Another Purloined Letter: Text, Transparency, and Transcendence in Le Misanthrope

We can say of Célimène's letter, which becomes a vital instrument in Alceste's effort to dominate and control Célimène, what Jacques Lacan has said of the other one: it ritualizes a structure and, therefore, a difference and a hierarchy. In Molière's play, Alceste would like to have the degree of mastery possessed by Poe's detective. The latter's superior lucidity and control are confirmed by his seeing the "hidden" letter. Alceste pretends that possessing Célimène's letter gives him a similarly penetrating gaze.