The pair find comic foils in their manservants -
Interestingly, in one interview Tom Stoppard called this play "the first tragicomedy." A study in the extremism of integrity, it juxtaposes the hero's hatred of artificiality against his love interest's wanton superficiality. The pair find comic foils in their manservants - Du Bois and the Basque - and serious ones their friends, the rationalist, middle-of-the-road couple (*) Philinte and Éliante. The plot revolves around the hero's disgust with the woman pursuing him, Arsinoé, as well as Acaste, Clitandre, and the other suitors of Célimène. Most notable of these is Oronte, who writes her an abysmal love sonnet and brings the hero up on slander charges when he criticizes it. That hero, Alceste, eventually wins Célimène's love but is too disgusted with humanity to marry her and goes into exile. For 10 points identify this 1666 "comedy" by Molière.
Interestingly, in one interview Tom Stoppard called this play "the first tragicomedy.
The {Misanthrope} [or {Le Misantrôp}]