STEP ONE –

WHILE HEAD-OF-THE-HOUSEHOLD ORGON IS AWAY, HIS MOTHER MADAME PARNELLE TELLS THE HOUSEHOLD THEY ARE IMMORAL AND ARE GOING TO HELL…

UNLESS THEY LISTEN TO THEIR HOUSE-GUEST, TARTUFFE, AND REFORM AS HE SEES FIT.

STEP TWO.

ORGON RETURNS HOME. HIS ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD TRIES TO CONVINCE HIM THAT HIS HOUSE-GUEST IS A FRAUDULENT, HYPOCRITICAL FIEND WHO THROUGH FALSE PIETY HAS TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF ORGON AND HIS HOME. 

ORGON REFUSES TO BELIEVE WHAT HE IS TOLD NO MATTER THE PROOF.

ORGON REMAINS IN TOTAL DENIAL.

STEP THREE.

ORGON RUINS HIS RELATIONSHIPS WITH SEVERAL FAMILY MEMBERS. HIS SON DAMIS – ORGON GIVES ALL THAT DAMIS IS TO INHERIT TO TARTUFFE. DAMIS WANTS TO KILL TARTUFFE.

VALERE – ORGON DECIDES HE WILL BREAK HIS WORD AND INSTEAD OF GIVING VALERE THE HAND OF HIS DAUGHTER MARIANE, OFFERS IT TO TARTUFFE. MARIANE – ORGON MAKES HER SWEAR TO HONOR HIS WISHES AND THEN TELLS HER SHE IS TO FORGET VALERE AND MARRY TARTUFFE.

STEP FOUR.

MARIANE AND VALERE ARE AT ODDS.

BOTH ARE HURT AND PRIDEFUL. NEITHER WANT THE OTHER TO MARRY SOMEONE ELSE, NOR DO THEY WANT TO CONFESS THEIR HEART’S DESIRES TO EACH OTHER. ENTER DORINE, MARIANE’S LADIES MAID. SHE MAKE’S THEM LISTEN TO HER

AND THE THREE OF THEM WORK OUT A PLAN TO DELAY THE WEDDING OF MARIANE AND TARTUFFE FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. MARIANE AND VALERE ARE NO LONGER AT ODDS.  

DAMIS STILL WANTS TO KILL TARTUFFE.

STEP FIVE.

ORGON IGNORE’S HIS WIFE ELMIRE’S DECLARATION THAT TARTUFFE IS AFTER HER ROMANTICALLY. HOWEVER, ORGON ALLOWS HER TO SET UP A STING OPERATION TO HAVE ORGON CATCH TARTUFFE IN THE ACT.

ALL GOES ACCORDING TO ELMIRE’S PLAN. ORGON COMES TO GRIPS WITH REALITY…

BUT REALIZES TOO LATE THAT ALL HE OWNS INCLUDING HIS DAUGHTER NOW BELONGS TO THE RELIGIOUS HYPOCRITE, TARTUFFE.

TARTUFFE GOES TO THE KING TO DEMAND ORGON’S PROPERTY BE RELINQUISHED TO HIM, BUT THE KING SAVES THE DAY BY HAVING THE EXEMPT IMPRISON THE FRAUD AND THEREBY RESTORING ORDER TO ORGON AND HIS HOUSEHOLD. VALERE AND MARIANE ARE ALLOWED TO BE MARRIED.

ORGON IS NOW HAPPY AS A CLAM!

DAMIS PROBABLY STILL WANTS TO KILL TARTUFFE.

THE END

All images and GIFs found on Google.com

Born on January 15, 1622, in Paris, France, Moliere eventually started his own troupe, the Illustre Théâtre. He became renowned for directing and writing works like L’École des femmes, Tartuffe ou l’Imposteur, George Dandin and Le Misanthrope, indicting hypocrisy and giving depth to comedic characters though also facing criticism. Moliere acted in his works as well. He died on February 17, 1673.

– Biography.com

         Name: Jean-Baptiste Paquelin

AKA: Moliere

Occupation: Theater Actor,

Playwright

Birth Date: January 15, 1622

Death Date: February 17, 1673

Education: Lycée

Louis-le-Grand

Place Of Birth: Paris, France

Place Of Death: Paris, France

http://www.biography.com/people/moliere-38262

“The king at once perceived the genius displayed in Tartuffe, and was also clear-headed enough to see that it was aimed exclusively against hypocrisy; but from the moment it made its appearance in Paris another and heavier storm began to rage over the head of the dramatist. According to his assailants, he had at length thrown aside the mask altogether, and under pretense of exposing hypocrisy was seeking to undermine the foundations of religion itself. Roullés, the curé of Siant Barthélemy, took upon himself to damn the author of Tartuffe on his own authority, and another virulent denouncer of the play was the bishop of Autun, supposed to be the original of the stage imposter. The agitation steadily increased until the king deemed it prudent to prohibit the performance in Paris of a play which he had unreservedly approved.”

The Drama: Its History, Literature and Influence on Civilization, vol. 7. ed. Alfred Bates. London: Historical Publishing Company, 1906. pp. 181-183.

All images: Google image search.

In act I of Tartuffe, Orgon comes home and asks Dorine (Orgon’s daughter’s maid) if everyone was well while he was away. Dorine replies that Orgon’s wife, Elmire, was very ill while he was away and that she was so ill and feverish that she even had to be bled. Above is an image of a bleeding bowl from around this time. It was believed by physicians at the time that expelling the toxins in the blood by removal would rid the body of the illness. This resulted in a high mortality rate. Even so, they still continued with the practice until the late 19th century.

All images: Google image search.

There are several words that came to mind when I was first introduced to this character. The two I decided on were termagant and shrew. A termagant is a harsh-tempered or overbearing woman. Also described as violent, turbulent, brawling and/or shrewish. Shrew being a woman of violent temper and speech.

Definition descriptions taken from Dictionary.com

These images are design sheets from a costume designer for the play, however I am unsure of the date of their creation.

All images: Google image search.

This is the mistress of King Louis XIV. I selected these paintings to illustrate the women’s fashion of the time.

All images: Google image search.