Molière, born January 15, 1622
Quelle: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images
Insincerity and hypocrisy are just as bad in the social media era as they were at the court of Versailles: Molière, who was born 400 years ago, did a great job spearing such evils in his comedies. He also already knew alternative facts.
THEb actually comedy or tragedy age better is an interesting question that has to be answered anew for each epoch. Although some jokes may be time-bound, the once highly tragic conflicts over competing ideals – divine commandments, female honor and the like – have become even more remote.
Comedy, which Molière, born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin on January 15, 1622, finally raised to the same level as tragedy, has one decisive advantage: it is less about great passions and more about all too human weaknesses, about timeless vices like Avarice, envy, greed or hypocrisy, always appearing in new forms and disguises. Whether aristocratic court or a bourgeois house, in Molière’s comedies everyone can see themselves or, which is much more pleasant, the person sitting next to them as a mirror image. The others are always hypocrites.
That’s not to say vices don’t have a history. A pious Tartuffe who pretends to be of the highest morality in order to sneak into the hearts and homes of his guilt-ridden patrons strikes us as an unbelievable cliché.
In times or societies where the observance of religious commandments and rituals is normal, the criticism is more likely to hit a delicate point. In 1664 the “Tartuffe”, written especially for the opening of the new park in Versailles, caused a scandal at the court of Louis XIV and was banned. Those passages in which the deception is carried so far that the world already consists entirely of alternative facts sound more topical today.
When the blinded Madame Pernelle does not want to believe Tartuffe’s unmasking, her son Orgon, who had just witnessed the deceit, is in despair: “I almost think they don’t want to understand me. / I’ve seen it, Mama! Yes, seen, seen! / With the two eyes here. So? Doesn’t that make sense? / I’ve seen it! How loud should I scream? – Pernelle: I’ve experienced it often enough that what you thought you saw clearly was in the end just an empty illusion. – Orgon: Unbelievable!” (German by Arthur Luther).
The usefulness of likes
A work like “The Misanthrope” from 1666 speaks to us even more directly. The outsider Alceste’s brilliantly articulated criticism of courtly-polite insincerity, constant flattery and after-mouth talk is highly topical in the social media era. Likewise the criticism of an empty talk of “friendship”, which then as now is only based on the useful reciprocity of likes and warmly shared content.
At the same time, Molière shows with Alceste how easily radical criticism of what is inauthentic about convention and etiquette can turn into perpetually grumpy self-righteousness – an attitude that is not uncommon today, especially among those who reject social networks on principle. “And I would like to flee to remote deserts / to avoid the lie of not being with people,” says Alceste.
What Philinte replies to this can still be considered a necessary reminder given the current level of excitement in virtual debates: “Those who live among people should always remain moderate.”
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