The Older I Get...

...the more Moliere's Alceste makes sense to me...

"Esteem, if it be real, means preference,
And when bestowed on all makes no sense."

"A man should be a man, and let his speech
At every turn reveal his heart to each;
His own true self should speak; our sentiments
Should never hide beneath vain compliments."

Act One Scene 1 between Alceste and Philinte reminds me of some blog discussions I've had. Perhaps Dan Trujillo should have set his rewrite, which he called Angry Young Man, in the theatrosphere instead of the theatre! Meanwhile, over at Parabasis, Isaac raises the question of how we can have less vitriolic discussions. At the moment, I have a headache and am out of ibuprofin, which makes me cranky and prone to snarkiness. Nevertheless, Tony's proximity rule seems a good one: "would I say it if I were in the same room"? I've had a lot of passionate discussions in my day, and learned a lot from them. But if somebody impugned my honesty to my face... well, I'd call in Don Hall to punch their lights out! Anyway, like Alceste, I get tired of being scolded for speaking my mind. Of course, for Moliere, Alceste was an comic figure whose extremism was cause for ridicule and Philinte was the voice of reason.

Of course, Moliere himself played Alceste and not Philinte -- he knew an interesting role when he saw one...