The Misanthrope Facebook Experience

The Misanthrope, being an older comedy, is harder to read than most of today’s works.  One of the many reasons for this the Archaic style of the plot, and many details are often lost students that are left looking to Sparknotes for answers.  Additionally, due to the choice of language, some of the vivaciousness of the plot is lost on most readers, rendering the text a boring or even frustrating read.  One can wonder which girl Alcèste really likes, but which will he want to settle for in the end? Many want Célimène, but keeping track of all these people can be difficult and most portrayals and descriptions of these characters are long, tedious and will lull any eager student into a nauseated slumber.  

How could this story be more easily remembered and understood? By using Facebook and other social media! Most students and other people struggling to understand or find interest in the text are readily familiar with many of these social networking sites, so the setting will not only be clear to people, but it will also draw in their attention. If the language is updated to a more modern dialect and the action in the play is translated to the formats found in these websites, the Misanthrope can be rewritten into a drama that will be more attractive to younger people.

What we hope to do is recreate all of the action of the Misanthrope while enhancing the experience by using social media. Since the action in The Misanthrope is all dialogue, this should be relatively simple.  Each of the characters in the Misanthrope will have their own Facebook page with which they will be interacting with each other. Conversations that once took place in person as the book described it will now take place using status updates in a more modern setting.  Wall posts,direct messages and phone texts will also be used as tools of communication between characters. Each character's personality will be explored using the informational page in these Facebook profiles which includes favorite music, movies, books, and sports teams. For example, analyzing Alcèste's character in the original play implies that if Alcèste were a person in today's society he would like obscure music, would not be into sports, and read lots of books and informational internet sites detailinggreat thinkers’ ideas and philosophies. Célimène's page would have many posts from friends on her wall, and her likes would include many of the popular artists and books.  Her communications to her suitors would likely be done through text messages or other discrete forms of communication.

​We believe that following this method will lead us to creating a retelling of the story that will be concise and more emotionally appealing to a newer generation that may not otherwise appreciate this gripping comedy. The humor will be clearer, the characters better fleshed out, and the implications of certain actions easier to grasp, not because it was more explicitly explained, but simply because it was translated into the language of the electronic age.

Erin Ekart
Christian Grondin