The Misanthrope takes place in the very late seventeenth century,

or the early eighteenth century. It is set in Paris, France. Nearly

the entire play set in the upstairs room of a mansion.

The conflict in The Misanthrope is man versus man, and man

versus himself. Alceste, one of the main characters, is in love with

Celimene, another main character. The conflict is between Alceste

and the hosts of other suitors that are in love with Celimene. In the

end, Celimene needs so much time to decide between Alceste and

Oronte, that Alceste tells her that the simple fact of her hesitation

is proof that she does not love him enough to marry him. He leaves

town then, fleeing police.

The story is written in third person format. The adaptation

author uses vague phrases and had trouble passing his point along.

This is very distracting while reading the play, and can hamper

your understanding of it.

The Misanthrope`s plot is somewhat complicated. It starts

out in a room above a dinner party in Paris. Alceste, the main

character, is talking with friends. A poet comes up with a poem

that he would liked critiqued. Alceste does so, and gives such a

stinging editorial that the poet must leave the room. At this point it

seems the entire play will go on like this. Celimene is then

introduced. She is Alceste's girlfriend. They talk for a bit, and

then she leaves. Due to the vague adaptation, this section is hazy.

Somehow Alceste comes up with a letter from Celimene to Oronte.

It contains evidence she has been cheating. When confronted with

this, she denies it for a bit, and then admits to cheating. Alceste is

angry, but proposes for her to move away to the country with him.

She takes so long in answering that Alceste tells her that she must

not love him and leaves the city, fleeing police that are after him

for a reason that was never made clear.

The main character in this book is Alceste. He is extremely

nasty on the exterior, but is nice to his friends. He also cannot

stand disloyalty to him; whether from a servant or from a mate.

Celimene is another main character. She is a beautiful young

women who is 'overly friendly'. In her youthfulness, she does not

know true love. This eventually hurts Alceste, who is older and

deeply in love with her.

I don't believe that there is a theme to this play. It is simply a

story of lost love to be told to an audience. As I haven't learned

anything from this play, I cannot say I can apply anything from it.

If I were directing this production for Western High School, I

would face many problems. First and foremost the language would

be extremely hard to understand for the average person. A

complete modernization would be necessary. To generate student

interest, intensive advertising would be necessary. If someone sees

or hears about something enough, they will eventually take an

interest in it.