What is tragic in The Miser?
The play seems close to the times we re living in today cynical and without hope. The tragedy in The Miser exists between the lines, in the silence between the characters. It s a desperate world. The language is based on lies, because when you re dealing with a tyrant everything has to be coded. It s difficult to translate the play, because the language of the original text naturally seems old to us. But it s important to distinguish the difference between what is just antiquated and what was convoluted in Molière s own time. The characters in The Miser are often forced to think carefully about their words and disguise their thoughts; as a result their phrases are frequently long and profoundly unnatural. There s a distance between the characters because they don t dare speak the truth. When they do, the language becomes very fast. The scenes between La Flèche and Harpagon, for example, are quick and direct, but every time La Flèche needs to lie, he has a long sentence. The Miser is mu
