3. 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
5. • 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.
6. Molière
• Wrote Tartuffe in 1664
• Single handedly got
himself in trouble with
the Church of France.
• The King himself
saved him from getting
excommunicated
8. • 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
9. 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
10. 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.
