idea of Celimene until it seems that he is in love with a goddess, not a woman. He writes poetry for her that is dripping with metaphors and hyperboles, and it seems to the reader that, if he ultimately wins Celimene’s love, she will only turn out to be a disappointment. This passion, while humorous, also provokes thought. It symbolizes the tendency of the upper class to remove themselves from the real world, and surround themselves with platitudes, and idealize one another. While Oronte’s love may be extreme, it also shows many traits that really existed in the upper class.

Oronte also demonstrates the two-faced nature and hidden meanings in everyday actions of high society. He decides to show Alceste the poetry that he wrote for Celimene, and ask his opinion of it. While this may seem an innocuous or even friendly gesture, the truth is that Alceste is widely known to be in love with Celimene. By showing him his poetry, Oronte is, in essence, challenging his rival. However, as etiquette demands, Oronte expects Alceste to give Oronte a good review of his verses, or at least veil his criticism. When Alceste challenges this by flat out saying that he hates the poetry, Oronte is shocked and offended. The scene becomes a confrontation between Oronte’s double meanings and backhanded compliments, and Alceste’s honest representation of reality – inspiring laughter, but also speaking truth about the shallow plots of the upper class.

However, The Misanthrope reaches a pinnacle of absurdity when Oronte, offended by Alceste’s words, sues him for libel and slander. Alceste – a representation of the common man in this case – stands by his opinion and is bemused by the fact that Oronte is suing him over his opinion on poetry, when he had claimed to want an honest opinion. Oronte’s court case show the reader in funny but painfully real detail exactly how vicious the upper class could be. Furthermore, court cases like this one take time away from actual governing of the ruling bodies, and shows how the upper class, and Oronte, were too self-absorbed to notice that at the end of the day, it was only a piece of poetry.

Nearly all of Moliere’s characters in The Misanthrope are farcical, but their twisted view on reality only serves to sharpen the view of the reader. Oronte, a man consumed by love for Celimene as well as for himself and his poetry, exemplifies the idea of a character who inspires thoughtful laughter in the reader, even hundreds of years after the Enlightenment Era when Moliere created him.