Essay: The Misanthrope

In the second book, the central character Alceste is in love with a woman who has all the qualities he hates. The woman, namely Celimene fools around with his endurance, takes away all of his independence while adding to her own etc. In opposition to Alceste is a character by name of Philinte, who is a mere slave of the society as he follows each tradition and custom of the society only because he believes that it is wise to make the most out of whatever is placed before one and that one should accept the world as it is. These two characters are exact opposites of each other, one being rather cynical about how people live their lives full of hypocrisy while the other believes that being nice to people is all that matters even if you have to fake it.

In both of the books we find one common factor, people being materialistic, with only their worldly belongings that matter to the society. In the first book we see that the upper class uses those belonging to the lower class in order to get what they want. This is a factor that is as yet present in our society, where the higher authorities make use of those lower than them to attain their desires and requirements. This was a prevalent problem back in 17th century France and is a problem in our current society as well. But here we must note that it was the sacrifices and the efforts of Figaro that saved the count and created harmony amongst everyone in the society.