Well, no one wants to be considered a misanthrope except the misanthrope. And, of course, there are such among us, people who just hate people. Hard for people-lovers to understand. Two sides to the human coin: Alceste, the misanthrope, and Philinte, the socially astute gentleman of the court. They are two characters in Molière’s play The Misanthrope, and early on in the play they address a problem we still face: Do we tell the truth and stand for some principle and in the process offend someone maybe even publicly, or do we express esteem for everyone, even for those with obvious vice in hopes that we offend no one?
Alceste argues thus: “Esteeming everyone, you esteem nothing.”
Philinte asks: “Would it be suitable to tell to people everything that you really think about them?”
Get the idea? Philinte thinks “utter frankness would be ridiculous and out of place” and “In society you have to express the usual formulas of polite behavior.” In contrast, Alceste says, “No, I can’t stand that… unworthy fashion which you society people now affect.” Alceste doesn’t like “lip service,” given by people who spread their arms for “insincere embraces, overflowing with useless courtesies, trying to win a war of compliments, treating alike the gentleman and the fool.”
How do we balance truth and fawning compliment? Most of us would recognize the sycophant as a person without much substance. Most of us would recognize insincere praise. Yet, most of us will allow such superficiality as social convention. Most of us would say there is some boundary that separates truth and frankness. Philinte asks Alceste if he would “tell old Emilie it’s time to lay aside her claims to beauty, say her enameled face is really an outrage,” or tell “Dorilas that he’s a bore, that he has deafened every ear at court with his nobility and gallant deeds.”
Don’t we all run into this conflict between truth and social decorum with regard to our values and those of people who see the world differently? Do we choose frankness to the point of being blunt? Philinte tells Alceste that his obsession with frankness “amuses people...and your high fury against current customs makes you ridiculous in the eyes of many.”
Are you Philinte or Alceste? Do you lie along a sliding scale between the two? What’s your stance? Or, have you no stance? Willing to accept anything just to fit in? Are you convinced as Philinte is that “the world won’t change for anything you do”?
Think of the consequences when you are neither Philinte or Alceste, when you are esteemed by a Philinte out of social courtesy or told a truth about yourself by a blunt Alceste. Which would you prefer? Esteem, even if undeserved? Deserved truth, even if spoken bluntly? Observe yourself. Observe others. Are we characters in a play by Molière?
Alceste argues thus: “Esteeming everyone, you esteem nothing.”
Philinte asks: “Would it be suitable to tell to people everything that you really think about them?”
Get the idea? Philinte thinks “utter frankness would be ridiculous and out of place” and “In society you have to express the usual formulas of polite behavior.” In contrast, Alceste says, “No, I can’t stand that… unworthy fashion which you society people now affect.” Alceste doesn’t like “lip service,” given by people who spread their arms for “insincere embraces, overflowing with useless courtesies, trying to win a war of compliments, treating alike the gentleman and the fool.”
How do we balance truth and fawning compliment? Most of us would recognize the sycophant as a person without much substance. Most of us would recognize insincere praise. Yet, most of us will allow such superficiality as social convention. Most of us would say there is some boundary that separates truth and frankness. Philinte asks Alceste if he would “tell old Emilie it’s time to lay aside her claims to beauty, say her enameled face is really an outrage,” or tell “Dorilas that he’s a bore, that he has deafened every ear at court with his nobility and gallant deeds.”
Don’t we all run into this conflict between truth and social decorum with regard to our values and those of people who see the world differently? Do we choose frankness to the point of being blunt? Philinte tells Alceste that his obsession with frankness “amuses people...and your high fury against current customs makes you ridiculous in the eyes of many.”
Are you Philinte or Alceste? Do you lie along a sliding scale between the two? What’s your stance? Or, have you no stance? Willing to accept anything just to fit in? Are you convinced as Philinte is that “the world won’t change for anything you do”?
Think of the consequences when you are neither Philinte or Alceste, when you are esteemed by a Philinte out of social courtesy or told a truth about yourself by a blunt Alceste. Which would you prefer? Esteem, even if undeserved? Deserved truth, even if spoken bluntly? Observe yourself. Observe others. Are we characters in a play by Molière?
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