She is a fieffee
coquette, rejoicing in her wit and her attractions, and distinguished by
her inclination for Alceste in the midst of her many other lovers; only
she finds it hard to cut them off--what woman with a train does not?--and
when the exposure of her naughty wit has laid her under their rebuke, she
will do the utmost she can: she will give her hand to honesty, but she
cannot quite abandon worldliness. She would be unwise if she did.
The fable is thin. Our pungent contrivers of plots would see no
indication of life in the outlines. The life of the comedy is in the
idea. As with the singing of the sky-lark out of sight, you must love the
bird to be attentive to the song, so in this highest flight of the Comic
Muse, you must love pure Comedy warmly to understand the Misanthrope: you
must be receptive of the idea of Comedy. And to love Comedy you must know
the real world, and know men and women well enough not to expect too much
of them, though you may still hope for good.
Menander wrote a comedy called Misogynes, said to have been the most
celebrated of his works.
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