Act 2, Scene 1 Summary

Alceste speaks with Celimene, grieving because he is certain that he will have to leave her because she doesn't love him. She acts as if she doesn't know what he's talking about. Alceste confronts her with the fact that she turns no man away. He accuses her of welcoming them all and encouraging men to fall in love with her.

Alceste is especially jealous of Celimene's suitor named Clitandre, but Celimene insists she has to be nice to him, because he is influential in court. She has a case before the court and wants him to help her. Alceste wants her to forget about the case and be honest. He wants to know whether she feels anything different for him than she does for the other men. Celimene claims to love him and acts outraged and offended that he would doubt...