L'Avarice d'Harpagon
Document Type
Panel Presentation
Keywords
Molière, greed, French
Biography
Molière, also known as Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, was born in 1622 in the city of Paris. He was a playwright and actor whose work heavily influenced the French language at the time and evidence of which can still be seen today. Molière's work mainly focused on comedies as opposed to the popular tragedies at the time.
Major
French
Advisor for this project
Eric Migernier
Abstract
In 1668, Molière’s play titled The Miser (L’Avare, in French) premiered in Paris. Molière wrote The Miser in the style of a comedy. In this way, Molière created a parody of rich noble families at the time who were too focused on their money. Within, Harpagon is shown to display major acts of avarice. Harpagon is a miser of the bourgeois society and father of two. However, his love for money greatly outweighs his love for his children. His suspicion eats him alive. Harpagon lashes out at his servants and accuses them of plotting against him and attempting to steal his money. He cannot even trust his own children to not steal from him. Through Harpagon, Molière criticizes the bourgeois society in a light-hearted way by showing his extreme avarice, suspicion, and lack of love for his family.
L'Avarice d'Harpagon
In 1668, Molière’s play titled The Miser (L’Avare, in French) premiered in Paris. Molière wrote The Miser in the style of a comedy. In this way, Molière created a parody of rich noble families at the time who were too focused on their money. Within, Harpagon is shown to display major acts of avarice. Harpagon is a miser of the bourgeois society and father of two. However, his love for money greatly outweighs his love for his children. His suspicion eats him alive. Harpagon lashes out at his servants and accuses them of plotting against him and attempting to steal his money. He cannot even trust his own children to not steal from him. Through Harpagon, Molière criticizes the bourgeois society in a light-hearted way by showing his extreme avarice, suspicion, and lack of love for his family.
