Harpagon

Summary

Dominique Pagani cites Harpagon as the example of a character entirely devoted to a single trait. In his reading of Hegel, he sees him as avarice incarnate: the character forms a unity, without individual detail12. He comes back above all to the strongbox. Alienated in his possessions, Harpagon wants to die when he loses it, because he remains bound to his determination3. For Dominique Pagani, having put his whole being into this strongbox is the height of alienation. From 2024 onward, he compares this attachment to the king's attachment to his throne or crown: without his strongbox, Harpagon is nothing4. He also looks at the family relationship. Harpagon appears as the father who lectures his son5. With Clouscard, Dominique Pagani reads the conflict between the miserly father and the prodigal son as a class struggle present even in intimate relations6.

1. 1Hegel on the Beach 4/52 Feb 2016 · 11:37
2. 2#2.5 Between crisis and war: philosophising?1 Aug 2017 · 1:04:56
3. 3Hegel on the Beach 4/52 Feb 2016 · 25:07
4. 4The essence of evil: innocence of nature, horror of naturalism!17 Dec 2024 · 34:18
5. 5#9 Benefits and harms of amnesia…17 Dec 2020 · 1:07:23
6. 6Worldliness in Clouscard: Aragon and the positivity of the negative29 Jun 2023 · 59:20

Summary produced automatically from 8 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.