One of the primary comic themes of “The Misanthrope” revolves around the social constructs of manners and how people interact with others. Alceste, Moliere's protagonist, is exhausted and disgusted by the insincere manners and flowery etiquette that dictate daily life of the French aristocracy. He prefers honesty and frankness to conventional gentility, which is completely shocking to his kindhearted friend Philinte; “Let men behave like men; let them display their inmost hearts in everything they say; Let the heart speak, and let our sentiments not mask themselves in silly compliments.” Philinte is the model of a well-mannered French nobleman; he understands that there must be a balance between flattery and veracity and enjoys social interaction at court.
Even though Alceste is successful at isolating himself from all his associates--even to an extent, from his dear friend Philinte, I believe that he was simply a misunderstood introvert. Alceste has all the skills required of a social butterfly, he simply has no desire to act on them or with the other members of the aristocracy. I am arguing this point of view because I am incredibly introverted. However, this does not mean that I have an anxiety attack every time I leave my house or that I cannot interact properly around my peers; I simply don’t want to. Just like Alceste, I loathe the formalities of social interaction, but unlike Moliere’s leading man, I understand the importance of them.
Moliere’s green world revolves entirely around the construction of social interactions, combining the theses of Henri Bergson and Northrop Frye. Frye’s argument claims that comic situations arise within the boundaries of social constructions and Bergsons’ literature points out that all comic situations must have a human or social element to them. “The Misanthrope” shows to audiences that social interaction is necessary to any well developed person, and that social aversion is a negative characteristic in French society with Alceste’s exaggerated introversion; (I do understand that Moliere's work is often interpreted as a critique on society and two-faced salacious individuals). Introverted individuals may have been humorous to Moliere, but I have to agree with Alceste's personal preferences; “I beg you, Madam, not to press the matter; You know I have no taste for idle chatter,” we should be honest and straight to the point when interacting with others.
I find your commentary quite intriguing.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, as I sit at my desk,
Your thoughts really move me to believing,
In Alceste's likely introvertedness.
He may even have the writer's full support,
For being of the introverted sort.
The work clearly doesn't hold in esteem,
The social things, the courtly little games.
But one thing I just can't quite underline,
In thought about the social criticism:
Why would two courtly characters then find
Love? To me, this is a curious schism.
In what way does the happy ending fall,
To Phillinte and Eliante? In contrast,
Alceste, the one with his own wherewithal,
Gets nothing, thought he plays court not at all?
Katie, you bring up some interesting points here, especially Alceste as introver--that's a new critical perspective for us to consider. However, I think we should explore the idea of the green world a bit more. When, if at all, does the action move into it? Alceste, I would argue, crosses the threshold into the green world once he vows only to tell the truth to people's faces. From that point on, new "laws" of social interaction (at least for Alceste) are in effect...
ReplyDeleteBrandon, dare we ask Alceste what he thinks of your poetry? :)