A Two-faced Society

All the characters in Molière’s The Misanthrope, except Alceste, are very similar to how we all act in our present day society. Do most of us not put on a mask when we interact with others? Do we not at some point during the day or week, gather with our closest friends or family members and discuss or point out the flaws of others? I believe we all do and that the society in The Misanthrope, as well as our own, can be labeled “two-faced”.

The scene in The Misanthrope I believe supports my claim is act two, scene five. Celimene, Acastem and Clitandre talk about people at court and criticize them all by saying, “the man’s a most accomplished dunce”, “that tiresome ass”, and “that conceited elf”. They also tell each other that even though they dislike these people at court, they still interact with them in a polite manner. Acaste says he “stood a lifetime in the broiling sun / Before his [Cléonte] dreary monologue was done” and Celimene would “ask the time, and yawn, and yawn” during Bélise’s “painful” visits, rather than seem impolite and not interact with her in the first place.

Today, I see our two-faced society displayed, at its worst, in the workplace. Night shift workers talk bad about day shift workers, supervisors trash the employees they are going to be in charge of that day, and everyone thinks every customer is stupid. When the shift starts for those workers, however, they are joking around and talking with the very same people they were saying were idiots. This is similar to how Celimene, Acastem and Clitandre said they would act at court. I understand that being professional is a requirement in areas such as the workplace, but that does not mean that you have to actively engage in conversation with those you dislike or come back from dealing with a customer saying, “What an idiot” or “That person should never be allowed to reproduce.”

Venetian Twins: Dissecting Tonino's Angry Set of Insults

“Two-faced hypocrite, false friend, miserable bag of wind, empty dote, thick-skinned heap of bluff, lily livered lapdogs, mealy mouthed braggats, canteen humbugs, wind bags”. At the end of Act II, Tonino hurled a mouthful of his insults at Florindo and Lelio as he defended his honor and love for Beatrice. (I used the lines in the Youtube video rather than that in the printed script on pg. 60.)  As being part of the audience, I found this hilarious because of how Tonino delivered the insults rather than the actual meanings of the insults themselves. For Goldini’s intended audience in his time, they may have laughed more at the actual meanings because the audience in his time probably used those insults too. Personally, I don’t think today’s people use such insults the way Tonino did: today’s people in the U.S. mostly add in curse words now. Today, Tonino’s insults would be either laughed at or seem like a weak insult because the words he used don’t evoke much anger/passion as a taboo/curse word would. (I will admit it’s based from where you’re from, like which region or whether you live in the rural or urban areas, too.) To illustrate this, I would feel more insulted if someone called me a bi*** than if someone called me a wind bag. (I’d probably be surprised and think, “Wind bag…. Hmmmm… That’s new.”)

                Sure, Tonino can be seen angry in this scene, yet the audience is able to laugh. Why? When he entered the scene, he spouted NOT one, but multiple insults at Florindo and Lelio. This bombardment of insults not only amplifies Tonino’s anger in this scene, but it also lessens the severity of the words because he is made to look immature to the audience by losing his cool with his babbling. For example, I would be more hurt if a stranger comes up and calmly and coldly insults me once than if that person comes up and insults me by ranting crazily. I would think a ranting person is a lunatic and is immature, and his/her insults shouldn’t be taken too much to heart. However, with one insult delivered in a calm fashion, I am able to feel the impact of that one word and dwell on my guilt because I don’t know if it’s true or not. (At least that’s how I view insults.)

                Also, Tonino’s interruption of Lelio speaking made the scene comical. Lelio started with “May I say….” It’s supposed to be rhetorical yet, Tonino responded with “No, you may not say!” To further escalate the humor of this scene on the Youtube video, the insults at the end were delivered differently than in the printed script. The printed script on pg. 60 has Tonino giving his final insults before leaving with Beatrice. In the video, Tonino leaves with Beatrice and light music is played in the back ground to set the romantic lovey-dovey mood between Beatrice and Tonino. However, this music was paused twice to allow Tonino to further insult Florindo and Lelio, ruining the illusion of that romance. The contrast between the romantic mood and angry/insulting mood makes this scene seem ridiculous and, therefore, funny.(By the way, I'm not sure if this performance crew in the video made the scene that way because they thought it'd be more funny or if they used a different translation.)

                In addition to all this, Tonino uses some alliteration in his insults: “false friend, lily livered lapdogs, mealy mouthed braggats.” Alliteration is a literary device in which two or more words start with the same letters. The words can be placed right after one another or be used nearby each other. Alliteration has that repetition of similar sounds, making that phrase sound light-hearted or silly. A modern day example of alliteration in insults would be this: conniving, crazy, cruel criminal.

                In conclusion, this scene of Tonino’s anger is made comical by use of ranting, alliteration, interruption, and sudden interjections.