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Miser
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A miser is a person who is reluctant to spend money, sometimes to the point of forgoing even basic comforts. The term derives from the Latin miser, meaning "poor" or "wretched," comparable to the modern word "miserable".
stereotype of the "miser" is a wealthy, greedy man who lives miserably in order to save and increase his treasure.
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Encyclopedia
A miser is a person who is reluctant to spend money, sometimes to the point of forgoing even basic comforts. The term derives from the Latin miser, meaning "poor" or "wretched," comparable to the modern word "miserable".
Famous misers in history
- Ephraim Lópes Pereira d'Aguilar, 2nd Baron d'Aguilar – an eccentric Jewish nobleman.
- Andrew Carnegie – Scottish born American industrialist, was notoriously "thrifty" until his old age, when he endowed numerous charities, including the New York Public Library. He was infamous for tipping a dime for services rendered, especially when a much larger tip was appropriate.
- The Collyer brothers of New York City, who earned notoriety for living in a filthy, booby-trapped home.
- Hetty Green – Cortland miser – was considered the world's wealthiest woman in 1916.
- Joseph Nollekens – Londoner generally considered to be the finest British sculptor of the late 18th century, he was also a notorious miser.
- Charles Huffman was a miser from the 1950s 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 per 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.
List of notable misers in fiction
- Ebenezer Balfour – Scottish, antagonist from Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Jack Benny – Title character of The Jack Benny Program
- Mr. Briggs – one of the title character's guardians in Cecilia by Frances Burney
- Charles Montgomery Burns – utilities owner in The Simpsons
- Norbert Colon – British cartoon character from the adult-orientated comic Viz
- Milburn Drysdale – Scottish American, played by Raymond Bailey in The Beverly Hillbillies TV sitcom
- Henry Earlforward – English, in Arnold Bennet's novel Riceyman Steps (1923)
- Fagin – Jewish Londoner, antagonist from Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist
- Grandet – French, father of Eugenie Grandet, a novel by Balzac
- Harpagon – French, from Molière's play The Miser
- Heat Miser – The controller of hot weather in The Year Without A Santa Claus
- Horrid Henry by Francesca Simon
- Kaz – The manager of Puffy Ami Yumi
- Eugene H. Krabs (aka Mr. Krabs) – Bikinian, voiced by Clancy Brown in SpongeBob SquarePants animations
- Otto Lidenbrock – professor in the book Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
- Leroy Lockhorn – American, of the syndicated daily comic strip, The Lockhorns
- Silas Marner – English weaver, George Eliot (pen name of Mary Ann Evans) character
- Scrooge McDuck – Scottish American, Walt Disney character voiced by Alan Young; named after Ebenezer Scrooge
- Trina McTeague – Swiss German American, wife of the brute McTeague in Frank Norris' novel
- Fred Mertz – American, played by William Frawley on I Love Lucy
- Mean Mr. Mustard – Title character in a Beatles' song from the album Abbey Road
- Paulie Walnuts – Italian-American, DiMeo Crime family capo on The Sopranos
- Plyushkin – Russian, character from Nikolai Gogol's novel Dead Souls
- Pop – A bear from Happy Tree Friends
- Henry F. Potter – American miser, played by Lionel Barrymore in the film It's a Wonderful Life
- Séraphin Poudrier – French Canadian, in the novel Un homme et son péché by Québécois author Claude-Henri Grignon
- The Baron – a character from Alexander Pushkin's drama The Miserly Knight, also The Covetous Knight, (Russian: ?????? ??????, Skupóy rïtsár)
- Ebenezer Scrooge – English, Charles Dickens character (erroneously based on the real-life Ebenezer Lennox Scroggie, who was not actually a miser)
- Shylock – Jewish Venetian, William Shakespeare character
- Cyril Sneer – an aardvark millionaire who in the beginning wants to destroy the Evergreen Forest in The Raccoons
- Snow Miser – The controller of cold weather in The Year Without A Santa Claus
- The Lady of Stavoren – Dutch, local legend
- James Tyrone – Irish, from the play Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neill
- Vladek – Jewish mouse, from the graphic novel Maus by Art Spiegelman
Stereotypes
The stereotype of the "miser" is a wealthy, greedy man who lives miserably in order to save and increase his treasure. Other stereotypes are the "thrifty" Scotsmen and the "frugal" Dutch.
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 both as misers and/or capitalists.
See also
External links
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