In the _Misanthrope_, Molière has given to Célimène all the coquetry, the egoism, and the caustic wit which belonged to Armande; to his own rôle all the weakness of a high-minded man struggling vainly against his passion for an unworthy object. "The love I bear for her," says Alceste-- "Ne ferme point mes yeux aux défauts qu'on lui trouve; Et je suis, quelque ardeur qu'elle m'ait pu donner, Le premier à les voirs, comme à les condamner. Mais, avec tout cela, quoi que je puis faire, Je confesse mon foible; elle a l'art de me plaire; J'ai beau voir ses défauts, et j'ai beau l'en blâmer, En dépit qu'on en ait, elle se fait aimer; Sa grâce est la plus forte, et, sans doute, ma flamme De ces vices du temps pourra purger son âme." There are moments indeed in the play when it almost ceases to belong to the realm of fiction. The scene, for instance, in the fourth act, when Alceste, holding in his hand the proof of Célimène's perfidy, the letter written by her to his rival, Oronte, calls upon her "to justify herself at least of a crime that overwhelms him," and to do her best to appear faithful, while he, on his side, will do his best to believe her such; and Célimène tartly refuses-- "Allez, vous êtes fou, dans vos transports jaloux, Et ne méritez pas l'amour qu'on a pour vous. * * * * * Allez, de tels soupçons méritent ma colère, Et vous ne valez pas que l'on vous considère: Je suis sotte, et veux mal à ma simplicité, De conserver, encor, pour vous, quelque bonté; Je devrois, autre part, attacher mon estime Et vous faire un sujet de plainte légitime," may well have had its parallel in their own lives. And few, again, can doubt the sincerity with which the lover must have uttered the lines,-- "Je fais tout mon possible À rompre de ce cœur l'attachement terrible; Mais mes plus grands efforts n'ont rien fait jusqu'ici, Et c'est pour mes péchés que je vous aime ainsi." "We might well say without exaggeration of this Célimène," remarks August Wilhelm von Schlegel,[20] "that there is not a single good point in her whole composition." This may be so; but, as M. Larroumet is careful to point out, there is really nothing in the _Misanthrope_ which gives us the right to assume that Armande was anything worse than an incorrigible coquette. "Célimène is impeccable; she has neither heart nor feeling."[21] Nor do the remainder of Molière's plays furnish any fresh proof against Armande; they, on the contrary, strengthen the impression that, while he suffered much from his wife's character, he never believed her to have been guilty of anything which might affect his honour.