Meditation 11 - Polarity of Characters
When reading The Misanthrope, I could not help but realizing the polarity of the different characters. It seemed to me that two of the main characters fit into two stereotypes – they were either harsh and inappropriate or rational and insightful.
The two most obvious examples of characters from The Misanthrope that are complete opposites are Alceste and Philinte. Alceste fills the role of the brutally honest yet improper character. He passes judgment (often harshly) and scolds other characters for their faults. Examples of this can be found regarding his brutal critique of Oronte’s poem and his scolding Arsinoé for her offer to improve his rank. In both of these examples he behaves in an unappealing and offensive manner, but Alceste justifies his behavior by saying that it is more important to be brutally honest than politely deceiving. This contrasts directly with Alceste’s friend, Philinte. In the very beginning of The Misanthrope, the audience is made aware that Alceste and Philinte have very different views regarding socially acceptable and moral conduct. Unlike Alceste, Philinte believes that discretion should be used in public. He accepts the fact that humans are not perfect and therefore knows that it is tactless to scold others for human flaws. Philinte demonstrates this compassion and acceptance of faults on many occasions throughout the play – including his review of Oronte’s sonnet and his conversation with Eliante regarding Alceste’s behavior in front of the French Marshals.
Therefore, one can see that Alceste and Philinte are extremely different. Alceste fills the role of the loud, viciously honest front man. He is the title character that unforgivingly criticized everyone else. On the other hand, his good friend, Philinte, is more of a background character because he never gets terribly involved in the action of the play. Philinte is patient, understanding, and loyal; he demonstrates an understanding for discretion and politeness. In general, these two characters are polar opposites. They demonstrate very different values and personalities, yet they also seem to balance one another’s characters.
posted by Layne @ 2:16 AM
2 Comments:
I agree with everything you are saying about how the different sets of characters are contrasting. I think that all good plays, books, movies, etc. need to have this balance of contrasting characters for it to be enjoyable. The difference allows for different perspectives to be seen throughout the story and for a variety of actions to happen. If all the characters were exactly the same, or even remotely the same, there would be no conflict or plot in a play. The differences cause conflict and the need for conflict resolution and a differing opinion to the story to be brought in. It is interesting in this play to look at how Alceste and Philinte compare to Celimene and Eliante as well. It seems that the polarity between the characters spreads to them too. Celimene is similar to Alceste in being the outgoing, attention seeking one who still maintains her faults, but doesn’t mind pointing out everyone else’s; while Eliante compares to Philinte in their more proper approach to things, keeping a level head and so forth, while still maintaining an outgoing personality in a more socially proper way. I think this may be why the two couples seem to pair off so well; because they are similar in personality. It also is probably why Alceste and Celimene fall apart- because they are so similar that they could never be together.
I completely agree with your assesment of Alceste and Philinte, it's obvious that at the begining of the play moliere sets them up to be Polar Opposites. Your use of examples to show how they are the qualities you described is a perfect way to defend your argument.
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