'Moliere the Misanthrope\r'

'The misanthropist Moliere’s add The Misanthrope is a harlequinade that represents amicable satire, satirizing the conventions of the society which Moliere lived in and observed. Perhaps the character of Alceste best demonstrates the elements of japery and calamity that co-exist in Moliere’s play. Alceste, later all(prenominal), realizes his greedy nature makes him a amusing figure. In fact, humankind’s tragedy as expressed by Moliere is that it cannot accept how wary, hypocritical, and ironic most of its actions and views argon.Because of this, Moliere’s play is frequently more comedy than tragedy. Alceste represents an â€Å"everyman” of his social milieu and culture in Moliere’s perception. He would like to be average besides knows he lives in a social system that is dish iodinest. Alceste chastises Philinte because of his hypocritical expression toward strangers, who he hugs and professes great love for but then reverses h is position the minute they are gone. As Alceste tells him, â€Å"Once the man’s back is turned, you cease to love him, / And tell with absolute indifference of him! By God, I say it’s base and shocking / To falsify the heart’s affections thereof; / If I caught myself behaving in much(prenominal) a way, / I’d hang myself for shame, without control” (Moliere 17). While the above treatment of one’s fellow man whitethorn seem tragic, Moliere seems to be suggesting in a cardous way that all man are often guilty of such behavior. In fact, it is Alceste’s failures to recognize his give foibles that makes him so comical and his reaction to others hypocritical. Alceste is angry and humorless with others like Oronte, who writes a numbers about his beloved Celimene.He fails to realize his green-eyed monster makes him just as guilty of treating others ill as does Philinte’s hypocrisy. He is a jealous lover. He is a jealous fr iend. And he is hard on all those around him but himself. Moliere is maintaining this lack of self-perception may be man’s tragedy but from it springs much of the humor and comedy in life. We see this humor when Alceste maintains he would lounge about rid of all those who wooed Celimene were he his beloved, â€Å"Were I this lady, I would soon get rid / Of lovers who approved of all I did, / And by their slack indulgence and applause / Endorsed my follies and excused my flaws” (Moliere 68).In essence, Alceste endorses his own follies and excuses his own flaws. In conclusion, though there are decidedly tragic elements that co-exist with the satire and comedy in Moliere’s The Misanthrope, overall the play is much more of a humorous and funny comedy than it is tragic. Though lack of taste and self-perception may be a tragic condition of humankind, Moliere sees much more humor and comedy stemming from it.Work Cited Moliere, Jean Baptiste. The Misanthrope and Tart uffe. refreshed York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1965.\r\n'