The Misanthrope - Alceste and Celimene vs. Philinte and Eliante

                Philinte and Eliante are foils to the main pair of characters.  Philinte is a good friend of Alceste’s and he understands Alceste’s reasoning for what he chooses to do.  Although he understands the reasoning, he does not agree.  Philinte is very balanced and he chooses to believe that you have to be willing to deal with the faults of man to some extent.  One example is he believes it to be acceptable to tell little white lies to avoid certain situations.  Alceste simply refuses to do this.  In this aspect, Philinte is the voice of reason and highlights Alceste’s mistakes. 

                Eliante is very witty and is a keen observer of what goes on in the play. Eliante believes, as does Alceste, that honesty is very important in all things.  Although she agrees with him, she believes that this is impossible due to the way men behave when in love.  Eliante expresses her opinions of others, but she never goes to the extreme of gossiping like Celimene does. She finds a balance just as Philinte does. 

                In the end Philinte and Eliante have the only successful relationship while Alceste and Celimene are left alone and unhappy.  The pair is a perfect match for each other in this play because Philinte is the only reasonable man in the play and Eliante is the only woman that has not been deceiving anyone.  This suggests that modesty and moderation are the desired qualities to have.