He puts an end to this hypocrisy by telling her that his nature is not the type which could even endure a life at the court. Thus, throughout the conversation, we must admire Alceste to a limited degree for being honest in evaluating himself and his merits as far as his association with the court is concerned.
Again in this scene, when Alceste's frankness and sincerity are put to a test as far as Célimène is concerned, he falters. Although he claims that he is sincere and although Arsinoé is essentially telling him the truth, Alceste is annoyed that he is being told the truth. He would have preferred to be deceived and remain in the dark concerning Célimène's activities. Consequently, even though Alceste maintains that one must always be honest, and even though he is honest as far as his own merits are concerned, he is not consistent as far as Célimène is concerned. Throughout the play, his nature is contradictory when it comes to his love for Célimène.
In general, by the end of the first three acts we have had presented to us numerous pictures of fops, of flirts, of hypocrites, etc. Each has been exposed to show exactly what his nature is. Even Alceste cannot remain consistent to his philosophy when Célimène is concerned.
