Please respond to one of the following questions about Tartuffe. Share your response as a comment on this post, rather than creating a new post. You should also feel free to respond to your classmates’ comments.
— Discuss the theme of appearances or masks in Tartuffe? How does the issue of appearances vs. reality connect with the central concerns of the play?
— Discuss the role of Dorine, Mariane’s lady maid. What kind of servant is she? What role does she play in the action of the drama?
— How is the institution of marriage treated in Tartuffe? What are some of the models or ideals of marriage that are raised by Moliere or his characters?
— Describe the character of Orgon. Why do you think he’s so vulnerable to Tartuffe?
— Can you think of a contemporary example of the kind of religious hypocrisy exemplified in Tartuffe?
— Describe one aspect of the play that seems very modern to you and one that seems very dated or old-fashioned.
— Discuss the role of Dorine, Mariane’s lady maid. What kind of servant is she? What role does she play in the action of the drama?
Dorine is the kind of servant that tends to her duties as Mariane’s lady maid, but does so with a bit of an attitude, and a whole lot of opinion. Dorine is the type of employee that knows everyone’s “tea” and does not hesitate to spill it.
When we meet Dorine, she is going head-to-head with Madame Parnell, who I would figure to be the matriarch of the family. Dorine is the character that exposes to us as readers, that Tartuffe is a hypocrite. Dorine has all the insight into this family and is not afraid of them. So far, she is the character with the most sense.
Dorine plays a role in the drama’s action as being the voice of reason. She is the first person we hear speak up about Tartuffe being a hypocrite when she is speaking to Madame Pernelle as well as the person who straight up tells Orgon that he is making a mistake in promising his daughter to Tartuffe. We also see Dorine confronting Mariane to act against her father or be married to Tartuffe. Lastly Dorine witnesses Mariane and Valere as they almost throw away their relationship and love due to their pettiness and saves them from making a mistake by concocting a plan so that they will end up together.
— Describe the character of Orgon. Why do you think he’s so vulnerable to Tartuffe?
Orgon is a confident man who is incredibly excessive in everything he does. He is well respected. Recently he has turned to religion under Tartuffe’s watch. Once he does turn to religion, he goes to extremes to reach this goal, and becomes completely blind to Tartuffe’s charm.
This charm of Tartuffe is great, as we see in Act 3, Scene 6, Orgon is threatening to break his sons arm for not trusting Tartuffe, but Tartuffe is getting on his knees begging Orgon not to harm his own son. This causes Orgon to yell at Damis more, saying “Wretch, see his goodness”. Only blinding himself more and more. The stronger the accusations of Tartuffe became, the more Orgon wanted to support Tartuffe.
It’s his personality leading him to believe Tartuffe, and not allowing him to see through the lies and deception. Orgon is so set to become a man of religion, he almost gave everything away to Tartuffe.
In the end, the family is given a happy ending after Orgon found out the truth, and the family was almost evicted. From then on Orgon is more cautious of religious men like Tartuffe, as it can always be a facade.
I completely agree with you. Orgon, as it’s written in the play, really is a dupe. He is easily deceived and has blind faith in Tartuffe. Even when Elmire puts herself at risk to expose Tartuffe’s hypocrisy, Orgon does not reveal himself no matter how serious the situation got. Perhaps he’s so faithful to Tartuffe that he believes Tartuffe isn’t actually being serious, or he’s so blinded that he no longer cares for his wife. However, as soon as he feels directly insulted, he calls Tartuffe an indispicable man. This shows that he is extremely self-centered and irresponsible.
Personally, I had hoped that Orgon would get some sort of consequence for his foolishness and the behavior he portrayed. I’m sure his actions had major impacts on the family, yet he took no responsibility whatsoever.
You are right to point out that Orgon doesn’t seem to get “punished” in the play. Thanks to his family and the kind, he avoids having to face any serious consequences from his blind devotion to Tartuffe.
Discuss the theme of appearances or masks in Tartuffe? How does the issue of appearances vs. reality connect with the central concerns of the play?
Throughout Tartuffe, Moliere illustrates that appearances can be deceiving. Tartuffe is a satire of hypocrisy, and it brings out the manipulability of a society based on appearances. Those appearances are pretended to have been built as respectable, but on the other hand they are nothing but the unscrupulous skill and dexterity of liars, opportunists, tricksters, and fakers. The ability of these kind of people to lie and fake their true appearances to get what they wanted is one of the central conflicts of this play.
Tartuffe,a hypocrite and pretended believer, is so capable to manipulate that he manages to induce Orgon to give him his daughter Marianne as his wife, while in reality he tries to seduce his second wife, Elmira. Tartuffe’s ambition and trap are built in the “sector” of pretending to be religious. This lures Orgon, who falls prey to deception, a rich gentleman infatuated with the ideal of moral perfection.
A human being can be taken for what he is, crazy or lazy, brave or coward, but Tartuffe is not one of those types of people. Tartuffe is not a hypocrite once or twice, because he pretends devotion or because he pretends hypocrisy. In a useful way, he is also not honest about the fact that hypocrisy is not his nature, but his mask. So, the mask is his art, and the transformation is his tendency.
The theme of appearances can easily transfer this play to nowadays times because hypocrisy is a flaw found in all ages and in all settings. Orgon is not a bad guy, he suffers from excessive confidence, which is characteristic of many men in any time. The tenderness of the girl, Mariane, unable to protect herself from a marriage she hates, is found in many superficial aspects of our daily lives. Damis, who always sits with his sword drawn, shows the impulsiveness typical of his youth.
Only Elmire, Cleante and Dorine, respectively Orgon’s wife, sister-in-law and servant, are cunning and judge fairly.
Discuss the theme of appearances or masks in Tartuffe? How does the issue of appearances vs. reality connect with the central concerns of the play?
Appearances and masks can be used to hide the character’s true intentions. Tartuffe poses as a humble religious figure, making Orgon and Madame Pernelle believe his lies and hypocrisy. He uses religion as a mask to hide his true intentions. However, that mask is unveiled when he gets caught by Damis. Tartuffe gets caught confessing his love to Elmire, Orgon’s wife. This shows how he is truly immoral but is using his devoutness to his religion to hide his true feelings. By posing as a holy man, he is able to have Orgon lower his guard/mask and be able to catch Orgon and the family when they are the most vulnerable. The issue of appearances and masks contribute to the central idea of the play because Tartuffe’s actions make the reader consider the religious hypocrisy behind the play. Madame Pernelle and Orgon were quick to accept and trust Tartuffe simply because he showed that he was religious, disregarding the hypocrisy that was being shown by Tartuffe.
Discuss the role of Dorine, Mariane’s lady maid. What kind of servant is she? What role does she play in the action of the drama?
As we learned in class today Dorine is a stock character in the play. She plays the role of Mariane’s servant. The family heavily relies on her attending to her duties and Dorine does exactly that.
At the very start of the play, we see that Dorine is not one to hold her tongue. She confidently goes against the views of those in charge of her. She can be referred to as the sassy and inferior character in the play. In addition to her being mouthy, Dorine plays a crucial role in the action of the drama by going against the opinions and directions of others. While also spilling the truth without hesitation. A perfect example of this is right at the start of the play where Dorine calls Tartuffe out on his hypocrisy.
-Describe the character of Orgon. Why do you think he’s so vulnerable to Tartuffe?
Organ was once regarded to be a well-respected guy by his family and friends, someone who would lead the household and care for his family, but Organ is easily manipulatable due to his intense and fanatical religious beliefs, which are almost an attempt to atone for his prior wrongdoing. Organ is attached to Tartuffe’s religious deception, in which he commits a sin in one moment while convincing Organ that he is a virtuous holy man who made a mistake the next. Organ is vulnerable to Tartuffe because he perceives Tartuffe as an incredible religious person who can aid his family.
— Describe one aspect of the play that seems very modern to you and one that seems very dated or old-fashioned.
One aspect of the play that seems to be modern was the concept of a religious hypocrite because even in the 21st century we still see people that claim they are religious, but their actions prove to be otherwise.
An old-fashioned aspect in the play is the power men have over women, how they have to follow what they tell them to do. For example, Mariame couldn’t get married to Valarie until her father approved of it. The play portrays women as the stay at home while the men go to work, and you have no say in how things are run in your house.
Interesting. Is there any evidence in the play to support your assertion that Orgon turns to religion out of guilt at his former wrongdoings? Do we even get the sense that he himself is truly religious or pious? I’m not sure….
Discuss the theme of appearances or masks in Tartuffe? How does the issue of appearances vs. reality connect with the central concerns of the play?
Tartufo is both a staging and a satire of hypocrisy itself. The comedy brilliantly highlights on the one hand the “manipulability” of a society based on appearances that constructs itself as “respectable”, and on the other the evil skill and versatility of liars, fakes, opportunists, ready to do anything to “get there”. Tartuffe’s ambition and network are built in the “sector” of false devotion: it is from it that Orgone, a rich lord lost behind an ideal of moral perfection, is captured. For a man who has the vice of virtue, being able to find a spiritual guide, a holy man who advises him and on whom he can count with his eyes closed, is a true blessing. If hypocrisy is the discordance between being and the desire to appear, there are different ways of being hypocritical. Meanwhile, one can be temperamentally, just as one can be angry or brave or cowardly, but Truffle is not one of them; Tartuffe is not hypocritical like Harpagon is stingy, he uses hypocrisy to achieve his goals
Describe the character of Orgon. Why do you think he’s so vulnerable to Tartuffe?
Orgon character is an overly confident man who at first suited his role as the leader of his family unfortunately he is cursed with his naive componiet. When Orgon comes across Tartuffe, he becomes so infatuated with Tartuffe’s dedication to his spiritual side that Orgon decides to follow in this man’s footsteps somewhat, leading to Orgon trusting Tartuffe and placing him as his #1 priority. The reason why Orgon is so susceptible is because he is infatuated with Tartuffe. For example, in Orgon’s mind, Tartuffle is this man that Orgon himself tries to be like when it comes to spirituality which leads to Orgon not believing in any of the negative things being said about Tartuffe even if Orgon has proof of his wrongdoings but Orgon’s Infatuation isn’t all to blame. As we see in the play Tartuffe is a man who knows how to use his words. When Damis caught Tartuffe with Orgon’s wife it was Tartuffe’s words that got Orgon to believe that what had happened wasn’t so bad and it was something to be proud about. These two reasons are why I think Orgon is so vulnerable to Tartuffe.
I agree with you that Orgon seems to be infatuated with Tartuffe, and this infatuation allows him to overlook Tartuffe’s less than pious behavior.
— Describe the character of Orgon. Why do you think he’s so vulnerable to Tartuffe?
Orgon is a wealthy middle aged male that is head of the household and whose mom is demanding. Orgon served the King of France and made the mistake of trusting and hypocritical man like Tartuffe. Orgon went through a lot with his family, for example he neglects his wife because of Tartuffe being a negative influence on Orgon and since Orgon is a easily manipulated by Tartuffe, he is not nice with his daughter and disowns his son Damis. I think Orgon is so vulnerable to Tartuffe is because since Orgon tries to become a pious person and since Tartuffe shows himself as a religious man in front of people so Orgon thinks that Tartuffe is a good man since he comes off so religious.
Dorine’s role in the action of the drama extends beyond mere comedic relief; she actively participates in unraveling Tartuffe’s schemes and protecting Mariane from a forced marriage to him. Her quick thinking and sharp tongue not only entertain the audience but also drive the plot forward, contributing to the eventual downfall of Tartuffe and the restoration of order within the household.
Furthermore, Dorine’s character challenges the traditional portrayal of servants in French society during Moliere’s time. Instead of being passive and subservient, she asserts her agency and challenges the authority of those above her. This defiance adds depth to her character and serves as a commentary on the power dynamics of the era.
Overall, Dorine emerges as a multifaceted character whose presence enriches the play both comedically and thematically. Her loyalty, intelligence, and outspokenness make her a compelling figure whose actions significantly impact the outcome of the drama.