Ta!uffe #e Hypoc$te

The Players

Orgon-head of the house and husband of Elmire

Tartuffe-Orgon's houseguest and a hypocrite

Madame Pernelle-Orgon's mother

Elmire-Orgon's wife, Taruffe tries to seduce her

Dorine-Orgon's housemaid

Mariane-Orgon's daughter, in love with Valère

Damis-Orgon's son

Valère-in love with Mariane

#e Plot

• Tartuffe convinces Orgon that he speaks with divine authority, and he gains Orgon’s trust. Orgon’s family and friends are not fooled.

• Ogron tells Tartuffe that he has incriminating letters against a friend. Then Orgon announces that Marine (who is already engaged to Valère) will marry Tartuffe.

• Wanting to expose Tartuffe as fraud, the family decides to come up with a plan to make Tartuffe confess his love to Elmire

• Tartuffe tries to seduce Elmire. Orgon enters and Damis tell hims what has happened; although, Tartuffe uses reverse psychology and he makes himself out to be a horrible sinner.

• Ogron is angered by this accusation against Tartuffe and calls Damis a lier and banishes him. Tartuffe convinces Orgon to sign over all his possessions to him.

• Orgon decides to listen to Elmire about Tartuffe trying to seduce her and hides under the table. Orgon banishes Tartuffe, from the house.

• Tartuffe reveals that he stole the box of Orgon’s letters, and blackmails Orgon. He comes back, with a message from the court, saying the house belongs to him. He leaves again.

• Later on Tartuffe comes back with a police officer to evict Orgon and his family; however the officer arrests Tartuffe. The King of France has heard of the injustice of what had been taking place and ordered Tartuffe’s arrest.

Molière• Wrote Tartuffe in 1664

• Single handedly got himself in trouble with the Church of France.

• The King himself saved him from getting excommunicated

#at’s a No,No

• After the first performance King Louis XIV was going to censor the play

• He was perhaps influenced by the Archbishop of Paris, Paul Philippe Hardouin de Beaumont de Péréfixe,

• A statement was made officially “that a vain ostentation of some good works does not prevent from committing some bad ones, that his extreme delicacy to religious matters can not suffer this resemblance of vice to virtue, which could be mistaken for each other”

• Can be interrupted as one good act does make up for several bad acts

Censor%ip

Controversy• The public enjoyed the play, but

others, like the French Roman Catholic Church, upper class society, and the secret society Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement, were offended.

• The Archbishop of Paris threatened to excommunicate anyone who read, watched, or performed the play

Molière’s Response• Claimed that the play was a

comedy to show the difference between right and wrong.

• Revised the play, renamed it “L’imposteur”

• After the controversy, he promised himself, that he will never write an intelligent play again.

FIN