Jean Baptiste Moliere’s comedies have been called the “mirror of the mores” of the time. One of Moliere’s favorite techniques was hyperbolization as a technique for creating images-types. Characters were typified in the minds of viewers and readers and became common nouns. The situation prevailing in the country at that time did not allow to openly fight against religious hypocrisy. That is why the religious sermon depicted by Moliere, destroying all human and family relationships, provoked attacks from the confessors (Maxfield). Some were unable to understand that comedy meant false piety. The playwright himself wrote that someone does not mind being named a villain, but no one wants to be made fun of. Laughter is the best weapon against human vices; it hurts deeper than any censure and ordinary condemnation. Tartuffe is one example of how one of the human sins, hypocrisy, is ridiculed in literature.
Tartuffe is a comedy play by Moliere written in 1664. The play was widely staged in theaters around the world and remained in the repertoire to this day. The action takes place in Paris, in the house of Orgon. Young Tartuffe became one of the people who deserve trust of the house’s owner (Moliere 6). Monsieur Orgon looks at his guest as if he were a miracle: young, smart, modest, noble, and pious. Households were trying to prove to him that Tartuffe is not as good as he is trying to show himself, but Orgon considers them ungrateful people mired in sins. The true essence of Tartuffe appears only when Orgone imprudently entrusts him with the treasury of the rebels for safekeeping and transfers the house and his capital to him. Only the miraculous intervention of the king five minutes before the finale brings justice to the situation. Tartuffe was punished, Orgon was forgiven, his family was returned home and property, which all allowed the play to remain a comedy.
Before writing Tartuffe, Moliere often was interested my the theme of of hypocrisy, which he saw in the public life around him. In the comedy, Moliere showed the most common type of hypocrisy of the 17th century: the religious one. He created the play based on the observations of a secret religious society – the “Society of the Holy Gifts.” It included princes of the church, nobles, and bourgeois. The king did not allow this organization’s open activities, but it managed to exist for more than 30 years. Thus, the activities of the society were quite secret. The members fought aainst free-thinking and godlessness considering it their main goal.
They had access to private houses and acted like some kind of a secret police. They were conducting undercover surveillance of their suspects: found facts that proved their guilt, and handed over the criminals to the government services. The society members were sure that severity and asceticism in morals are crucial. They did not support secular entertainment such as theater and were against the passion for fashion. Moliere was one of those who saw the members of the “Society of the Holy Gifts” subtly and skillfully rub into other people’s lives. They subjugated people and completely took over their will and intelligence. This affected the plot of the play, and Tartuffe was written like a typical man from the “Society of the Holy Gifts”.
Like all these people, Tartuffe was associated with the law or police. He was hiding his real personality, acting like a an impoverished nobleman searching for food near the church. He came to the Orgon family because this house was full of free morals, fun, and critical speeches. It happened after the owner’s marriage with young Elmira. Before the house was a place of piety. Moreover, Orgon’s friend Argas, a political exile and a member of the Parliamentary Fronde, left him incriminating some secret documents kept in a box (Moliere 37). A family like this could indeed have seemed suspicious to the “Society,” and such people were surveilled then.
Tartuffe is not the embodiment of hypocrisy as a common human vice. He is rather a generalized type of society members. He is not the only person of this kind in the play: his servant Laurent, the bailiff Loyal, and Orgon’s mother, Mrs. Pernel, are hypocritical too. They all hide unsightly deeds but instead perform some godly speeches and watch others’ behavior vigilantly (Mambrol). Thus, the imaginary holiness and humility of Tartuffe compose his image. Tartuffe is not devoid of external attractiveness; he has good, even insinuating manners. But behind them readers can see prudence, power, an ambitious wish to rule, and the capability to take revenge. He is feeling well in the Orgon’s house, because its owner satisfies all his slightest whims and willingly gives him the daughter.
Orgon tells Tartuffe all his secrets: for instance, he entrusts him with the storage of incriminating documents. Tartuffe manages to become so close to Orgon because he is a good psychologist. This, playing on the Orgon’s fear, he forces him to reveal all the secrets. Tartuffe covers up his evil plans with strong and kind religious arguments. He is completely aware of his strengths, so he does not restrain his vicious instincts. He does not like Marianne so the marriage is just a chance to get some profit. Tartuffe’s reasoning that betrayal is not a sin, if no one knows about it, outrages beautiful Elmira: the woman who he is seducing. Damis, the Orgon’s son, became a witness of this prohibited meeting. He wanted to tell everybody about the villain, but Tartuffe again manages to make Orgon his protector. However, after the second date, Tartuffe is caught, and Orgon makes him leave the house. Thus, the villain begins to take revenge, fully showing his vicious, corrupt, and selfish character.
However, Moliere does more than show hypocrisy in this work. In Tartuffe, he poses a crucial question: why did Orgon allow himself to be deceived? This middle-aged man was quite smart, good, and kind. However, he was succumbed to the widespread fashion for piety. Orgon believed in the purity and “holiness” of Tartuffe and saw in him some kind of a spiritual mentor. However, he became a toy in the hands of Tartuffe, who shamelessly declares that Orgon would rather believe him “than his own eyes” (Moliere 76). The reason for this is the thoughts and feelings of Orgon: he was brought up in submission to authorities. As a consequence, even being adult, he could not critically assess the event and evaluate the people around him.
Nevertheless, Orgon gained a healthy understanding of the world after the exposure of Tartuffe. On the contrary, his mother, the old Pernel, a stupidly supported passive patriarchal views. She never managed to see the real face of Tartuffe. The young generation, represented in the comedy, who immediately saw the nature of Tartuffe, is united by the servant who has long served in the Orgon’s house and was a respected person there. The wisdom helps to find the most suitable way to fight the villain.
The comedy Tartuffe had a high social significance. Moliere showed not private family relations but the critical and harmful social vice, hypocrisy (Wilton-Godberfforde 147). In the Preface to Tartuffe Moliere tells about the meaning of his play. He states that the social goal of the comedy was to castigate vices, and there should be no exceptions. From the government’s point of view, the vice of hypocrisy is one of the most dangerous in its consequences. The theater, on the other hand, has a chance to eradicate evil.
According to Moliere’s definition, hypocrisy was the main vice of France of the 17th century. Thus, he decided to make it the object of his satire. In the comedy that provokes laughter and fear, Moliere created an image of what was going on in France. Hypocrites such as Tartuffe, tyrans, informers, and avengers dominate the country with impunity and commit genuine atrocities. Lawlessness and violence are the results of their activities. Moliere created a picture that should have told about these people those who ruled the country. Although the perfect king at the end of the play does the correct action, which was explained by Moliere’s naive belief in a smart and reasonable monarch, the social issue shown by Moliere seems threatening.
Moliere, creating Tartuffe, used a broad variety of means: readers can find elements of farce (Orgone is hiding under the table), intrigue (the story of documents), ethics (scenes in the house of a rich bourgeois), and comedy of characters (dependence of development actions from the character of the hero). At the same time, Moliere’s play is a typical classicist comedy. All the “rules” are strictly followed: it is designed not only to make people laugh but also to educate the viewer. Moliere stated that nothing could affect people like a depiction of their shortcomings. They listen to evil words indifferently, but they cannot endure laughter. The described comedy in a fun way blames people for their shortcomings.
Works Cited
Mambrol, Nasrullah. “Analysis of Moliere’s Tartuffe.” Literary Theory and Criticism, Web.
Maxfield, Amelia. Oh, The Hypocrisy! Or, A Dramaturgical Analysis of Moliere’s Tartuffe. Theses and Dissertations, 2016.
Moliere. Tartuffe. Faber & Faber, 2017.
Wilton-Godberfforde, Emilia. Mendacity and the Figure of the Liar in Seventeenth-Century French Comedy. Taylor & Francis, 2017.