The Miser Greed Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Paragraph)

Quote #4

"There's just one little difficulty. I'm afraid she might not bring as much money with her as could be wished." (1.4.55)

Harpagon is preparing to marry a beautiful woman who is nearly 40 years younger than him. But what's the first thing on his mind? That he won't get much money for marrying her. You heard right. He wants to get paid for marrying this beautiful woman.

Quote #5

"But—no dowry!" (1.5.19)

Even though Élise has no interest in marrying M. Anselme, Harpagon is over the moon because M. Anselme is willing to marry her without a dowry. FYI, dowry is money that used to be given to a groom by the bride's family. For M. Anselme to not want a dowry is, for greedy Harpagon, a far better reason to marry off Élise than something worthless like her happiness.

Quote #6

"Who is guiltier, in your opinion: the man who borrows because he needs the money, or the man who extorts money he does not need?" (2.2.20)

When Cléante finds out that his father Harpagon is lending out money at ridiculously high interest rates, he scolds the old man for being immoral. Basically, H-bomb is taking advantage of people's desperation by agreeing to lend them money, and then making them pay through the nose for it.