How much sympathy does Molière have for Alceste and how much does he expect us to have? Why or why not?
What aesthetic, formal, and moral problems arise from the play containing a satirist (Alceste)?
Do you believe Philinte and Éliante will succeed in getting Alceste to return or is he destined to live alone, away from society? Will he and Célimène finally get together? Why or why not?
Do you believe Alceste and Célimène are in love or have some approximate mutual feeling between them or not? If not, how do you perceive their relationship?
Is the play a satire? If so, in what sense? What is it satirizing?
What is/are the source(s) of greatest comedy in the play? Do we laugh more with Alceste or at him? Why?
What is Alceste’s worldview? Is there some truth in it? How do you perceive his commentary about the ubiquity of vice and corruption in the world?
What is the role of reason in the play? Which characters are the most reasonable and/or unreasonable and do you perceive a pattern in their capacity for it?
