SOURCE: “Another Purloined Letter: Text, Transparency, and Transcendence in Le Misanthrope,” in The French Review, Vol. 66, No. 1, October, 1992, pp. 26-37.

In the following essay, Riggs, focuses on the character of Alceste and his attempts to discern text from reality in Le Misanthrope.

Alceste, the Misanthrope, is a man trying to escape from the jungle of social semiotics. His constant threats to retire to a désert are symptomatic of his desire to avoid the agony of watchfulness and waiting imposed on him by performative interaction with others. At the same time, he longs to be present in a potent and central way. He aspires to control the allocation of attention in his social circle, guaranteeing both admiration for himself and others' guilt-ridden submission to him. Like any person aspiring to dominate, Alceste must try to define the Other in order to delineate his own identity clearly and to...