2 h 31 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if your father values every coin more than your happiness—and plans your marriage accordingly?
In Molière's five-act comedy The Miser, Harpagon rules a Paris household with a tight purse and a suspicious eye. His children, Cléante and Élise, want to marry for love. Their rich father wants bargains instead. He guards his buried gold while treating the people around him as threats to his fortune.
Élise loves Valère, the steward who flatters Harpagon to stay near her. Cléante loves Marianne, a poor young woman caring for her sick mother. Then Harpagon announces that he intends to marry Marianne himself and give Élise to a rich older man. Love must find a way through his calculations.
What you’ll discover
- A household at war Watch secret loves collide with a father's determination to make marriage pay.
- The price of suspicion Meet a wealthy man who locks up his oats and cannot enjoy his money.
- Flattery with a purpose Follow Valère and matchmaker Frosine as they flatter Harpagon for very different reasons.
- Servants with sharp tongues Enjoy La Flèche's open mockery and Maître Jacques's blunt words about life under Harpagon.
- Love against the ledger Discover how greed forces Harpagon's children to lie, flatter, or fight for their happiness.
Is it for you?
This summary suits anyone who enjoys sharp comedy about money and family, students meeting French theatre for the first time, and readers who want the plot before seeing the play staged. If you want a gentle, quiet read, the play's noise may tire you.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Harpagon counts every coin
- Two children with secret loves
- The father's plans crush the children's
- A loan from the wrong lender
- The cashbox vanishes and chaos begins
- Greed, family and how Molière tells it
Who’s who
- HarpagonA rich, suspicious widower who loves his money above his family and plans to marry a young woman himself.
- CléanteHarpagon's son, who loves the poor Marianne and needs money he cannot get from his father.
- ÉliseHarpagon's daughter, who loves Valère and fears the rich older husband her father has chosen.
- ValèreThe steward in Harpagon's house, who flatters the old man in order to stay close to Élise.
- MarianneA gentle, poor young woman who lives with her sick mother and is loved by Cléante.
- FrosineA cunning matchmaker who flatters Harpagon's vanity and expects to be paid for it.
- Maître JacquesHarpagon's cook and coachman, who is overworked, badly paid and quick to speak his mind.
- La FlècheCléante's sharp-tongued valet, who mocks Harpagon openly and helps his young master.
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Language: English
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
Harpagon counts every coin
The play opens in the Paris house of Harpagon, a man who has money and cannot enjoy it. He lends at high interest, he locks up his oats, and he suspects everyone of stealing. His servants dress badly and eat little, and he treats a dinner party as a loss to be limited.
His chief fear is thieves. He has buried a cashbox in the garden, with ten thousand gold coins inside, and he checks on it as other men check on a sick child. When he meets La Flèche, his son's valet, he orders him to show his hands, then the insides of his pockets, then more again. La Flèche answers him with open scorn, and it is the first sign that nobody in this house respects the master.
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The author
Molière
1622–1673 · French playwright and actor
Molière was the stage name of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, a French playwright and actor born in Paris in 1622. He toured France with a theatre company before returning to Paris in 1658. He wrote comedies, including Tartuffe, The Miser, and The Imaginary Invalid. He died in Paris in 1673.
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What is The Miser about?
It is a comedy about Harpagon, a rich man who loves money more than his family. His greed blocks his children's marriages and leads him into a bitter fight with his son, and finally into a frantic hunt for his lost gold.
Who wrote The Miser and when?
Molière wrote it, and it was first staged in Paris in 1668. It is a five-act comedy in prose, and Molière himself played Harpagon in the first productions.
What does the French title L'Avare mean?
L'Avare is the French word for a miser, a person who hoards money and spends as little as possible. The name Harpagon comes from a Latin word meaning a grappling hook, which suits a man who grabs everything.
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