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I'm trying to remember the 18th- or 19th-century play in which two men vouvoient one another, but then suddenly one shifts to the shock of the other man (and the audience). It goes something like this:

Homme 1 : (some statement or question with vous)
Homme 2 : Moi ?
Homme 1 : Toi.

I thought it was Corneille's Le Cid but I've looked through the text and can't find it. So then I turned to ChatGPT which just straight up invented scenes from several different plays (including Le Cid, funnily enough) and apologized when I called it on it, and then gave up. (Je m'excuse pour la confusion. Je ne suis pas sûr de quelle pièce de théâtre vous parlez.)

I just can't figure it out. Anyone know?

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    Hmm... that's not a lot to go on. There are probably a few such instances. I remember there's a scene in Les Mis where Javert switches from vous to tu with Valjean when he comes to the point of recognizing him...
    – Luke Sawczak ♦
    Commented Apr 10, 2023 at 17:02
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    Le Cid is 17th century. Are you looking for a tragedy? In classical comedy, it is very frequent to switch from vouvoiement to tutoiement in fight scenes when characters call each other names.
    – guillaume31
    Commented Apr 11, 2023 at 9:19
  • Yes, it was a tragedy. I just remember reading this scene in class and discussing how the switch from vous to tu was so shocking. It definitely wasn't a fight scene - it was a discussion or maybe an argument. I'm interested in this one in particular because it was so succinct.
    – lkl
    Commented Apr 11, 2023 at 12:35
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    Si ton souvenir de « tragédie » est fiable, la mention de tutoiement et vouvoiement fait penser à l'Acte IV, scène 5 d'Andromaque (Racine) où Hermione, s'adressant à Pyrrhus passe du tutoiement au vouvoiement pour revenir au tutoiement ; passage qui est étudié pour montrer la fluctuation des sentiments d'Hermione à travers l'utilisation du vouvoiement et du tutoiement. But your use of "so shocking" doesn't fit when describing this use of tu and vous (at least for French natives) by Hermione. The text of the play.
    – None
    Commented Apr 12, 2023 at 7:37

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En effet, il s'agit du Cid de Corneille, acte I, scène 3. Don Diègue et le Comte (Don Gomès) se disputent. À un moment donné, Don Diègue met le Comte en colère, ce qui entraîne le passage au tutoiement et finit par une gifle du Comte à Don Diègue:

Le Comte
Parlons-en mieux, le Roi fait honneur à votre âge.

Don Diègue
Le Roi, quand il en fait, le mesure au courage.

Le Comte
Et par là cet honneur n’était dû qu’à mon bras.

Don Diègue
Qui n’a pu l’obtenir ne le méritait pas.

Le Comte
Ne le méritait pas! moi?

Don Diègue
Vous.

Le Comte
Ton impudence,
Téméraire vieillard, aura sa récompense.
(Il lui donne un soufflet.)

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