The Miser

Jean-Baptiste MoliereFiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1668

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Summary

Background

Act Summaries & Analyses

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Act 4

Act 5

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Dobermans (Motif)

The motif of Harpagon’s Dobermans appears every time the strongbox of money is threatened. They are a constant reminder and the physical embodiment of Harpagon’s greed and paranoia. To begin with, they are chained “to the nearest tree” (13) by Harpagon to protect his strongbox. Then, when Valere tries to talk Harpagon out of marrying off Elise to Seigneur Anselme, the dogs are heard barking outside. When Frosine (who is after his money) enters, the stage directions read, “[T]he dogs erupt. Frosine enters from the garden, tugging at her dress, which she finally frees from the jaws of the Dobermans” (25). Both of these instances signal to the audience and Harpagon that something (either his plans to make more money, or his tangible money) is threatened.

This happens again when Cleante takes the ring off of Harpagon’s hand and gives it to Marianne. It is, so far, the boldest move Cleante has made against Harpagon and signals his determination to keep Marianne for himself. Just after this moment, when Cleante and Marianne exit, the dogs can be heard howling. Later, the dogs bark noisily to announce the arrival of the scorned Master Jacques, who proceeds to lie to both Cleante and Harpagon. Finally, the sounds of the dogs are combined with several other noises at the end of Act 4, when Harpagon breaks the “fourth wall” and accuses the audience of stealing from him.

The Strongbox (Symbol)

Harpagon’s strongbox is symbolic of his greed and a constant reminder of the fear he lives in of losing it. When he first buries the strongbox in the garden, he is worried that, even with the Dobermans chained nearby, his money is in danger of being stolen. He says, “But what if they dig it up and give it to my children? What if the earth erupts and belches forth fire, smelting my coins?” (13). Harpagon is plagued by an irrational fear of getting robbed, and his strongbox represents all the wealth he worries he will lose. Most important of all, his fear that someone could “dig it up and give it to [his] children” signifies Harpagon’s privileging of money over even familial ties and fatherly duties.

In fact, when the strongbox is stolen, the audience learns just how much of his worth Harpagon finds in his wealth. He laments the loss, crying out to the strongbox, “I can’t live without you, without you life has no purpose, without you I am dying. Now I am dead. Now I am buried. Now there is nothing” (51). He proves throughout the play to believe what he says, and even at the end of the play he has not changed. While everyone else is celebrating, Harpagon is left alone on the floor with his strongbox, still clinging to his greed.

Pigs/Warthogs (Motif)

The motif of pigs and warthogs throughout The Miser helps to reinforce the theme of greed. Harpagon frequently uses the term to refer to those who might steal from him. For example, he makes an aside about La Fleche in Act 1, saying, “I’m in a sweat lest this warthog should root out my precious money” (11, emphasis added). This reinforces not only the fear he has of losing his money, but how lowly he considers anyone who would steal from him.

Later, Valere refers to Master Jacque’s elaborate dinner plans as gluttonous, saying, “Wretched excess, Master Jacques, this is wretched excess. We are, after all, not swine at the trough” (33, emphasis added). The irony in this example is that Harpagon, pig-like, hoards his treasure all to himself. This treasure might, like the feast Master Jacques wanted to prepare, be considered by most as excess—a different kind of “trough” upon which Harpagon greedily feasts.

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Lastly, he uses the term to refer to Master Jacques, when he threatens to “hang [him] like a squealing pig” (53) if he does not pay back the money Harpagon thinks he stole. Once again, the term is used to refer to someone who is greedy for his riches, not necessarily greedy as a whole. Each of these examples are personal: All of the people called “pigs” or “warthogs” are either trying to spend or steal his money, even though no one in the play values money as much as Harpagon does.