The Misanthrope (Characters)

Characters

Acaste

Acaste is one of the two marquis who pursue Célimène,. In act 5, Acaste, along with Clitandre, confronts Célimène, with love letters she has written to each of them. Acaste reads aloud from a letter which she wrote to Clitandre, in which she refers to him (Acaste) as “the little marquis” and assures Clitandre that, although she let Acaste hold her hand, he is “of no consequence.” Acaste leaves with Clitandre, assuring Célimène, that he has “better women standing by” who are interested in him.

Alceste

Alceste is the misanthrope referred to in the title. Throughout the play, he expresses his disgust with the dishonesty, hypocrisy, corruption, and lack of justice in society, claiming that he himself at least is completely frank and honest in all of his social interactions. Philinte, his friend, presents a variety of counterpoints to Alceste’s arguments. When Oronte asks his opinion of a love poem he has just written, Alceste tells him that it is “trash,” that it should be burned, and that Oronte should never write another poem. Oronte, who is highly influential at court, retaliates for the insult by filing a lawsuit against Alceste. Before a tribunal of marshals, however, Alceste refuses to take back his criticism of Oronte’s poem, and the matter is only settled when he agrees to apologize to Oronte for not liking it. Alceste, meanwhile, is also engaged in a lawsuit concerned with a man who has circulated a scandalous book and attributed it to Alceste’s authorship. Alceste is in love with Célimène, but constantly criticizes her for her insincerity and complains of her flirtations with other men. He claims that he is brutally honest with her only because he truly loves her.

Various interpretations of The Misanthrope, both in scholarly criticism and at the level of performance choices, revolve around whether Alceste is seen as representative of the moral message of the play or whether he is seen as a self-serving hypocrite, not unlike most of the other characters.

Arsinoe

Arsinoe is a so-called friend of Célimène,. Célimène, tells others that Arsinoe is a “hypocrite” and that, while unattractive, she is desperate to find a man and pretends to be prudish and pious as an excuse for the fact that men take no interest in her. Arsinoe tells Célimène, that, in the name of friendship, she feels she must let her know that others are talking behind her back about her reputation for flirting with so many men. Célimène, responds to Arsinoe by saying to her face what she has previously said behind her back. Arsinoe later shows Alceste a letter in which Célimène, tells Oronte that she loves him.

Basque

Basque is the servant of Célimène,. He occasionally enters to announce the arrival of guests.

Célimène

Célimène, is a very attractive and very flirtatious young widow, who is pursued simultaneously by at least four different men. Of all the characters, she is the most thoroughly insincere and represents social hypocrisy at its worst. She tells each of her suitors that he is the one she truly loves and proceeds to criticize all of her other suitors. Alceste is in love with her but continually criticizes her for her dishonesty, claiming that it is because he truly loves her that he is brutally honest, rather than insincerely flattering her like the other men. Alceste also complains of Célimène,’s flirtations with other men, but she defends herself on the grounds that they are all influential at court and that she must be polite to them or they may negatively influence the lawsuit she is engaged in.

When Alceste confronts her with a love letter she has written to another man, she at first claims it was written to a woman, then admits that it was in fact written to Oronte, Alceste’s archrival. At the end of the play, several of her suitors confront her with letters she has written to each of them in which she professes her love for the man she is writing to and ridicules each of the other men. These suitors then leave, vowing to malign her reputation among others. Alceste, however, claims that he will always love her, in spite of this revelation of her true insincerity. He asks her to flee to the wilderness with him, but she responds that, although she would marry him were he to stay, she would not be happy leaving society. Upon hearing this, Alceste claims that he could never love her if she cannot love him by himself, away from society.

Clitandre

Clitandre is one of the two marquis who pursue Célimène,. In act 5, Clitandre, along with Acaste, confronts Célimène, with a letter she has written him in which she assures him that he is the only man she loves and makes a point of criticizing all of the other men who are pursuing her. In a letter to Acaste, however, she calls Clitandre a “love-struck loon” and claims that he is “the last man on earth I could fall for.” Clitandre sarcastically comments in regard gard to Célimène, that she is a “sweet creature.” Before leaving with Acaste, Clitandre sarcastically assures her that “everywhere we go / We’ll start to paint your splendid cameo!” meaning that they intend to ruin her reputation everywhere they go.

Du Bois

Du Bois is the servant of Alceste. He enters in act 4 to inform Alceste that a mysterious letter pertaining to his lawsuit has been delivered to his home and that he must pack his bags and flee immediately because he is in danger and may even be arrested. Du Bois is a bit of a buffoon and, in his urgency, has neglected to bring the urgent letter with him so that Alceste must leave Célimène,’s house to go home and read the letter.

Eliante

Eliante is Célimène,’s cousin. She is in love with Alceste but, selflessly, does everything she can to nurture the relationship between Célimène, and Alceste. She tells Philinte that, if Célimène, ever actually rejects Alceste, she is hoping he will want her. Philinte confesses his love for her and asks that she consider turning to him should Alceste end up with Célimène,. When Alceste is angered by what he believes is Célimène,’s betrayal, he insists that Eliante will have to marry him, because that would be the best way for him to get revenge on Célimène,. In the final moments of the play, Alceste turns to Eliante to apologize for not being in love with her, but she interrupts him to say that she is now in love with Philinte. Upon hearing this, Philinte jumps at the chance to express his devotion to her. Eliante, along with Philinte, represents a character who is genuinely sincere and honest but, unlike Alceste, also takes great care with the feelings of others.

Officer

The Officer of the Marshals of France enters in act 2 to inform Alceste that a lawsuit has been filed against him by Oronte and that he is required to come before a tribunal of marshals, who are, he explains, court officials who arbitrate in some disputes.

Oronte

Oronte is a gentleman who is in love with Célimène,. In act 1, he asks for Alceste’s opinion of a love poem he has written to her. Alceste replies with brutal honesty that the poem is “trash” and that Oronte should burn it and never write a poem again. Oronte, who is very influential in court, files a lawsuit against Alceste for the offense. During the tribunal, Alceste refuses to retract his statement about how bad he thinks the poem is but agrees to apologize for not liking it, which resolves the lawsuit. Oronte then begins to spread malicious rumors about Alceste in order to weaken his defense in another lawsuit in which he is engaged.

Philinte

Philinte is a true friend of Alceste. As the play opens, Alceste is chastising Philinte for his insincerity in treating a distant acquaintance as if he were a dear friend. Philinte defends his behavior by pointing out that the man is very influential at court, and so it is in his best interest to treat him as a friend. Throughout the play, Philinte debates with Alceste the issue of sincerity and insincerity in social interaction. While Alceste is insistent upon the virtue of complete honesty at all times, Philinte argues for the importance of common civility in social interactions. When Alceste announces that he is fed up with the hypocrisy and corruption of society and is fleeing to the wilderness, Philinte argues that, yes, all people are flawed, but that it is “part of Heaven’s plan,” and the lack of honesty and justice in the world are what make virtue so valuable. Philinte is in love with Eliante, who, for the first half of the play, is in love with Alceste. Nevertheless, he confesses his love for her and asks that, should she be rejected by Alceste, she consider him instead. In the final moments of the play, Eliante declares her love for Philinte over Alceste — at which point Philinte jumps at the chance to be her “slave.” As soon as Alceste leaves to go off to the wilderness, Philinte insists they follow after him and try to convince him not to leave society. Philinte and Eliante are the only truly compassionate characters in the play and are able to balance honesty with civility.

Media Adaptations

• FACSEA video distributors offers the 1989 version of The Misanthrope, directed by Jacqueline Duc, as part of its series collection Molière: Plaisir du Theatre, which includes productions of five other Molière plays.
• The video entitled Molière is a fictionalized dramatic production of the life of Molière, based on the biographical novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, which focuses on the social and political controversy surrounding Molière’s theatrical career.