of the servants he abuses. The sexagenarian is suitor of the young Mariane, whom Cléante also wishes to marry. Cléante Du Croisy Harpagon's profligate son, Cléante is also in love with Mariane. Intending to run away with her, he attempts to procure an illegal loan to provide Mariane and her ill mother with money, only to discover the lender is his own father. There is mutual resentment between the two over not only money but over love when Harpagon tricks his son into revealing his love for Mariane. Élise Mlle de Brie The daughter of Harpagon, Élise owes her life to Valère, who saved her from drowning just before the beginning of the play. She opposes her father's plans to wed her to the elderly Anselme, who has agreed to take her without a dowry. Valère La Grange Valère has saved Élise from drowning and has come into the employ of Harpagon with intentions to win her. Harpagon mistrusts him and suspects him of wanting to rob him. At the end it is revealed he is of noble Napolitan blood, the brother of Mariane, and the son of Anselme who is really Don Thomas D'Alburcy. La Flèche Louis Béjart A servant in Harpagon's household, La Flèche helps Cléante arrange a clandestine loan through Master Simon. In a dramatic turn he digs up and steals Harpagon's cash box. Master Jacques André Hubert Master Jacques is cook and coachman to Harpagon. Anselme Mr de Brie An elderly gentleman and suitor to Élise, Anselme is a wandering Napolitan noble who believes his wife and children drowned sixteen years earlier. At the climax it is discovered that Valère and Mariane are his children and his real name is Don Thomas D'Alburcy. Mariane Armande Béjart-Molière The young woman whom Harpagon intends to wed is also the woman his son Cléante intends to run away with. She is revealed at the end to be the sister of Valère and daughter of Anselme, who is really Don Thomas D'Alburcy of Naples. Master Simon La Thorillière? A dishonest character, Master Simon tries to arrange a usurious loan between Cléante and his father. Frosine Madeleine Béjart Frosine is an elderly woman who acts as a go-between to ensure the marriage of Harpagon and Mariane; she convinces Harpagon that Mariane's frugality will outweigh her lack of dowry, and that Mariane loves bespectacled old men. Harpagon's servants with minor roles include