Another of Celimene's suitors, Oronte, arrives and enters the room. He gushes over Alceste and asks for his friendship, along with a hug. Alceste is courteous but blunt, saying that friendship needs time to grow. Oronte gushes again, this time over the wisdom of Alceste's response. He then claims he wants Alceste to be just as honest in his critique of a sonnet that Oronte has written. Alceste tries to warn him that he'll be truthful, and Oronte claims this is just what he wants.
Oronte reads his sonnet aloud. It is obviously written to Celimene. In it, he chastises her for giving him hope of gaining her love, when it seems she is only being kind. The poem says that her kindness is not.....
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