The Misanthrope
(Der Menschenfeind)

Alceste loves Célimène, but the young widow he tries to court strings him along. Impatiently, he goes to her palace to extract a clear statement from her. There he meets friends, competitors and women who are worthy of him. Alceste has a reputation for being exhausting, smart, witty, wealthy and full of hatred for the society which he is a part of and which is also a part of him. He lashes out, hurls damaging insults, preaches the unconditional truth, the non-compromise and the escape from the world as the only possible path.
The Misanthrope is probably Molière's most autobiographical play. At the court of Louis XIV, a clearheaded, easily seduced playwright who succumbed to a woman 21 years his junior knew perfectly well that nothing was funnier than a man caught in the vortex of his own flaws. He saw through the mechanisms of the court and its power hierarchy. On the other hand, he also recognised people's natural selfishness and saw the need for a social contract. But what would such a vision look like?