Misanthrope Essay

Michael De la Torre

Period 4

In The Misanthrope, Moliere uses satire to convey the idea of thoughtful laughter. The play is about the French court and how their problems are so unrelated to the problems of the day. This is best shown in Oronte’s reactions to Alceste’s comments on his strengths and weaknesses.

In Act I scene ii, Alceste is approached by Oronte who is a self-described fan of Alceste. Oronte describes Alceste’s positive traits such as his “honest heart”. After the flattery, Oronte confesses his desire to become friends. This leads to a heated dialog about what a true friend is and how it should come about. Oronte, while surprised and slightly annoyed by Alceste’s response, agrees to sow the seeds of friendship. This is an example of how an honest interpretation of friendship can create such an issue by going against the social norms. This is also a great example of how the courts problems could simply be defined as one person not being friendly enough, much like school children fighting over who is “best friends” with Alceste. If you compare that problem with that of the common people of France, which were barely able to feed themselves, Oronte looks like a fool.

Another great example of how thoughtful laughter is shown in this play is the situation where Oronte asks Alceste to critic his poem. Alceste, knowing that Oronte will not enjoy his honest opinion, attempts to persuade Oronte against his decision. After that fails Alceste reads his poem and is completely honest in his response. This infuriates Oronte. Although Alceste tells Oronte that his poem is poorly written he does complement him on his work at court, which should be the more important job. This exchange between Alceste and Oronte again shows how childish their issues are with one another. While Alceste praises Oronte for his ability to work with the court an honest opinion of the poem causes a split in their friendship which would eventually lead to Oronte’s lawsuit.

Throughout The Misanthrope, thoughtful laughter is caused by the satirical writing of Monliere. He sets a story where the leaders of a nation care more about how the other members of a court feel about their creative writing ability over their ability to govern and protect their people. During the writing of this play France was in dire need of help and many people were starving yet this play is written in a bubble that showed the unbelievable pettiness of the French court.