To what extent does Moliere’s Comedy, The Miser confirm the truth of Ginzburg’s claim that good is not rewarded and that evil goes unpunished yet we must love the good and hate of evil?
The comedic part of Moliere’s The Miser, is not instantly clear. I suppose it could be a comedy of errors, but the funny parts are not easily discernable. The story and ultimate fate of the character Harpagon is really proof positive of Ginzburg’s claim about good and evil. His love of his money over his family, faithful servants or any other human consideration is indeed evil personified. His greatest fear is not the he be left alone, unloved and unattended to, but that his money might be stolen. To thwart any potential thieves, he hides the money in a box in his garden. He then has to check that garden obsessively to protect his funds. Neither his love nor the love and future happiness of his children is more important to him than that secret stash of money; it is his everything.
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Harpagon’s son, Cleante, and his daughter Elise, have their own love interests that Harpagon not only does not care about, but seeks to intentionally destroy, which is evil personified. Cleante’s love is Marianne, the very same young woman that Harpagon has in mind to marry himself, even though he is elderly. The evil here is in the fact that Harpagon might be attracted to Marianne because she is a pretty young woman, but he wants a dowry from her as his primary concern, not love. When he discovers that his own son loves this same young woman, it doesn’t do anything to soften his heart towards them. In fact, he deems her as unsuitable for him for the same reasons that always stimulate him- money. He dismisses Elise’s love for Valere for the same reason- money, or apparent lack of it. Valere has posed as Harpagon’s servant just to be near his beloved. He has put up with a lot of humiliation from the man as well as Harpagon’s cheap ways with his staff.
Harpagon has arranged for marriages for his children and for himself. He has found a well-to-do widow for Cleante to marry, and the character of Anselme, a wealthy older man, for Elise to be wedded to. Harpagon intends to marry his son’s love, Marianne. He is throwing Elise’s wedding and reception celebration at his home. This is out of character for Harpagon to be spending any money, but his clear with his instructions to his staff on how to be as frugal as possible with the food and drink. Harpagon always seeks to pay little or nothing for services he receives. He does not pay the woman he hires to arrange his marriage with Marianne, despite the fact that she asks him three times for payment after their business is complete; he ignores her. He does not neglect to check his money in its secret hiding place and finds it gone and that is when mayhem breaks loose.
Harpagon wants everyone at the festivities to be checked. In reality, Harpagon’s son Cleante, and his servant La Fleche found the money. Cleante has been disowned by his father in an argument over Marianne and money, and La Fleche had recently been berated by Harpagon for no apparent reason than he could. It would appear that evil is being punished; Harpagon is being robbed of his beloved money. That however, is not the end of the story. During the course of the robbery investigation, Harpagon blames Valere. He protests and proclaims his innocence, telling the story of his noble ancestry, and the tragedy that separated him from his family. In the meantime Anselme has arrived, who turns out to be the missing nobility, and father of Marianne and Valere. Cleante returns Harpagon’s money in exchange for permission to marry Marianne, Valere gets Elise, Anselme goes to be reunited with his wife, and Harpagon gets his money back. The evil that goes unpunished is Harpagon’s love for his money. When all is said and done in the play; he has nothing but his money, but that’s all he cares about in the first place. He is content and his evil goes unpunished. We must still loathe the love of money above everything else.
