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[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/LeMisanthrope_2971.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:210:Alceste]]

->''« L'ami du genre humain n'est point du tout mon fait. »''\\
''"The human race's friend is not the sort for me."''
-->-- '''Alceste''', ''Le Misanthrope''

''The Misanthrope, or The Malcontent in Love'' (''Le Misanthrope, ou l'Atrabilaire amoureux'') is a 1666 comedy of manners by Creator/{{Moliere}}, written in the typical Alexandrine verse [[note]]a line of twelve syllables, with a strong caesura (or pause) in the middle, roughly equivalent to the English iambic hexameter[[/note]] of the French classical drama. Alceste, the title character, looks down on the society, believing it hypocritical and disdaining the false compliments which are considered polite. Unfortunately, the very qualities which are horrifying to him are exemplified in Célimène, the woman he loves.

Some HilarityEnsues, but the play also seriously points out human flaws.

For the general trope on misanthropy, see HatesEveryoneEqually and MisanthropeSupreme.

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!!''The Misanthrope'' provides examples of:

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Arsinoé is in love with Alceste, who is not attracted to her. In the end, he tells her outright that he is not interested.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: In the beginning, Philinte is in love with Éliante, while Éliante is in love with Alceste and Alceste is in love with Célimène who has many suitors.
* BetaCouple: Philinte and Éliante. They get together at the end, with no drama at all.
* BrutalHonesty: Alceste endorses and applies this, getting him in a lot of trouble. For example, he tells Oronte that his poem is bad.
* CelebrityParadox: Philinte name-drops ''School for Husbands,'' another Creator/{{Moliere}} play.
* ChickMagnet: The three female characters, Célimène, Éliante and Arsinoé, are attracted to Alceste, in spite of his poor social skills.
* CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds: Philinte and Éliante getting together at the end, providing the only honest relationship in the whole show.
* DidNotGetTheGirl: The protagonist, Alceste, ends up alone. He proposes to his LoveInterest, Célimène, who would have accepted his offer if he had not demanded her to withdraw from the world with him.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Alceste and Célimène have broken it off, and Alceste is still set on becoming a hermit.]] It doesn't help that the play ends so abruptly (see NoEnding, below).
* {{Foil}}:
** The polite Philinte for the [[BrutalHonesty brutally honest]] Alceste.
** Honest and loving Éliante for the (ultimately) two-faced Célimène.
* GiftedlyBad: Oronte thinks that he is a talented poet and he publishes his poems, but his poetry is really bad according to Alceste and Célimène.
* GrandeDame: The prude Arsinoé is an upper-class woman who complies with the social norms and criticizes frivolous women like Célimène.
* HatesEveryoneEqually: Alceste claims to feel this way, but in practice is simply honest with everyone equally. It's hard to say if he's actually any more malicious than the other characters, or if it just seems that way because he speaks his mind while they conceal it.
-->'''Alceste:''' No, I include all men in one dim view:\\
Some men I hate for being rogues; the others\\
I hate because they treat the rogues like brothers.
* HopelessSuitor:
** Célimène cultivates a herd of them. It's implied that she did like Alceste the best, but is just unwilling to give up on all the attention.
** Éliante is one for Alceste, although she is perfectly aware of this and really wants him to be happy.
* IJustWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Philinte for Éliante, and Éliante for Alceste. Both are equally fine being the runner up to their beloved's preferred suitor.
* LiarRevealed: Célimène accepts the advances of several men, and writes letters to them with notes on how stupid the ''other'' suitors are. This gets rubbed in her face in her final scene when they all confront her at once.
* LoveTriangle: Bordering on LoveDodecahedron, focused on two points:
** Célimène, desired by (apparently) every man except Philinte
** Alceste, the object of affection for Célimène (kind of), Éliante, and perhaps Arsinoé (though she denies it)
* MoralGuardian: Arsinoé visits Célimène to inform her that many people criticize her for flirting with many men. Arsinoé suggests Célimène should reform.
* NoEnding: The play ends with all but one plot thread unresolved. [[spoiler:Philinte and Éliante get together, but Alceste and Célimène are still at odds, and Alceste is still threatening to abandon society and live in isolation.]]
* NoodleIncident: At the start of the play, Alceste is in litigation with an unnamed character for an unknown reason. In the end, we hear that he lost the trial, but we never hear of the identity of his opponent and the reason for the trial.
* OppositesAttract: Alceste despises anyone who is polite instead of honest, but is in love with Célimène, who by the end of the play is revealed to be about as two-faced as they come. It's {{Lampshaded}} several times.
-->'''Alceste:''' I see her faults, despite my ardent love\\
And all I see I fervently reprove\\
And yet I'm weak; for all her falsity,\\
That woman knows the art of pleasing me\\
And though I never cease complaining of her\\
I swear I cannot manage not to love her
* ProtagonistTitle: The title refers to Alceste, the protagonist.
* ReallyGetsAround: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Célimène accepts the advances of several men, and tells each of them that she loves him.
* SeriousBusiness: A police officer comes for Alceste because he told Oronte that his poem was bad. It seems that the police tries to mediate in this kind of conflicts.
* SuchAPhony: When she hears that Arsinoé is coming, Célimène castigates her. As soon as Arsinoé enters the room, Célimène pretends to be nice to her and says that she really enjoys her visit.
* TheThreeFacesOfEve: Arsinoé (the "wife") is an older woman who complies with the social norms. Célimène (the "seductress") accepts the advances of many men. Éliante (the "child") is a younger, innocent woman.

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