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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page essay. Moliere, the seventeenth century French playwright, and Oscar Wilde, the nineteenth century British satirist, while separated by centuries, held similar views regarding fundamental human nature. Each of these writers looked at societal dictums concerning virtue and decorum with a jaundiced eye and satirized the idea that these injunctions are even plausible when applied to real life. Both Moliere and Wilde saw clearly that personality is largely a social construct--something that is invented by the individual in order to navigate the shoals and eddies of the sea of human society. As The Misanthrope by Moliere and The Importance of being Earnest by Wilde demonstrate, both playwrights indicate that to try to live completely according to the forces of society stifles social interaction and it is the individual to "invents" himself according to the occasion who is able to achieve happiness. No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khmowild.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
these writers looked at societal dictums concerning virtue and decorum with a jaundiced eye and satirized the idea that these injunctions are even plausible when applied to real life. Both
Moliere and Wilde saw clearly that personality is largely a social construct--something that is invented by the individual in order to navigate the shoals and eddies of the sea of
human society. As The Misanthrope by Moliere and The Importance of being Earnest by Wilde demonstrate, both playwrights indicate that to try to live completely according to the forces of
society stifles social interaction and it is the individual to "invents" himself according to the occasion who is able to achieve happiness. Moliere makes this point in The Misanthrope
by showing that scrupulous honesty is incompatible with standard social behavior. Philinte, friend to the plays protagonist, Alceste, tell him that there are "many cases in which plain speaking would
become ridiculous and could hardly be tolerated. And, with all due allowance for your unbending honesty, it is well to conceal your feelings" (Moliere I.i). Alceste, on the other
hand, insists on following the idea that people should always be absolutely honest. He says that he would like people to be "sincere, and that, like men of honor, no
word be spoken that comes not from the heart" (Moliere I.i). As this opening argument to the play suggests, Molieres view of fundamental human nature asks his audience to
imagine what problems might result from consistently telling the absolute truth. The crux of the play is the conflict between Alcestes idealistic value system and social reality. Moliere pictures Alcestes
attitudes as distancing him from achieving intimacy with others; turning him into a misanthrope, which is a life that he vows to embrace at the end of the play, indicating
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