Summary The scene opens in a seventeenth-century drawing room in Paris. Alceste is reprimanding his friend Philinte for constantly betraying his integrity by conforming to the hypocritical uses and customs of polite society. An extended debate occurs between Alceste and Philinte. They argue about how genuinely and honestly a man […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act I: Scene 1Character List
Alceste The misanthrope who is in love with the flirtatious Celimene and who believes that people should be completely honest at all times. Philinte A friend of Alceste’s who can see the frailty in man, and who advises tolerance and reasonableness in human relationships. Orante A gentleman-about-town who is also […]
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Alceste, the misanthrope, explains to Philinte that he hates mankind because there is so much hypocrisy, deceit, and false flattery in the world that he can’t find a man who will speak the truth openly. He asserts that all people should be completely frank and honest with one another. Philinte […]
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