Tartuffe’ is a play written by a playwright Moliere, originally entitled Tartuffe, ‘ou l’mposteur’ in 17th Century, and is also one of the most famous theatrical comedies. A wealthy patriarch named Orgon falls under the influence of a hypocritical religious devotee named Tartuffe. Orgon becomes obsessed with him and religious ideals. Some of the characters of this comedy are Orgon, Elmire, Tartuffe, Madame Pernelle, Dorine, etc. Plot Orgon and his mother fall under the influence of the hypocrite – Tartuffe, a man who claims to be holy, but is really a fraud.
Orgon’s wife and his brother in law and other relatives try to understand the truth about Tartuffe through Orgon. We see the conflict in the play when Orgon tells his daughter Mariane that she is going to be marry Tartuffe instead of Valere, her longtime fiance. At this point, many of the characters hate Tartuffe already, and the crisis starts here. Dorine, Mariane’s servant is always vocal when she expresses her displeasure, but Tartuffe does not care about it. Complication in the play occurs when Tartuffe attempts to seduce Orgon’s wife named Elmire.
She rejects him, and makes a deal with Tartuffe, if he convinces Orgon to allow Mariane marry Valere, she is not going to tell Orgon about what happened. After the incident, Damis decides to tell Orgon what happened. Orgon does not believe him and disinherits him instead. Elmire then decides that Orgon should find out the truth as soon as possible. Orgon finally finds out what is going on after she makes Orgon hide under the table while she flirts with the hypocrite. Orgon is terrified by what he sees and confronts Tartuffe.
Everything changes after he realizes what is going on. Orgon realizes that Tartuffe is in a difficult situation, and after all, the swindler runs away with some criminative documents. Things are not going very well at this point. Tartuffe has got the ball in his court. In denouement, the papers that Tartuffe took with him could land Orgon in prison. Valere comes in and convinces Orgon to flee out of the country immediately. Orgon then prepares for his departure. It looks like Tartuffe beat Orgon at first, and the only option that Orgon has right now is leaving the country.
In conclusion, things change, Tartuffe and the policeman show up to arrest Orgon. He shows the documents to the King. The policeman arrests Tartuffe instead, and explains that the King could see through Tartuffe’s deception. Orgon gets his property back and Tartuffe is taken away. Mariane and Valere get married and the play ends with a happy ending, completed with a marriage. The bad guys get beat, the good guys win, and everything is good for the kingdom of France. Characters Orgon
The protagonist of the play, husband of Elmire, and the head of the house, Orgon, a credulous man whose embrace of Tartuffe over his own family’s well-being enables the play’s central conflict. Although he eventually learns the truth, his impulsive behavior allowed Tartuffe to destroy him. Tartuffe Tartuffe does not show up in person until Act 3. By this point, we already know what other characters think of him. He is a hypocrite who disguises himself as a man of great piety. Being very manipulative and unsympathetic, Orgon and his mother fall for Tartuffe’s illusion.
He also can easily analyze the weaknesses of his victims and then use their flaws for his advantage. His downfall is caused by his lust. Elmire She is a wife of Orgon and stepmother to Mariane and Damis. She is intelligent who used Tartuffe’s lust to figure him out. Although she is often frustrated by her foolish husband, she stays loyal to him throughout the whole play. Madame Pernelle She is Orgon’s self righteous mother, grandmother of Damis and Mariane. Madem Pernelle is also a very judgmental woman scornful of her family’s ways.
She is also convinced that Tartuffe is a wise and pious man, and that the rest of the household should follow his instructions. She is the last one to finally realize Tartuffe’s hypocrisy. Dorine She is Mariane’s maid. She is also sassy saucy. She always has some good advice, and without her, Marian probably would crack under pressure from Orhon and married Tartuffe. In addition, she is the wise servant that sees through all pretense, and easily realizes what really is going on. Thought Hypocrisy Tartuffe is called hypocrite pretty much right from the start.
The more we know about him, the more we notice his hypocrisy. Hypocrisy comes handy in his situation and it helps in projecting a false image. It is really hard to do this and Tartuffe does not do it well, but he still succeeds in putting everything together. This is the real issue with hypocrisy, it doubts everything. Religion Religion is one of the main theme of the play, and it is used to emphasize religious hypocrisy, not to attack nor hurt religion. Tartuffe shows his religious piety and through it he controls and manipulates Orgon into overlooking his family’s welfare.
In addition, one of the Orgon’s motive is to get closer to God. Justice Justice is a very significant part of the play. Orgon demonstrates injustice many times. Disinheriting his son, forcing his daughter to consent to marriage which she did not want, and treating everybody with disrespect. At one point it was too late to recover his mind, the effects of his injustice could not be handled. We see some justice at the end of the play, when Tartuffe also gets punished for his sins. Ambition Ambition in this play plays a different role than usual.
The play posits ambition as a vice rather than a virtue, the ones who have it, do not achieve their desired results. For instance, Orgon and Tartuffe do not achieve what they wanted. We see from the play that Orgon is very ambitious, and hopes to ensure to continue his good reputation. However, he falls prey to Tartuffe’s frauds and almost causes a total collapse. Similarly to him, Tartuffe’s ambition destroys him. He wants to get Orgon’s wife, his house and even greater reputation. All in all, ambition in this play presents something to be scared of. Tone Tartuffe is written in rhyming verse and in couplets.
On one hand, rhyming in this play would sound very smooth or just plain eloquent sometimes, and on the other hand, things can sound a bit silly when that same style is copied in English. Setting The setting in the play is a middle class home in France, Paris. We can assume that all the action takes place in one big house and Moliere does not tell us, nor he discovers a lot about it. The time is the 1660’s, when Louis XIV sat on the throne of France. Writing Style Each line in this play is twelve syllables long. They are arranged in rhyming couplets and the final word of each line rhymes.
