Moliere’s story The Misanthrope is a classic piece, originally, French literature. Its dramatizations being translated to English have earned it the title of “masterpiece.” In the story, a man by the name of Alceste falls for young lady by the name of Celimene. The fact that Alceste falls for Celimene proves to be an ironic problem for both parties because Alceste is blinded by love and Celimene is blinded by lust, ultimately ending in their mutual loneliness.
Alceste is a aggressive person who is only interested in knowing sincere people and being sincere himself. Alceste’s desire to have only sincere encounters with people can be seen when he says, “I’d have them be sincere. And never part from any word that isn’t from the heart” (Moliere 17). Alceste will have nothing to do with “fake” people. Even his good companion, Philinte, disgusts him given that Philiente is a “flatterer.” Alceste clearly displays his disgust when he says to Philinte, “My God, you ought to die of self-disgust” (Moliere 16). Here, Alceste is rebuking Philinte because Philinte acts very excited to see someone even to the point of “hugging them to death” and yelling for joy until he is out of breath only to forget the person’s name as soon as Alceste asks him what it is.
As the reader can see above, Alceste is so bent on being sincere and surrounding himself with sincere people. Therefore, the irony of Alceste’s love life will come as a shock. At some point in the story we are shown that Alceste has gained quite the interest in a woman named Celimene. Celimene is a woman of remarkable beauty. In the story the reader sees that Celimene professes her love for Alceste when she says, “You know you have my love. Will that not do?” (Moliere 52). Instead of keeping her beauty to herself, she leaves herself open to any of the men in town, and Alceste does not like that fact at all. The reader can see Alceste’s frustration when Celimene says, “You’re jealous of the whole world, Sir.” Then Alceste responds with, “That’s true, since the whole world is well-received by you.” This statement by Alceste shows everyone very clearly how he feels towards Celimene.
Another instance in which she is exhibiting promiscuous behavior towards other men is when she writes them letters. These letters are not to inform these men of important details and are not business-like in their tone. They are quite flirtatious and seem to portray that Celimene is seeking comfort or is confiding in these men that she is writing to. In One letter particularly, Celimene professes her longing for Oronte’s company and her being weary of Alceste. Her letter reads, “I simply cannot be bothered to listen to him (Alceste), and his prose wearies me quite as much as his poetry. Be assured that I am not always so well-entertained as you suppose; that I long for your (Oronnte’s) company, more than I dare to say, at all these entertainments to which people drag me; and that the presence of those one loves is the true and perfect seasoning to all ones pleasures” (Moliere 143). Here the reader can see that Celimene is being quite the “flirt” as well as confiding in Oronte by talking poorly of Alceste.
As stated in the paragraph above, Alceste’s affection for Celimene is an ironic surprise. The reader can recall how Alceste is only interested in sincere company and in being sincere himself. Therefore, why would someone like Alceste be so interested in someone like Celimene? It appears that Alceste desires to have a serious relationship while Celimene desires to have no relationship at all. It also appears that Celimene views love as a loose term because she uses it with no obligation. Therefore, why is Alceste so obsessed with such an unhealthy person, especially one that is quite insincere as he would say? It appears that Alceste’s reasoning for still wanting to keep Celimene comes partly from his lust for her, but mostly because of his love for her. The reader can see that Alceste is quite “crazy” about Celimene’s physical attributes when they read, “That woman knows the art of pleasing me” (Moliere 28) and “Her charm outwits her faults” (Moliere 28). The reader can then see that he truly loves her because he is willing to overlook her flaws, proclaiming, “How should I cease to love you, even now? Though mind and will were passionately bent on hating you, my heart would not consent.” His willingness to overlook and forgive all of Celimene’s flaws is also demonstrated when he says, “Woman, I am willing to forget your shame, and clothe your treacheries in a sweeter name. I’ll call them youthful errors, instead of crimes, and lay the blame on these corrupting times” (Moliere 149). Even after all this, Celimene chooses to deny Alceste, proving that her lust is greater than her so called “love.” As stated above, Celimene wrote many letters to various men and all of these men thought that they were Celimene’s favorite. When news reached all of them that she had treated them essentially the same way that she treated Alceste, they all left her completely, and Alceste, having chased a young wild woman, ended up with a broken heart and gave up on people.
In the end, the reader can see that both Alceste and Celimene were left with no one to love. Alceste’s own love led him to be alone because he allowed himself to chase after a woman who “ran with the wind.” Celimene ended up alone simply because not many people are willing to pursue a lying and promiscuous woman. Therefore, do not be like Alceste or Celimene and “play yourself.”
Works Cited
Molière , and Richard tr. Wilbur. The Misanthrope and Tartuffe: Translated into English Verse by Richard Wilbur. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1965.
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