The Miser
by Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (Moliere)
As introduced by its translator Charles Hidden Wall, Moliere's play, The Miser (L'Avare) "was acted for the first time on September 9, 1668. In it, Molière has borrowed from Plautus, and has imitated several other authors, but he far surpasses them in the treatment of his subject. The picture of the miser, in whom love of money takes the place of all natural affections, who not only withdraws from family intercourse, but considers his children as natural enemies, is finely drawn, and renders Molière's Miser altogether more dramatic and moral than those of his predecessors.
Molière acted the part of Harpagon. His most famous play is Tartuffe; or, The Hypocrite, first performed in 1664. It is often studied in high school grades 11-12.
Return to the Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (Moliere) library.