The Misanthrope

Molière's comedy of the man who cannot flatter, set against a society that runs on exactly that.

Specifications & Metrics

author

Molière

type

Comedy of manners

era

French Classicism (1666)

language

French

setting

Parisian salons

source text

Molière's satirical observation of court society

acts

5 acts

Relative Scale in Plays

Core Principles & Analysis

• Premiered in 1666 with Molière himself playing Alceste.
• Alceste's refusal to flatter collides with Célimène's society of wit and slander.
• Its rhymed couplets satirize the salon world that produced them.

Sources

• Wikipedia: The Misanthrope