The Miser

He has gold hidden in the garden—but no heart to spare. In The Miser, Molière presents one of his most unforgettable characters: Harpagon, a man so obsessed with money that he would sacrifice love, family, and reason just to hold onto his fortune. When his children fall in love—and worse, when Harpagon himself seeks to marry for selfish gain—a tangled web of lies, schemes, and mistaken identities unfolds. With biting humor and razor-sharp dialogue, Molière satirizes greed, control, and the absurdity of valuing wealth over human connection. First performed in 1668, The Miser remains a timeless comedy that exposes how money can twist even the most basic of relationships. A masterwork of farce and irony, The Miser is Molière at his most brilliant—showing us that the richer the man, the poorer the soul.