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    A Study Guide for Molière's The Misanthrope
    A Study Guide for Molière's The Misanthrope
    A Study Guide for Molière's The Misanthrope
    Ebook42 pages32 minutes

    A Study Guide for Molière's The Misanthrope

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Molière's "The Misanthrope," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Drama for Students.This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Drama for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateSep 8, 2015
    ISBN9781535838429
    A Study Guide for Molière's The Misanthrope

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      Book preview

      A Study Guide for Molière's The Misanthrope - Gale

      1

      The Misanthrope

      Molière

      1666

      Introduction

      The Misanthrope (Le Misanthrope in the original French) is one of the great masterpieces by France’s most celebrated comic dramatist. It was first performed at the Palais-Royal Theatre in Paris in 1666, featuring Molière himself in the title role and his own wife in the role of his love-interest.

      The Misanthrope is set in the fashionable social milieu of seventeenth-century Paris. Alceste, the misanthrope of the title, is disgusted by the hypocrisy, injustice, and overall corruption in human society. Alceste’s concern with the issue of justice has to do with the fact that he is embroiled in several lawsuits, the outcome of which are determined not by which party is in the right but by who has the most influence in court. Nonetheless, Alceste is in love with Célimène, a young widow with a reputation for flirtation and for surrounding herself with suitors and who is a prime example of the insincerity that Alceste despises in others. In the final act, Célimène is confronted by all of her suitors for her lack of honesty when they discover that she has promised her love to each of them while ridiculing each of the others behind his back. Finally, fed up with society and fearing the consequences of various legal battles, Alceste vows to run off and live in seclusion in the wilderness.

      The Misanthrope is concerned with themes of honesty and hypocrisy, justice and injustice, the manipulative social games people play, and the conflict between the individual and society. Critical discussion often focuses on interpretations of the character of Alceste and the question of whether the play professes a clear-cut moral lesson.

      Author Biography

      Molière, born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, was baptized in Paris, France, on January 15, 1622. His father, Jean Poquelin, was a furniture merchant who, in 1631, was appointed chief provider of furnishings for the home of King Louis XIV. Molière’s mother, Marie Cressé, died when he was ten years old, and in 1633, his father remarried. Molière received his education at the Jesuit College de Clermont, after which he studied law and was admitted to the Bar in 1641. After practicing law for six months, however, Molière informed his father, who had expected his son to inherit his court appointment, that he wished to pursue a career in the theater.

      In 1643, he joined the newly formed theater company the L’lllustre-Théâtre, soon taking the stage name of Molière. The company suffered financial troubles, however, and Molière was briefly jailed for debt in 1645. Later that year, he and others from the original troupe joined a theater

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