The L.I. Great Books Council Spring Institute

On Saturday, June 13th, I was excited to participate in the annual day-long Long Island Great Books Council Spring Institute. About 40 "great bookies" convened in Garden City for two discussion tracks, one on the subject of "Money," the other on "Love."

The "Love" track discussed the stories of Grace Paley, the "Money" track Niall Ferguson's The Ascent of Money: a Financial History of the World and Jerry Sterner's play "Other People's Money".

I joined the "Money" group, led by a thirty-year veteran of Great Books discussion groups. Mary launched the discussion with three guidelines, "Please stick to the question at hand, don't talk over one another, and please listen carefully to each other." I could tell Mary was a stickler about the "Shared Inquiry" discussion technique, and had honed her skills as a leader over many years. Her interest lay solely in helping us to understand better the ideas in the texts.

Perhaps you notice that the books under discussion were not part of the "Great Books" canon. At the end of our discussion of "Other People's Money," however, Grahme Fischer, the President of the Long Island Great Books Council (and leader of a Great Books group at the Commack Public Library), posed the question, "Do you think this is a great book?" The consenus was no, although Sterner's comedy about a corporate raider with a "Mom and Pop" New England cable and wire company in his sights does raise a lot of questions about the U.S. financial system. Grahme then averred that sometimes less lofty works stimulate more spirited discussions. (Maybe ones that are too perfectly beautiful leave us speechless!)

I was pleased to discover there are still a lot of serious readers out there who have chosen to affiliate themselves with the loosely organized network of Great Books Councils around the country. Upcoming events include the 53rd Annual Wachs Great Books Summer Institute on the "Art of War" at Colby College in Maine the week of August 2-8 (contact Tom Beam at agreatbook@aol.com) and the Philadelphia council's Fall Institute weekend on the "Aesthetic Dialogue" in the Poconos the weekend of November 6-7 (contact John Dalton at JD5258875@aol.com)

Discussion Questions for "The Misanthrope"

Interpretive Questions

I. Is Molière's intent to expose the hypocrisy practiced in the social circles of his time and all times?

A. Are his characters created to fulfill that purpose? Do they each represent some human trait and therefore behave in stereotypical ways or do we sometimes get a glimpse of multidimensional characterization?

B. Does he present any of these characters as worthy of admiration?

C. If we all acted like the Alceste the Misanthrope, would we even have a society (p. 105, ten lines from bottom)?

D. Same question re: Philinte (p. 108, ten lines from top and p. 155, eight lines from top) or to any of the other characters.

II. Is this play funny and if so, why?

A. Is there a scene you find particularly comical?

III. Express in a few words Molière's views on love and courtship.

A. Do you think Alceste is capable of love? At the end does he give Célimène a test which she will probably fail? (Act V, Sc. 7 & 8)

B. Is Célimène totally shallow?

i. If so, why is Alceste in love with her when he strives to be so "authentic"?

C. Do Philante and Eliante, at least in part, stand for moderation and good sense? Is there a certain poetic justice when they are matched up at the end of the play?

Speculative Question

I. What possibilities would you develop if you were to write a sequel to this play?

For Textual Analysis

Act I, sc. i

Act II, sc. ii

Act V, sc. i

Castigat Ridendo Mores : "It Corrects our Manners with Laughter"

Our featured author this month is the great French comic playwright Molière (1622-1673), the stage name of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. On June 22nd we meet to discuss his Misanthrope.



Molière rose to fame under the patronage of Louis XIV. One often hears him spoken of in conjunction with the other two towering figures of the French stage of the era, Racine and Corneille. Of the three, however, Molière is the only one renowned for comedies.

Many of Molière's theatrical works, including The Misanthrope, are considered "comedies of manners" and set in Parisian salons. The Misanthrope follows Alceste as he tries to achieve the seemingly impossible task of both shunning all social pretense and winning the heart of Célimène.