Tartuffe is a comic play written by Jean-Baptiste Poquelin who is widely known as Moliere. The play was first performed in 1664. Due to the widespread controversy that the play elicited, it was placed on ban by factions from the religious community. In fact, the play aroused immense objection from the religious organizations of France during the seventeenth century to the extent that the then Paris Archbishop issued a threat of excommunication on any person watching, listening or buying the play. At the same time, Moliere was threatened with death when a priest suggested that he should be burned as an heretic in France. The comedy is a representation of how gullibility can cause mayhem and chaos on the lives of people. Tartuffe is the main character in the comedy. Though perceived by several characters in the play as holy, it turns out that he is pretentious. He capitalizes on the gullibility of other characters in order to attain his own selfish goals. The foolishness and unwariness of various characters provide a splendid opportunity for a pretender to pursue his selfish desires at the expense of others' innocence. Nevertheless, deceit and pretence can last for a long period; but not forever.
Tartuffe is the hypocrite in the play. He pretends to be a religious zealot in order to gain acceptance by the unsuspecting characters. Despite the fact that Tartuffe is discussed by virtually all characters from the commencement of the play he only appears in Act 3. As a matter of fact, the title of the play is in his name; a clear indication that he is the bone of contention. His devastating actions impact grossly on other characters. Various characters in play discuss him differently depending on their understanding of his behavior. For instance, in Act 1, Scene 1, we see Dorine referring to him as a fraudster. Similarly, Damis expresses his feelings about Tartuffe to Madame Pernelle, "his every action makes me seethe and tremble with helpless anger" (1.1.24). To the chagrin of many, Madame Pernelle does not see the bad side of Tartuffe. In fact, she says that Tartuffe is a "fine man who practices precisely what he preaches" (1.1.17). Surprisingly, Orgon also falls for the pretentious acts of Tartuffe. He foolishly praises Tartuffe when he tells Cleante that he "is a man who…a man who…an excellent man" (1.1.5).
Orgon's foolishness and gullibility creates a smooth sail for Tartuffe to pursue his motives. Orgon is wealthy and father to a daughter who Tartuffe intends to have a hand in marriage. When he arrives as a vagrant, he masquerades as perfect man of religion. Orgon, the master of the house and his mother, Madame Pernelle, find it dignified to accommodate the holy man as he is a pathway to heavenly kingdom. Henceforth, Orgon adheres strictly to the whims of the holy man without a question. The major intention in Tartuffe's schemes is to take away Orgon's estate, his wife's fidelity and eventually Orgon's daughter, Mariane, hand in marriage. No other character in the play depicts immense stupidity as Orgon. It is an irony that he is the master of the house. In fact, he can be described as a chucklehead, idiot, dunderhead, sucker, and dunce; all adjectives referring to a fool. In fact, it dawns on us that Orgon has serious problems when he claims that, "My mother, children, brother, and wife could die, And I'd not feel a single moment's pain" (1.5.4).
Tartuffe's motives are curtailed immensely by some characters with ability to unravel his secret mission. For instance, Dorine, the maid assigned to Mariane is a hindrance towards the attainment of Tartuffe's goals. Through her saucy, sassy and streetwise character, she offers wise counsel to Mariane not to yield to Tartuffe's pressure. Dorine's sassy character comes in hand towards her survival. As a maid, she is not entitled to receive favors from a wealthy father like Mariane. Similarly, she does not have an access to education like the other girls from rich families. Nevertheless, she manages to find a way of survival in the midst of intellectually able characters like Cleante and fueled outbursts from Damis by applying her wits. Moreover the courage that Dorine possesses positively impacts on the other characters. For instance, Dorine's wits and courage enables her befuddle the likes of Orgon who have dismal agility. When Orgon confers to Dorine that Mariane is to marry Tartuffe, she comes out boldly against the move. In fact, she manages to stall Orgon's plans.
The unmasking of Tartuffe's motives comes rather quickly and unexpectedly. When he feels that he is at the top of his game, calamity strikes. Apparently, Tartuffe has been able to manipulate Orgon and his mother into obeying him and never questioning his actions. When Tartuffe decides to use his charm to tempt Elmire into giving in to his sexual advances, she capitalizes on the chance to protect her family. Elmire's willingness to give in to Tartuffe's demands can be viewed as unjust. However, deep within her, she feels that the end of it all will bring much joy to her family. She uses the opportunity to demand for an end of Tartuffe's intentions of marrying Mariane and advocate her marriage to Valere. Later on, Elmire hides her husband under the table so that he can get a glimpse of the true side of Tartuffe. She does her things slowly but wisely in order to clean up the mess caused by Tartuffe. At the moment when she feels that her time is ripe, she strikes the last blow ending the charade. In spite of his pretence, Tartuffe is unmasked permanently bringing an end of his reign.
Lies and dishonesty can have a great impact on the lives of people. A hypocrite may find a way of luring the vast majority and most honorable of all people. Selfishness with cunningness may make a person attain reasonable strides towards their motives. However, the disaster- truth, may strike at the least expected hour; exposing the deceitfulness motivated by egocentricity.
Work cited
Poquelin, Jean-Baptiste, Moliere. Tartuffe. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing, 2008.
