7.46 Molière — Le Misanthrope, Act I — Epoché
What you will be able to do Read the whole first act of Molière 's Le Misanthrope , a comedy in verse. Follow the alexandrine, the twelve-syllable line of French classical theatre, and its rhymes in pairs. Understand the debate at the heart of the play: complete sincerity against the polite fictions that make social life possible. Recognise the comedy of the sonnet scene, where a man who demands sincerity is asked for his opinion. Sentences from this text, before the notes. Read the French aloud; all of them come back below. French English Et qu’un si grand courroux contre les mœurs du temps And that so great a wrath against the ways of the age Parlez-moi, je vous prie, avec sincérité. Speak to me, I beg you, with sincerity. Tous les hommes me sont à tel point odieux, All men are hateful to me to such a degree, Et puisque la franchise a pour vous tant d’appas, And since frankness has so many charms for you, Que, pour avoir vos biens, on dresse un artifice, That, to get your property, someone lays a trap, Qui je veux ? La raison, mon bon droit, l’équité. Whom do I want? Reason, my good right, fairness. Prerequisites : 7.45 — this reading follows 7.45 Reading . The figures of speech of 5.24 Vocabulary , the literary forms of 5.28 Vocabulary and the specialist terms of 5.23 Vocabulary , especially l'alexandrin , la tirade and l'aparté , will help. About this text Molière , the stage name of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (1622–1673), was an actor, the head of a troupe and the greatest comic playwright in French. Le Misanthrope was first performed in Paris in 1666. It is a comedy in five acts, written in alexandrines, and has almost no plot: Alceste, a man who hates the hypocrisy of society, loves Célimène , a witty young widow who enjoys society and its gossip, and the play shows him unable either to change her or to leave her. This lesson gives the whole of the first act, about 4,000 words counting the names of the speakers. In the first scene Alceste quarrels with his friend Philinte about sincerity; in the second, a courtier, Oronte, asks for Alceste's frank opinion of his sonnet, and receives it; in the third, Alceste refuses to listen to Philinte. Each line of verse is printed on its own. The text is that of the edition by Charles Louandre published in Paris by Charpentier in 1910, as transcribed in French Wikisource; it keeps a few old spellings such as monnoie , paroître and treuve . Reading Molière 's verse The alexandrine. Each line has twelve syllables, usually with a pause after the sixth: Je veux qu'on soit sincère, / et qu'en homme d'honneur . A final e before a consonant is counted and pronounced, lightly; before a vowel or a mute h it disappears ( genre humain has three syllables), and at the end of the line it is not counted. Lines rhyme in pairs, and a short exchange often shares one alexandrine between two speakers. Two philosophies. Alceste wants everyone to say what they think: Je veux qu'on soit sincère . Philinte answers that the world will not change and that a reasonable man takes people as they are: Je prends tout doucement les hommes comme ils sont. Molière gives both of them good arguments, and the audience is never told which is right. The comic contradiction. Alceste condemns the age for its flattery and its coquetry, and loves Célimène , the most coquettish woman in Paris. He knows it: la raison n'est pas ce qui règle l'amour . The man who demands complete honesty from others is not quite honest with himself. The sonnet scene. Oronte reads a precious little poem, Philinte praises every line, and Alceste mutters asides. Asked for his opinion, he first pretends to repeat advice he gave to someone else, three times answering Je ne dis pas cela , before saying plainly that the sonnet is good only for the drawer, bon à mettre au cabinet (a cabinet was a piece of furniture for keeping papers; some readers also hear the privy). He prefers an old popular song, and he is right about the poem. He has also made an enemy, as Philinte points out. Reading it a second time, part by part The quarrel. Alceste reproaches Philinte for embracing a man whose name he hardly knew. Sincerity. Alceste wants the heart to speak in every word; Philinte answers that some truths are better left unsaid. Would Alceste tell old Émilie that her make-up is ridiculous? Yes. The lawsuit. Alceste has a lawsuit against a scoundrel who is admired everywhere; he refuses to visit the judges, as was the custom, and would almost like to lose to prove the world's injustice. Célimène . Philinte asks how Alceste can love a coquette when the sincere Éliante and the prudish Arsinoé would welcome him. Alceste admits his weakness. Oronte. A courtier overwhelms Alceste with offers of friendship and reads him a sonnet called L'Espoir . The verdict. Philinte praises; Alceste, after three evasions, condemns the poem and sings an old song instead. Oronte leaves offended. The end of the act. Alceste will not let Philinte speak; Philinte will not leave him. Full translation An English translation of the whole text, made for this course and kept close to the original. The numbers are the paragraph numbers of the original text, so you can move between the two. The Misanthrope ACT I Scene One Philinte, Alceste. Philinte What is it, then? What is the matter with you? Alceste, seated. Leave me alone, I beg you. Philinte But still, tell me, what strange whim... Alceste Leave me alone, I tell you, and go and hide yourself. Philinte But at least one listens to people without getting angry. Alceste I want to get angry, and I do not want to listen. Philinte In your sudden fits of gloom I cannot understand you; And, since we are friends after all, I am the very first... Alceste, getting up abruptly. I, your friend? Strike that from your records. Until now I have professed to be one; But after what I have just seen appear in you, I tell you plainly that I am one no longer, And I want no place in corrupt hearts. Philinte So I am very guil