[Music] in the play tartuffe a 1664 uproarious comedy of satire and farce moliere makes his personal perspective clear he disapproves of con man tartuffe's hypocrisy and through his ridicule and irony shines the light of satire on such people within french society in act 1 of the play orgone is away in the country and his mother madame parnell has come to visit his family she finds fault with each of them but will hear nothing against orgone's houseguest the pious tartuffe the family considers tartuffe bigoted hypocritical and overbearing and complains that tartuffe lords over all of them as if he owns the place doreen a maid says he doesn't like visitors because he's jealous of orgone's wife elmir madame parnell says they entertain too much anyway which has given them a bad reputation in the neighborhood the family decides they must do something to make or go and see what a hypocrite and con man tartuffe really is tartuffe isn't just a titular character but a key symbol in the play that represents the hypocrisy rife within some groups in the conservative roman catholic church although not truly religious he takes on the outward trappings of ultra-conservative roman catholic fanaticism notably the devos a movement in france that arose in the early 1600s to oppose the growth of protestantism and the supremacy of the king over the church one group involved with the movement was the society of the holy sacrament which was instrumental in getting tartuffe banned after its first presentation in 1664. moliere invoked an association with them by attributing to tartuffe such trappings of supposedly catholic religiosity as ostentatious prayer almsgiving wearing a hair shirt and scourging himself while praying when orgone returns home he quizzes doreen on what tartuffe has been doing in his absence ignoring her attempts to tell him about his wife's illness orgone's brother-in-law cleont confronts him cleont is another key symbol in the form of a character he embodies enlightenment principles such as rational thoughts truth the dominance of law and natural religion reflecting natural human emotions moliere uses this figure to take aim at the 17th century groups like the society of the holy sacrament later he also praises the rule of law to dummies when he speaks of this just kingdom this enlightened age in which one does not settle things by violence here tartuffe takes the opportunity to tell cleont how orgone first spotted him praying ostentatiously in church and was impressed by his piety learning tartuffe was impoverished orgone gave him money and eventually offered him a place to live cleant tries to convince orgone of tartuffe's true nature but fails in act two orgone tells marianne he wants her to marry tartuffe instead of her one true love the lair she resists doreen tries a variety of arguments to dissuade orgone but she fails and orgone leaves determined this marriage will take place doreen gets angry at mary anne for not standing up for herself mary anne begs doreen to help her they're interrupted by valer's arrival valera and marianne are both upset and find it difficult to be straightforward with one another each is afraid of appearing vulnerable in the end doreen tells them they love each other and lays out her plan marianne will agree to marry tartuffe but will manage a continual delay of the wedding with various excuses belair will plead their case to orgone's friends and doreen will enlist almir's help in act 3 elmir or gohn's wife has asked doreen to have tartuffe come talk with her dami's orgone's son hides in the closet to eavesdrop when tartuffe arrives he makes a show of telling his servant to put away his hair shirt and scourge which he was using while praying a hair shirt is a garment made from coarse animal hair meant to cause discomfort and promote pious behavior scourge is a type of whip used by religious zealots to whip themselves in order to suffer as christ suffered upon tartuffe's arrival only doreen is there to greet him he asks her to cover her bosom so that he being only flesh and blood will not be tempted doreen tells him elmira wants to see him which brightens his mood when elmira arrives she tells tartuffe she wants to talk with him about a private matter he misunderstands and makes a passionate declaration of love and lust she wonders what her husband would think of his declaration and says that if tartuffe will convince orgone to let marianne and valerie marry she will not tell oregon tartuffe has made a pass at her before tartuffe can agree dami's bursts from his hiding place and confronts tartuffe from making advances on elmir or gon walks in and is horrified that his son should make such accusations tartuffe says it's only right for him to be accused he is a sinner tartuffe's apparent humility convinces orgone of his innocence he throws his son out of the house promises tartuffe he can marry mary anne that very night and decides to make tartuffe his heir deeding the house to him in act four the whole neighborhood learns orgone has disinherited dummies cleont asks tartuffe to forgive dames tartuffe says he's done so but cannot live in the same house with someone who's libeled him cleont asks him to refuse orgone's legacy but tartuffe says he must ensure the wealth is spent for pious purposes and not sinful ones when tartuffe realizes he can't fool cliant he leaves doreen and the family joined forces in a final attempt to convince orgone to let marianne marry the lair but he stands firm and finally elmira gets him to humor her and hide under a table while she talks with tartuffe from their conversation it's clear that tartuffe did declare his feelings for her that very morning and now he pushes for a physical demonstration of her affections or gone's eyes are finally opened and he confronts tartuffe ordering the man out of the house ultimately the deed has already been signed and tartuffe claims the house as his own or gone and his family must leave alone with elmere orgone says they must go look for a strong box in tartuffe's room in act five orgone explains to client that the strongbox contains papers belonging to a friend of his who had to flee to paris having them in his possession could look bad for orgone damice joins the two men and offers to do away with tartuffe cleont warns orgone that violence is not the way to settle problems madame parnell arrives convinced that orgone has misinterpreted tartuffe's words and actions he's a pious man and would never do anything that orgone says he did it's not until a bailiff appears with an eviction notice that she accepts the truth velar arrives with more bad news tartuffe has shown the contents of the strongbox to the king and orgone is to be arrested the lair will help or gone flee but before the two men can leave tartuffe arrives followed by a police officer tartuffe says he's there to arrest orgone but the police officer arrests tartuffe instead under orders from the king who recognized tartuffe as a wanted criminal orgone has been pardoned and his property restored to him client proposes that orgone go thank the king and he agrees and afterward they will hold a wedding for marianne and valere now even though the play is very funny it makes some pointedly serious points and speaks to many criticisms of its time and place context as evidenced by its major themes the main theme of tartuffe is hypocrisy pretending to be something one is not or claiming to believe something one doesn't some characters in the play are knowingly hypocrites tartuffe his invisible servant laurel and monsieur loyal other characters such as orgone and his mother do not recognize their own hypocrisy tartuffe and his servant laurent are thieves and con artists they exploit their victims by running scams and their scheme here is presenting tartuffe as a pious man who lost his lands and wealth to dupe or gone out of his own property and wealth at the end of the play when a bailiff comes to evict orgone and his family moliere's verbal irony underlines his hypocrisy as he names the character miss you're loyal having fallen under the sway of a hypocrite orgone's own christianity has become perverted he believes he's doing what's expected of him by god because this is what tartuffe has manipulated him into thinking such unwitting hypocrisy may be more dangerous because it can become a social movement with self-aware leaders and an army of duped followers carrying out their wishes this is the sort of political message that certain clergy objected to in tartuffe gullibility is another important theme to be gullible is to be easily deceived or taken advantage of too often gullible people are ready to believe things that are presented at least somewhat convincingly but aren't actually true from the moment tartuffe met orgone he knew he'd found the perfect target for his scam tartuffe puts in a lot of effort to con or gone after all the payoff will be huge all orgone's wealth and property tartuffe is not the only person to trick orgone it's not very difficult to do so orgone's opinionated mother is also gullible she only falls victim to tartuffe and lorenz displays of piety but also believes all the neighbor's false claims the third important theme in tartuffe is that of moderation and reason prized qualities during the enlightenment which by the 1660s was in full swing client takes orgone to task and recommends moderation and reason urging orgone to take the middle course rather than jumping between absurd extremes doreen warns dummies against rash behavior don't give away to violent emotion and urges him to calm down and be practical in act 4 scene 3 elmer is amazed at her husband's refusal to accept solid evidence of tartuffe's hypocrisy when he proclaims she should have been more upset elmir reveals herself to be moderate and reasonable true piety and humility is a final critical theme in act 1 scene 5 cliant lists the characteristics of those who are truly pious they're never ostentatious they're religions moderate and humane they show by deeds how christians should behave to lead a good life is their one desire it is not the sinner but sin alone which they condemn these are traits elmir demonstrates most notably in her encounters with tartuffe the scenes that bring tartuffe and elmira face to face juxtapose his hypocrisy with her true piety and humility tartuffe wears a false mask of piety to further selfish and cruel goals almir puts on a mask of interest in tartuffe for selfless reasons to show her husband the truth about tartuffe she has to ignore her own aversion to lying later on elmira feels so uncomfortable about having been duplicitous that she even apologizes to dartuf she is the embodiment of true piety and humility tartuffe was first performed for louis xiv and his court at versailles in may of 1664. louie enjoyed it very much however his mother queen anne and an ultra devout group known as the society of the holy sacrament were offended and demanded the play be banned claiming it was an attack on religion the king temporarily banned the play from public performance but allowed private readings it was not until 1669 that the band was permanently lifted long after moliere's death the controversial play remains a beloved artistic reminder of questioning motives and manipulations of those around us you