All that Glitters is not Gold

572 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Greed essay introduction

Love can be the defining meaning of Moliere’s comedy “The Miser.” Everything can be called love from excessive greed to even the moral definition of love itself. What can we take away from knowing that good is always left unrewarded and evil unpunished? Lets take a look at a few defining factors from the play that lend themselves to loving good and hating evil.

First, lets take a gander at greed. Not just any type of greed but obsessive greed. The character for this type of greed is the main protagonist himself, Harpagon. Harpagon is the kind of greedy penny pincher that makes scrooge look like a pushover. His love for money can be taken as an evil deed left unpunished through a series of misfortunes throughout his life.

Harpagon is a widow, probably in his mid to late 70’s and has two grown children of both who have their eyes set on the goal of getting married in the play. Harpagon does everything he possibly can to save a penny here or a nickel there. Especially to the extent of his house and especially to his kids and there problems throughout the play. In fact his greed is s...

Show More
Related

  • Romeo and Juliet is Not a Love Story

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was a Renaissance poet and playwright who wrote and published the original versions of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, and often called England’s national poet. Several of his works became extremely well known, thoroughly studied, and enjoyed all over the world. One of Shakespeare’s most prominent plays is titled The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. In this tragedy, the concept that is discussed and portrayed through the characters is love, as they are recognized as being “in love”. The general umbrella of love encompasses various kinds of love such as romantic love, the love of a parent for a child, love of one’s country, and several others. What is common to all love is this: Your own well-being is tied up with that of someone (or something) you love… When love is not present, changes in other people’s well being do not, in general, change your own… Being ‘in love’ infatuation is an intense state that displays similar features: … and finding everyone charming and nice, and thinking they all must sense one’s happiness. At first glance it seems as though Shakespeare advocates the hasty, hormone-driven passion portrayed by the protagonists, Romeo and Juliet; however, when viewed from a more modern, North-American perspective, it seems as though Shakespeare was not in fact endorsing it, but mocking the public’s superficial perception of love. Shakespeare’s criticism of the teens’ young and hasty love is portrayed in various instances of the play, including Romeo’s shallow, flip-flop love for Rosaline then Juliet, and his fights with Juliet’s family. Also, the conseque...

    Read More

  • Greed In Macbeth And The Canterbury Tales

    1390 Words  | 3 Pages

    The aspect of greed shows itself as the heart of the many immoral acts committed by fictional characters and real people. From Adam and Eve’s betrayal to Macbeth’s collapse portrays what greed can produce as a result: destruction. Whether it destroys one’s health, it inherently portrays as a force to the path of corruption. The Pardoner, from The Canterbury Tales, defines greed’s purpose. This includes how greed pulls them to degeneration. No matter how subtle the fall, it still brings to distasteful events for the characters from The Importance of Being Earnest. Although the characters differ, their obsessions with their immoral acts decline their personalities. Thus, the authors portray the characters’ greed, as a pernicious force that drives

    Read More

  • Summer of Wealth, Dreams and Desires in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    736 Words  | 2 Pages

    These characters, however different they lie on the morality scale, all share the sinful trait of greed. They all ask, and take too much, ruining what the good that they had in their lives. Understanding their mistakes offers its useful readers a lesson, not to demand too much of the things we are offered. The characters struggle with their desires, each of them succombing to their passions.

    Read More

  • Binaries Of Love Essay

    1410 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Lais of Marie de France is a compilation of short stories that delineate situations where love is just. Love is presented as a complex emotion and is portrayed as positive, while at other times, it is portrayed as negative. The author varies on whether or not love is favorable as is expressed by the outcomes of the characters in the story, such as lovers dying or being banished from the city. To demonstrate, the author weaves stories that exhibit binaries of love. Two distinct types of love are described: selfish and selfless. Love is selfish when a person leaves their current partner for another due to covetous reasons. Contrarily, selfless love occurs when a lover leaves to be in a superior relationship. The stark contrast between the types of love can be analyzed to derive a universal truth about love.

    Read More

  • Dracula

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    In one of William Shakespeare’s most renowned and celebrated plays, the story of a General named Othello unravels in tragic form as he falls victim to the lies created by Iago. Once revered as a war hero and wed to the beautiful Desdemona, Othello’s life spirals downward with the untimely death of his beloved in his own hands, ultimately ending with his own demise. Love is the force behind this tragedy. Tragedy is the main driving force that brings happiness and tragedy to the characters within the play. But even as such a prominent force, it lacks clear definition. Love has a different meaning to the characters in the play. Characters like Othello, Desdemona, and Iago all have different perspectives on love, which informs their behavior in different ways.

    Read More

  • The Cradle Will Fall

    598 Words  | 2 Pages

    In many works of literature, a main character is motivated by pure greed in order

    Read More

  • The Horrendous Evil Within Shakespeare's Macbeth

    1962 Words  | 4 Pages

    Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a recognized classic tragedy portraying the victory of good over evil. This paper will explore the various expressions of evil within the play.

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Who Is At Fault Essay

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Don’t waste your love on someone who doesn’t value it.” In the play Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare exposes the life of two young lovers in the Renaissance period fighting for something they cannot live without; each other. Although fate takes its toll, the everlasting feud between two families, conditional love by parents, and the irresponsibility’s of father and mother like figure are the main causes in the death of Romeo and Juliet. The idea of love is something that is valued in this play from many different aspects of characters, lines, and scenes. Shakespeare leaves the minds of readers soaring over not why it happened, but who was at fault.

    Read More

  • Is Romeo and Juliet More About Hate or Love?

    1192 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout Romeo and Juliet, love and hate are combined. However, even though they are combined, love still remains the principal theme in the play. Although in the play, the theme of hatred can be just as important and sometimes it intensifies the theme of love. For example, Romeo and Juliet’s love wouldn’t have been so extreme and powerful unless there was the hatred between the Montague’s and Capulet’s. We observe this from the very beginning of the prologue.

    Read More

  • Tartuffe: The Meaning Of Life

    2182 Words  | 5 Pages

    Alceste, the generous misanthrope who, in spite of his philosophy of life and knowledge of the world’s imposture, loves a heartless coquette.” Moliere found inspiration in his life; “undergoing the discouragement, indifference, toleration, praise, and envy” was the journey of Moliere’ life, and he continued to express knowledge of the world in his literature

    Read More

  • Courtly Love Conventions in Troilus and Creseyde

    1467 Words  | 3 Pages

    This waxing and waning of Troilus' and Criseyde's happiness in love allows Chaucer to explore the different manifestations of love in his contemporary society, and what the costs of loving might be. In particular, Criseyde's fear of love, and betrayal of Troilus' love, raises the question: who is allowed to choose to love?

    Read More

  • The Complex Alceste of Moliere's Misanthrope

    1415 Words  | 3 Pages

    "I cannot improve on it, and assuredly never shall," said Molière of his satire The Misanthrope, {1} and the critic Nicholas Boileau-Despréaux concurred by accounting it one of Molière's best plays.{2} But the French public did not like it much, preferring the dramatist's more farcical The Doctor in Spite of Himself--a play that, according to tradition, was written two months after The Misanthrope's premiere to make up for the latter's lack of success.{3} In fact, The Misanthrope horrified Rousseau, who thought that its aim was, in Donald Frame's words, "to make virtue ridiculous by pandering to the shallow and vicious tastes of the man of the world."{4} Both he and Goethe after him regarded Alceste, the protagonist, as a tragic figure rather than a comic one.{5}

    Read More

  • The Misanthrope Essay

    536 Words  | 2 Pages

    But the big question is, is love a game, torture or being blind? There’s a lot of talk of love in these comedy pieces, but what makes it so comedic is that no one seems to know and understand what love reallyis. The Misanthrope searches for the proper balance between reason and love. Molière would not likely advocate giving oneself completely over to "the irrationality of love. "

    Read More

  • Greed

    1341 Words  | 3 Pages

    Greed, being a key human condition, has shaped society from the very start. In fact, some scholars believe that greed was the first major milestone of human success, when the first human wondered why he/she had to scrounge around for necessities; it is a part of being human to be greedy. Wanting a new car, to be loved by another, or to desire the feeling of well doing when feeding the needy, these are all factions of greed...

    Read More

  • Deception

    1894 Words  | 4 Pages

    Thus here we see how Moliere has used deception in order to show the presence of hypocrisy in the society. As a comedy Tartuffe ridicules the human folly and hence leaves a stronger impact on its audience.

    Read More

More about All that Glitters is not Gold

Open Document