778 Molière
his characters refer to the unnamed “Prime Minis-
ter.” Dina yearns for independence but understands,
especially later in the novel, that she also needs
protection and that she is part of a larger political
web that demands her allegiance. Dina’s decision
to remain independent costs her both financially
and emotionally because she does not have the sup-
port and protection of her immediate family. While
Dina struggles to maintain an income so she can
be independent of her well-intentioned but nev-
ertheless oppressive brother, the tailors, Ishvar and
Omprakesh Darji, are often homeless and they suc-
cumb numerous times to circumstance. Ultimately,
they pay enormous prices for attempting to move
beyond the confines of what society allows them as
Chamaars: Ishvar loses his legs and Omprakesh is
castrated, a cruel and unjust punishment for stand-
ing up for his rights. By the end of the novel, Dina
is reduced to living with her brother again, and
the tailors have been reduced, physically as well as
psychologically, to begging, and Maneck gives up
completely, swallowed by the relentless oppression
he witnesses—and lives vicariously through Dina,
Ishvar, and Omprakesh.
H. Elizabeth Smith
moLièrE The Misanthrope (1666)
The Misanthrope is a play by Jean-Baptiste Poque-
lin—better known as Molière—and was first staged
in Paris in 1666. Molière’s masterpiece is often
defined as a comedy of manners, because of its
deep social critique; but it could be also seen as a
comedy of character, because of the preeminence of
the main character based on moral issues—the Mis-
anthrope—Alceste. The reader will also find some
farcical elements, borrowed from the Italian players
of the commedia dell’arte, who at the time were
working in the same theater in Paris as Molière.
The play aims to be a critical fresco of the 17th-
century Sun King’s court, with its hypocrisy, false
appearances, and well-mannered aristocrats wholly
dedicated to attending insignificant social events.
Indeed, three main themes stand out in the play:
a critique of contemporary ethics, the troubled
relationship between the individual and society,
and the Misanthrope’s isolation. Alceste is both a
tragic and a comic character, since his statements on
society and on the human condition can be really
penetrating, while his excesses make him a comic
masque or, as his confidant Philinte tells him, a
ridiculous person, at least as compared to the rest of
the aristocratic milieu to which he belongs.
On several occasions, the play shows some auto-
biographical features. Molière often uses Alceste’s
words to express his own doubts on humankind:
The critique of the worthless poet Oronte reading
his empty verses on love, and the seclusion caused
by Alceste’s non-conformation to conventional
models, mark the isolation of the man and the intel-
lectual—incapable of negotiating his frank feelings.
Tania CollaniethicS in The Misanthrope
Molière’s Misanthrope is above all a play based on
criticism of contemporary society. Through the
words and the behavior of its cynical and choleric
hero, Alceste, readers can appreciate an ironic carica-
ture of 17th-century aristocratic and Parisian habits
and morality.
One can find two main complementary ethics
within this play: the austere ideal Alceste pursues
and the frivolous customs of the Sun King’s court.
Both are analyzed with humor and sharpness, with a
special focus on their bad sides. Of course, since The
Misanthrope is meant to be a comedy, exaggerations
in both ideals occupy a larger space within the play
than “normal.”
In this perspective, Alceste is the excessive
champion of sobriety and sincerity: He rallys against
hypocrisy and empty accommodations of society’s
rituals, such as making “vows and promises” (4), or
speaking with a “tone sweet and gentle as a maid’s”
(4). And from the beginning of the play, he stands
up against the manners of his time: “No, all such
modern manners I despise—Sheer affectation, sir,
and downright lies” (4). Nonetheless, among all the
Parisian salons’ bows and vows, Alceste’s morality is
described with a tone of admiration by the author:
his sincerity and his immunity to the blandishments
of power make Alceste a modern hero. Unfortu-
nately for him, all these virtues are only a source