There are a few things that make it seem very relatable and human. First off, Alceste is so obnoxiously self-righteous. He thinks he can do NO wrong and that everyone in the world is a terrible, corrupt person. He even talks about how he can “cleanse [Celimene’s] spirit in [his] love’s pure flame.” This proves even further how highly he thinks of himself. I know everyone reading this post has encountered someone like that at least once. Second, the characters gossip like there is no tomorrow. Eliante makes the remark “The conversation takes its usual turn; and all our dear friends’ ears will shortly burn.” Right after that statement, the commentary gets extremely nasty. But I won’t elaborate since someone already discussed that aspect. Lastly, Celimene is yet another person who tries to have her cake and eat it too. She acts like she wants all of the male suitors (we later find out she doesn’t) and makes no attempt to just pick one from the very beginning. She leads them on throughout the whole play up until one of the very last scenes.
Monday, February 17, 2014
The Misanthrope- The Human Condition
Henri
Bergson makes a great statement about what people find comical right from the
get-go in his piece on laughter. He says, “The first point to which attention
should be called is that the comic does not exist outside the pale of what is
strictly HUMAN.” This makes complete sense too. We’re going to want to laugh at
how other people act, not dull and boring characters. What I found interesting
about this play was how extremely relatable it was. It felt like watching a
sitcom or just observing my day to day life.
There are a few things that make it seem very relatable and human. First off, Alceste is so obnoxiously self-righteous. He thinks he can do NO wrong and that everyone in the world is a terrible, corrupt person. He even talks about how he can “cleanse [Celimene’s] spirit in [his] love’s pure flame.” This proves even further how highly he thinks of himself. I know everyone reading this post has encountered someone like that at least once. Second, the characters gossip like there is no tomorrow. Eliante makes the remark “The conversation takes its usual turn; and all our dear friends’ ears will shortly burn.” Right after that statement, the commentary gets extremely nasty. But I won’t elaborate since someone already discussed that aspect. Lastly, Celimene is yet another person who tries to have her cake and eat it too. She acts like she wants all of the male suitors (we later find out she doesn’t) and makes no attempt to just pick one from the very beginning. She leads them on throughout the whole play up until one of the very last scenes.
There are a few things that make it seem very relatable and human. First off, Alceste is so obnoxiously self-righteous. He thinks he can do NO wrong and that everyone in the world is a terrible, corrupt person. He even talks about how he can “cleanse [Celimene’s] spirit in [his] love’s pure flame.” This proves even further how highly he thinks of himself. I know everyone reading this post has encountered someone like that at least once. Second, the characters gossip like there is no tomorrow. Eliante makes the remark “The conversation takes its usual turn; and all our dear friends’ ears will shortly burn.” Right after that statement, the commentary gets extremely nasty. But I won’t elaborate since someone already discussed that aspect. Lastly, Celimene is yet another person who tries to have her cake and eat it too. She acts like she wants all of the male suitors (we later find out she doesn’t) and makes no attempt to just pick one from the very beginning. She leads them on throughout the whole play up until one of the very last scenes.
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Your post was quite good. It was concise and to the point; I like that. The one comment that I have is: I have a difficult time agreeing with you 100% on Alceste feeling that he can do no wrong. While he is incredibly self-righteous and obnoxious, he at least recognizes the inconsistency in his behavior when it comes to his love for Celimene. He knows that with his world view he should be just as disgusted with her as the rest, but he isn't.
ReplyDeleteDoes that not count for something?
In addition, when confronted by the sonneteer (I am so bad at names) to write a better sonnet, Alceste claims if he tried it would be just as bad. Alceste doesn't seem to think himself better, just that everyone else is worse (if that makes any sense).
DeleteThese commenters touch on good points and counter-examples. Also, to what extent might it be true that Alceste, though his self-righteousness, is trying to improve society for everyone? We'll approach that point in class, hopefully.
ReplyDelete