What are some of the ways Harpagon asserts his authority over his children?
Although Harpagon is the father of Cleante and Elise, he does not act like one until it can be of benefit to him. For example, Harpagon could never have cared less what Cleante was doing if he was not interested in Mariane, nor would he have raised a finger if Elise was not to be married off to a man who was in possession of great wealth. He does not assert authority directly over the two teenagers, but rather, he passes the authority over to someone else. This occurs when Valere is supposedly telling Elise off for not listening to Harpagon when he makes his decision for her marriage. As soon as Harpagon hears Valere doing, in his opinion, such a good job of lecturing Elise, he says to her, “In the future, you’ll answer to Valere. He has my blessing…” When Valere offers to “keep her in order”, he immediately replies, “I leave her in your capable hands.”
Furthermore, in Act 4 Scene 3, when Harpagon discovers that Cleante is in love with his fiancé, he says to Cleante, “Forget this nonsense, this so-called love. Forget Mariane. I’ve booked her for myself. You’ll marry who I say… I’m your father, damn it. I demand obedience.” We can see clearly in this exchange that Harpagon is does not wish to hand over Mariane at all. This is not, however, because Harpagon loves Mariane, but because she now seems to have increased in value because Cleante is also after her. Harpagon violates the distinct line between authority over his children and forcing them to