Alyssa DiPanfilo

Survey 1
Professor Rothchild
November 20th 2014
Tartuffe

Tartuffe was written by Moliere in 1669. Soon after its first debut the king banned

the play from the public. At this time the church carried a lot of power and kept a close

eye on Moliere and his play Tartuffe. They claimed that the play was an attack agains

the Church. (pg. 506) After a permit was issued the play was allowed to run in the state

we see it today. The play is very interesting because it is written all in rhyming verses.

The flow of the play is very easy to follow and understand because the words resemble

a sing song like pattern. There are five scenes in this play and some of them have many

acts, while others only have one act that is simply one person speaking. There are also

many long monologues in the play, but not nearly as long as the monologues found in

talking. The exposition of the play comes in the very beginning when the entire family,

minus Orgon, is speaking about Tartuffe. They are talking about how he is a cheat and

a liar and Orgon does not seem to realize it. Orgon’s mother, Madam Pernelle, and

Orgon are the only ones who do not realize that Tartuffe is a hypocrite and a thief. This

sets up the play for the audience to see that our man character, who the play is titled

after, might not be all that he is cracked up to be. The fuse is exposed when Orgon tells

his daughter Mariane that she will no longer be marrying her love Valere, but she will be

marrying Tartuffe. Mariane is heartbroken, but she tells her father she will do as he

wishes even though it will make her unhappy because she does not want to be

disobedient. Dorine, Mariane’s lady’s maid, intervenes in this case and is known for not
being able to hold her tongue. She says to Orgon, “It’s hard to be a faithful wife, in

short,/To certain husbands of a certain sort,/And he who gives his daughter to a man

she hates/Must answer for her sins at Heaven’s gates./Think, Sir, before you play so

risky a role.” (pg. 515) Dorine is saying that any of the sins that Mariane commits while

being married to a man that she hates will rest on his head and not hers. The audience

is wondering what is going to happen at this point. Is Mariane going to be forced to

marry Tartuffe or will the family come up with a way to make their father see that this

man that he holds with such high regard is not all he seems to be? Even after all these

members of his family have said something to him Orgon still does not believe that

Tartuffe is a bad man. Orgon says to Damis, his son, “I know your motives; I know you

wish him ill;/Yes, all of you- wife, children, servants, all-/Conspire against him and desire

his fall,/Employing every shameful trick you can/To alienate me from this saintly man.”

(Pg. 522) The family finally comes to the conclusion that Orgon is not going to listen to

them so they must set a trap so he is able to see how much of a hypocrite Tartuffe is

with his own eyes. Elmire attempts to seduce Tartuffe and in the process she has her

husband hide under the table while the scene between them is going on. It is during this

part of the play that the climax occurs. Tartuffe is perfectly aware of how gullible Orgon

is and says to Elmire, “Why worry about the man? Each day he grows/More gullible;

one can lead him by the nose./ To find us here would fill him with delight,/And if he saw

the worst he’d doubt his sight.” (pg. 527) Orgon is outraged and finally speaks out

against Tartuffe. The deceitful character that we have suspected finally comes out as

Tartuffe yells,
 “No, I’m the mater, and you’re the one to go!/This house belongs to me, I’ll have

you know,/And I shall show you that you can’t hurt me/By this contemptible

conspiracy, That those who cross me know not what they do/And that I’ve means

to expose and punish you,/ Avenge offended Heaven, and make you grieve/That

ever you dared order me to leave.” (pg. 528)

The audience is finally able to see Tartuffe for what he is, a manipulative hypocrite.

Finally, the denouement comes when Tartuffe finally thinks he has the upper hand on

the household, but gets arrested. The Prince saw right through Tartuffe’s scam and had

him arrested and had the estate returned to Orgon and his family.

One of the main ideas of the play centers around the theme of hypocrisy. Right

from the very beginning Tartuffe is called out to be a hypocrite and he follows this theme

throughout the entire play. It is interesting to question weather he tells the truth about

anything at all. The only moment when he seems heartfelt is when he is trying to

seduce Elmire and even then that is him being a hypocrite because he promised Orgon

he would keep an eye on his wife out of his good nature. He didn’t tell Orgon that he

would actually be pursuing his wife. Another main idea is that the play seems to mock

religion. Tartuffe claims to be a religious man, but everything he does and all his hidden

motives are anything but religious. He uses religion as a way to trick people into

believing that he is a decent and moral individual when in actuality he is nothing but a

hypocrite.

Tartuffe is a comedy so the underlining aspect of the play is that it is very funny,

but it is frustrating. The entire family is trying to make their father see that Tartuffe is a
liar and the father does not want to hear it. As an audience member it is frustrating to

watch characters struggle when we know something that they do not. The family plots

together to try and take down Tartuffe. Tension is a feeling that runs throughout the

entire play because everyone in the household is just trying to get Orgon to understand

the situation but he is so clearly blinded by Tartuffe that it is infuriating to other members

of his family. All the family members are tense for different reasons. Mariane does not

want to marry Tartuffe because she loves Valere. Elmire is trying to get her husband to

understand and have him pay attention to her and not Tartuffe. Damis wishes to marry

Valere’s sister and if the wedding between Mariane and Valere does not happen then

his marriage won’t happen either. Orgon is upset because everyone thinks Tartuffe is a

horrible person, which he is, but he doesn’t see it yet. The stakes and tensions are high

as each family member tries to get what they want and keep everyone happy in the

process.

The atmosphere of the play is one that we still encounter today. There are many

people out there who are only concerned with themselves and will do anything they can

to scam people in order to further their personal gain. This is a very real thing that

happened during the time period and today. I really enjoyed reading this play and I

enjoyed watching it last year when it was performed here at Manhattanville. It really

makes me think about how the character of Tartuffe is not too far off from a lot of people

you encounter today. People a lot of times only think about themselves and how they

can get ahead in the world and they don’t care who they hurt or take advantage of in the

process. Tartuffe is really not a made up character and that is why he is feared as a
villain. He is not someone with magical powers, but he is a normal person disguised

with good intentions and that is what makes him terrifying.