Society: The Misanthrope

            Society. When the term society comes into my mind, the first thought that comes to mind is people. And I think others will think of the same thing too. However, according to Merriam-Webster, a society is defined as people in general thought of as living together in organized communities with shared laws, traditions, and values. So being in a society is supposed to be a good thing. It can make you feel like you belong to something and not just a loner. After reading The Misanthrope, my understanding of a society has certainly expanded. I saw that being in a society could make you change. With one group of a society you behave one way but when you are with a different group, you behave the complete opposite. So when I think of the term society, I now think of the term hypocrisy.

            Hypocrisy is certainly seen throughout The Misanthrope very much. Let us take Celimene into consideration. She is a fashionable young woman who says she loves Alceste but yet she flirts with several other men pursuing her at the same time. She is intelligent and quick-witted. She also enjoys gossiping about others behind their back in her social circle. Most of the other characters in the play use flattery and deceit to make their way into the society they want to fit in. 

            So after having read The Misanthrope, I have decided to come up with a different definition of what I think a society is. I think of it as a group of people that try to influence others to live by their standards for one reason or another. A society is really just a general agreement between the majority of a population with the agreement including what is right, wrong, normal, etc.

The Misanthrope - Hypocrisy

Hello, world of hypocrisy! The first idea that struck my mind was the amount of hypocrisy demonstrated in this play! It just seems like every character in the play was a hypocrite, one way or another.

We have Oronte, who was so eager to befriend Alceste, spoke nice words to Alceste and asked Alceste for opinions regarding his sonnet. But right after Alceste critiqued on his sonnet, he turned his back on Alceste and filed a lawsuit against Alceste to seek for revenge.

We also have Arsinoe, who claimed that she stood side with Celimene when other people talked about Celimene’s flirtatious behavior but she revealed Celimene’s love letter to Oronte in attempt to destroy Alceste and Celimene’s relationship.

Another very obvious character who was a hypocrite was Celimene. She turned her house/salon into a gossip shack. She was young, outgoing, affectionate, and sociable; she had all the personalities required to be under the spotlight and the center of attention which attracted a lot of admirers. She flirted with all her suitors and spoke kind words to them. However, she lied to Alceste that he was her one true love. She was like the ‘mean girl’ who pretended to be nice in front of everybody but spoke nastily about them behind their backs.

While reading through the play, I thought that Alceste was the just and noble one who separated himself from the hypocritical society. He even hated the human race for their two-faced behavior ("Some men I hate for being rogues; the others/ I hate because they treat the rogues like brothers" ).But wait… He claimed that he hated people for their insincerity but he still professed his love to Celimene when he knew about her actual personalities. He was condemning and insulting people for being ‘fake’ but calling his own hypocritical behavior ‘love’. What’s worse, he even asked Celimene to become a hypocrite by telling her to "Pretend, pretend, that you are just and true,/And I shall make myself believe in you".

                Well, while the ending of the play seemed to oppose the hypocrites: Alceste was in isolation, Celimene was abandoned by her suitors; Philinte and Eliante had a happy ending. I was a little confused at first because all this while I thought that the entire play was opposing hypocrisy by placing Alceste as the protagonist. But now to me the ending just suggested that a little hypocrisy is acceptable in the society. Philinte disliked Oronte’s sonnet but he did not throw direct insult at Oronte. Real world needs a little white lies and flatteries to live in.