Tartuffe By Moliere
Moliere’s neoclassic comedy, Tartuffe, is a prime example of his expertise
in
the comedic technique. The plot is one that keeps the reader or
viewer
interested and aware. It begins with Madame Pernell visiting her son’s
house
and reprimanding all of them but their boarder, Tartuffe. She believes
Tartuffe
is a man of astounding character. The members of the house, however,
disagree
and say that Tartuffe is deceitful and a fraud. After Madam Pernell
leaves,
Dorine and Cleante, the maid and the brother-in-law of the main
character, Orgon,
discuss Tartuffe and both agree that he has captivated
Orgon. Damis, Orgon’s
son, wonders whether his father will allow Mariane,
Orgon’s daughter, to marry
Valere, who she is in love with, because Damis
is in love with Valere’s
sister. Orgon comes and tells Mariane that he wants
her to marry Tartuffe
instead of Valere because he wants to ally Tartuffe to
his house. She is so
shocked that she does not say anything. Cleante tries to
tell Orgon about
Tartuffe’s misleading personality, but Orgon does not
want to hear it. Valere
finds out about this proposed marriage, and Dorine
promises to help Mariane and
Cleante expose Tartuffe for the hypocrite he
is. Meanwhile, Damis has a plan to
hide in a closet to try to expose
Tartuffe’s hypocrisy. He hears Tartuffe
profess love to Elmire, Orgon’s wife,
and suggests that they become lovers.
Damis comes from the closet and
threatens to tell Orgon what he has said. Damis
then tells Orgon, and Orgon
is so blind to the truth, that he believes his own
son is evil and
disinherits him. Later, when Orgon and Tartuffe are alone, Orgon
tells
Tartuffe of his plans to make him his sole inheritor and his
son-in-law.
After this, Cleante tries to talk to Orgon about Tartuffe and
he confronts
Tartuffe in front of Orgon. Tartuffe just dodges the
questions, though, and
leaves as soon as possible. Elmire then convinces
Orgon to hide and find out for
himself about Tartuffe, so he does so.
Tartuffe comes to see Elmire and once
again professes his love. Orgon hears
it all, comes from the closet, and bans
Tartuffe from his house. Orgon,
however, has already signed over his house to
Tartuffe and Tartuffe
threatens him with this. Orgon is afraid because he has
given Tartuffe some
secret papers that could ruin his position in the court.
Tartuffe comes
back later with officers of the court to try to get Orgon’s
house, but the
king has seen through Tartuffe and sides with Orgon. Tartuffe is
ordered to
be arrested and the story ends. This production seems to be about
the
blindness of Orgon and how easily a person can deceive another. Tartuffe
has
fooled nobody but Orgon – the man who has the power and wealth in
this
situation. The characters in this play all play a certain role in the
plot.
Elmire, Orgon’s wife, presents a reasonable attitude towards life
and the
situation. She was the only one able to convince Orgon to see for
himself that
Tartuffe was a hypocrite. She wants nothing but to save her
husband from
Tartuffe’s control. Damis, Orgon’s son, is the unlucky soul
to take the
blame for his father’s misjudgment of Tartuffe. In trying to help
his father,
he loses his trust and his ties to him. He wants to keep Tartuffe
away from his
family, but the only thing he succeeds in doing is losing his
inheritance.
Mariane is the lovely daughter, who is going to be forced to
marry a man she
does not love or even like. She is part of Orgon’s plan to
make Tartuffe a
member of the household, whether she likes it or not. She
just wants to marry
the man she loves. Cleante is Orgon’s brother-in law. He
tries to get everyone
to view the situation with calm and reason. He wants
the best for Orgon and his
family. Tartuffe is the imposter who weasels his
way into Orgon’s inheritance
and then betrays him. He is only looking for the
money and is a very greedy man.
Orgon is the central character that comes
under the influence of Tartuffe. His
only want seems to be to make Tartuffe
an ally to his house. He is blind to the
real situation and seems to have no
common sense and no trust in his family and
what they are telling him. He is
duped by Tartuffe, and is only saved by those
he would not listen to before.
He is a complex man who makes the story what it
is. Tartuffe is a man of
deceit and lust. He lusts for money and this is what
becomes his final
downfall. He is the villain of the production, which is
obvious to both the
audience and those in the story, except for Orgon and Madam
Pernell. He
is a master of disguising his true self. As a religious devotee, he
convinces
Orgon and Madam Pernell that he is a pious and humble man. He is a
superior
in the fact that he can recognize his victims weaknesses and play on
them. He
exploits these flaws for his own advantages. Tartuffe is far from a
simple
man. He is very alert and uses all methods possible to reach his goal. In
the
production we watched the actor playing Tartuffe brought
these
characteristics to life. He was very successful in portraying the
extreme
insincerity of Tartuffe. His behavior portrayed one who betrays.
There was such
a complete change in attitude and behavior when he would be
with someone such as
Cleante than when he was with Orgon. His voice would
become more sincere
sounding (even though we know it truly was not) and he
would soften his whole
personality when he was with Orgon. I found it
remarkable how accurately he
portrayed Tartuffe. I believe he was extremely
successful in bringing
Tartuffe’s character to life.