Miser: Encyclopedia - Miser

Miser

Miser is the term for a person who is reluctant to spend money, usually for the point where he or she forgoes even basic comforts. It derives from the Latin, "miser", meaning "poor" or "wretched."

In fiction, a miser is a stock character: a wealthy, greedy man who lives miserably in order to save and increase his treasure. Dickens' Ebenezer Scrooge is an obvious example.

A related stereotype is the capitalist as portrayed in, for example, Soviet propaganda. Both are usually moneylenders or industrialists, in any case businessmen, who possess great personal wealth but aren't bothered by the fate of the poor. The difference is that, unlike the miser, the capitalist does spend his money and is typically portrayed leading a decadent life. Anti-Semites have portrayed Jews in both ways.

Scotsmen and Dutch are also sometimes stereotyped as miserly.

There is a Molière play called The Miser (original title: "L'Avare"). It tells the story of an old miser, Harpagon, who loves his trunk of coins more than anything, even his family. The latter, frustrated by his attitude, decides to hide his trunk. Harpagon would then be ready for anything to get it back, even ready to get reasonable...

The play was adapted into a movie with popular French comedian Louis de Funès as Harpagon.

Miser - Famous misers in fiction

• Mr. Krabs - Spongebob Squarepants
• Ebenezer Scrooge - British, Charles Dickens character
• Grandet - father of Eugenie Grandet, a novel by Balzac
• Scrooge McDuck - American, Walt Disney character, named after Ebenezer Scrooge
• C. Montgomery Burns - American, The Simpsons series
• Harpagon - French, Molière play
• The Lady of Stavoren- Dutch, local legend
• Shylock - British, William Shakespeare character
• Silas Marner - British, George Eliot penname of Mary Ann Evans, character
• Norbert Colon - American comic strip character
• Séraphin Poudrier in the novel Un homme et son péché by Québecois author Claude-Henri Grignon
• Henry Earlsforward in Arnold Bennet's novel Riceyman Steps. (1923)

Miser - Famous misers in history

• Hetty Green Boston miser
• Collyer brothers New York City misers and hoarders
• Walt Keys Columbus miser

Miser - Lesser known misers

Miser - Charles Huffman

Charles Huffman was a miser from the 1950's in the U.S. He was found dead on a Brooklyn, New York street with no money in his pockets. The police traced him to a $7/week room that was filled with bank books and more than $500,000 in stock certificates. He was characterized by Franz Lidz, in the New York Times, on October 26, 2003.

See also

• Frugality
• The Miser a comedy

Category: Stock characters

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Miser", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki