The Misanthrope recap

Alceste condemns the polite insincerity practiced by his friend Philinte and the fashionable circle around Célimène, the witty young widow he loves. His refusal to praise Oronte's sonnet creates an official quarrel, while his jealousy grows as Célimène entertains several suitors. Arsinoé, who desires Alceste, promises evidence that Célimène is unfaithful. A compromising letter appears, but Célimène initially explains it away. Alceste then loses an unrelated lawsuit and resolves to leave society. When letters circulated among Célimène's admirers reveal that she has encouraged each man while mocking all the others, most suitors abandon her. Alceste offers forgiveness only if she will marry him and share his complete retreat from the world. She refuses that condition, so he leaves alone. Philinte and Éliante agree to marry and go after him, hoping to prevent his self-imposed exile.

Alceste rebukes his friend Philinte for warmly greeting a man he scarcely knows. Philinte argues that ordinary courtesy keeps society workable, while Alceste demands that outward conduct exactly match inward feeling. Their debate also exposes a contradiction: Alceste loves Célimène, a young widow celebrated for the social graces he condemns, while the more compatible Éliante cares for him. Oronte arrives seeking friendship and an honest judgment of his new sonnet. Alceste tries to discourage him indirectly, then finally declares the poem poor. Offended, Oronte quarrels with him, and their disagreement is referred to the authorities for settlement.

Alceste presses Célimène to choose him and stop encouraging other admirers. She dismisses his jealousy and insists that social attentions do not prove love. Their argument is interrupted as Éliante, the marquesses Acaste and Clitandre, and other visitors gather. Célimène entertains them with sharp portraits of absent acquaintances, delighting everyone except Alceste, who sees their approval as another form of hypocrisy. He refuses to flatter her even when challenged and accuses the group of rewarding her faults. A guard then summons him to answer the complaint arising from his criticism of Oronte's sonnet, forcing him to leave the romantic dispute unresolved.

Arsinoé visits Célimène under the guise of friendship and reports that respectable society criticizes her conduct with men. Célimène answers by describing the equally unkind judgments made about Arsinoé's severity and self-advertised virtue. Once Célimène leaves, Arsinoé turns to Alceste. She praises his merit, suggests that she can help him at court, and criticizes his devotion to a woman who does not deserve his trust. Alceste rejects court advancement and asks for facts rather than insinuation. Arsinoé promises to show him direct evidence of Célimène's disloyalty and leads him away to see it.

Philinte and Éliante discuss Alceste's difficult love, and Philinte admits that he would gladly marry Éliante if Alceste remains fixed on Célimène. Alceste arrives with a letter supplied by Arsinoé that appears to show Célimène favoring Oronte. He confronts Célimène and turns even his pain into an argument for her to confess plainly. She challenges his interpretation and manages to restore enough uncertainty that he remains attached to her. Before the matter is settled, Alceste's servant Du Bois brings alarming news about a separate lawsuit. Alceste has lost the case despite believing the justice wholly on his side, and further trouble may follow. He resolves to withdraw from a society that, to him, has proved corrupt in both love and law.

After losing his lawsuit, Alceste declares that he will leave society and asks Célimène to share his retreat. Oronte also demands that she choose between them. Acaste and Clitandre then produce letters in which Célimène has privately encouraged her various admirers while mocking each of the others. Confronted with the matching evidence, she no longer attempts a full denial. Oronte and the marquesses abandon their courtship. Alceste says he will forgive her if she marries him and lives apart from the world, but Célimène will not accept such isolation. He ends their relationship. Arsinoé tries to offer herself and is rejected as well. Éliante accepts Philinte's love, and they plan to pursue Alceste in the hope of stopping his complete withdrawal. Alceste departs consistent in his principles but separated from the people who still care for him.

Letters written by Célimène expose that she has privately encouraged several suitors while ridiculing each of them to the others. Oronte, Acaste, and Clitandre withdraw after hearing the evidence. Alceste is willing to forgive Célimène if she will marry him and leave society for a secluded life, but she refuses the isolation he demands. He therefore renounces their relationship. Arsinoé offers herself as an alternative and is sharply dismissed. Éliante accepts Philinte's proposal, and the two decide to follow Alceste and try to keep him from carrying out his plan to abandon society. Alceste ends morally consistent but alone, unable to reconcile his demand for absolute truth with either love or ordinary social life.