Tartuffe

by Molière, Martin Sorrell (Translation), Curtis Hidden Page (Translation)

Condemned and banned for five years in Molière’s day, Tartuffe is a satire on religious hypocrisy. Tartuffe worms his way into Orgon’s household, blinding the master of the house with his religious "devotion," and almost succeeds in his attempts to seduce his wife and disinherit his children before the final unmasking.

Genres: Plays, Classics, Drama, France, Fiction, Theatre, School

180 pages, Paperback

First published May 12, 1664

About the author

Sophisticated comedies of French playwright Molière, pen name of Jean Baptiste Poquelin, include Tartuffe (1664), The Misanthrope (1666), and The Bourgeois Gentleman (1670).

French literary figures, including Molière and Jean de la Fontaine, gathered at Auteuil, a favorite place.

People know and consider Molière, stage of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also an actor of the greatest masters in western literature. People best know l'Ecole des femmes (The School for Wives), l'Avare ou l'École du mensonge (The Miser), and le Malade imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid) among dramas of Molière.

From a prosperous family, Molière studied at the Jesuit Clermont college (now lycée Louis-le-Grand) and well suited to begin a life in the theater. While 13 years as an itinerant actor helped to polish his abilities, he also began to combine the more refined elements with ccommedia dell'arte.

Through the patronage of the brother of Louis XIV and a few aristocrats, Molière procured a command performance before the king at the Louvre. Molière performed a classic of [authore:Pierre Corneille] and le Docteur amoureux (The Doctor in Love), a farce of his own; people granted him the use of Salle du Petit-Bourbon, a spacious room, appointed for theater at the Louvre. Later, people granted the use of the Palais-Royal to Molière. In both locations, he found success among the Parisians with les Précieuses ridicules (The Affected Ladies), l'École des maris</i> (<i>The School for Husbands</i>), and <i>[book:l'École des femmes (The School for Wives). This royal favor brought a pension and the title "Troupe du Roi" (the troupe of the king). Molière continued as the official author of court entertainments.

Molière received the adulation of the court and Parisians, but from moralists and the Church, his satires attracted criticisms. From the Church, his attack on religious hypocrisy roundly received condemnations, while people banned performance of Don Juan . From the stage, hard work of Molière in so many theatrical capacities began to take its toll on his health and forced him to take a break before 1667.

From pulmonary tuberculosis, Molière suffered. In 1673 during his final production of le Malade imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid), a coughing fit and a haemorrhage seized him as Argan, the hypochondriac. He finished the performance but collapsed again quickly and died a few hours later. In time in Paris, Molière completely reformed.

Reviews

[Piyangie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tartuffe or "The Imposter" or "The Hypocrite" by Moliere is a wonderful play about a religious hypocrite. The play was banned in his day for five years accusing it of religious mockery. But it is interesting to note that there is no dialogue or action in the play that justifies the allegation. Moliere has rather severely criticized those who feign piety to disguise their own crimes and sins, but in no way has he been disrespectful of his religion. So, one can see the real reason behind the ban. :)

The religious hypocrites have tainted human society from its beginning. It was very much so, in Moliere's day, and if one looks around, it is very much so, even today. I've met quite a number of them, so I can guarantee that they do exist. :) Moliere brings this grave theme hilariously into life. His wit and satire, quite exceptional. The theme is certainly no laughing matter, but by heavens, how I laughed over this play! Moliere's incredible ability to bring out satire in his plays with clever dialogues and actions is simply amazing.

Moliere is my new discovery this year, and I'm really thankful that I came across him. He is a brilliant playwright and has become a favourite of mine. If you love to read plays of light satire, you should certainly check him out.

One word must be said about this translation done by Richard Wilbur. In my opinion, he captures the true essence of the play quite beautifully. Reading his translation has quite a similar effect to watching them being performed. It is a common belief that a play cannot be enjoyed to its full extent only by reading it, and there are good reasons for it. But Wilbur's translations of Moliere's plays have to a greater extent met this difficulty. This particular translation was done in verse which rhymed. I really enjoyed reading it. If you are reading Moliere in English, I highly recommend reading Wilbur's translations.

More of my reviews can be found at http://piyangiejay.com/

[Riku Sayuj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mocking the Heavens

As I read this I was reminded most often of the god-men of India: of their scandals, of their dedicated followers who are so willingly duped, and of the politicians who pretend to be devoted for their own purposes.

I can only imagine what parallel suggestion would have been easily engendered in the French minds as they sat through this devastating play.

It is no surprise that there was such outage. It is no surprise that it was banned for so long. The device Molière employs is too transparent, but entirely innocent. Without once giving his game away in the text, he makes his intent entirely transparent — ridicule the falsely pious. Unfortunately, his audience did not take too well to being ridiculed!

Molière’s Plea to the Audience

"...If the task of comedy is to correct the vices of mankind, I do not understand why some of those vices should be exempt. In the State, the vice of hypocrisy is far more dangerous than all the others; and we have seen that the theater is a strong force for its correction. The most beautiful phrases of a serious sermon are frequently less powerful than satire, and nothing alerts men more effectively than the display of their vices. Displaying vice to the mockery of men deals it a great blow. Men put up with admonition but are loath to be mocked. One might be will- ing to be wicked; one cannot bear to appear foolish.

People attack me for putting pious language in the mouth of an impostor. Well! How could I fail to do this if I wanted to present accurately the character of a hypocrite? It was enough, it seemed to me, to reveal the criminal motives that made him say these things and to have omitted those holy words that it would have been horrible to hear him misuse. But, say they, at the beginning of the fourth act he uses a pernicious and casuistic argument. Yet has not everyone heard such casuistry being used? Does my comedy present anything new? Who could believe that such widely detested behavior would influence anyone; that I make it more dangerous by presenting it on the stage, that it would receive some validity because it is presented by a scoundrel? That does not seem possible, and the comedy of Tartuffe should be approved or all comedies banned."

Mock The Heavens… but not us!

Eight days after this play was banned, actors presented to the court a play called “Scaramouche the Hermit,” and the king, leaving the performance, said to the prince: : “I would like to know why those who were so scandalized by Molière’s comedy say nothing about Scaramouche.”

To which the prince replied:

“The reason is that the comedy of Scaramouche mocks Heaven and religion, which those gentlemen do not care about, but Molière’s play mocks those gentlemen themselves, and they cannot endure that.”

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review
4 out of 5 stars to Tartuffe a play written in 1664 by Molière. I read this play as part of a course on Theatre and Drama several years ago. I also acted in a staged version of this story. I really enjoyed it, especially learning more about the characters and story through the director's eyes and opinions. The story is about a con artist who worms his way into a family's affections by claiming to be a religious man. The father essentially offers his daughters hand in marriage to the main character, but over time, realizes something is not right. It was a commentary on how Moliere felt about religion in the 17th century, especially how some people were using it as a way to look pious on the outside, but do whatever they wanted behind closed doors. There's great sarcasm, wit and humor in the play, especially if you let yourself approach it in a comedic way, rather than get caught up on understanding all the background and setting. Read it as though it weren't necessary about religion, focusing on the way a person can disguise their true intentions to achieving their goals. A definite good one for people who want to sample some plays from over 300 years that are quite different in style from Chaucer, Shakespeare or Milton's ways...

FYI - Read this years ago either as a kid or in college, but wrote up a review recently...

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[Carlos · Rating 2 out of 5]

[Read in Spanish] -- [Reseña en español más abajo]

The play's main topic is awesome. It talks about how being a hypocrite on behalf of religion. I have read other books about this as well, but the special thing here is that everything is Molière's creation, meaning that in the classical French from the 17th century that was a crime. Talking very badly about the elite, the powerful ones. He was a great artist,ut he was never loved or appreciated enough exactly for that reason, by saying the truth with no filter in the wrong era and place.
As I said, the story and context is great, but I didn't like how it was adapted to theatre. The dialogues sound forced and there are many words that are difficult to understand or they are barely used. Well, they used the vocabulary from those times, which makes sense.
I've always liked theatre, but just watch it. I don't like "written theatre" much. I read it to see if I liked this written form, but not really. I hope one day I can appreciate this genre more because I know it has a lot to give.

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El tema principal de la obra es genial. Aborda cómo se puede ser hipócrita usando a la religión. He leído otros libro también hablando de esto, pero lo especial aquí es que todo es obra de Molière, lo que significa que, en la Francia clásica del siglo XVII, eso era casi un crimen. Hablar mal de las elites, de los poderosos. Él era un gran artista, pero nunca fue lo suficientemente querido precisamente por eso, por decir la verdad sin filtro en una época y lugar erróneos.
Como dije, la historia y el contexto es genial, pero no me gustó cómo se llevó al teatro. Los diálogos suenan poco natural y muchas palabras que son difícil de entender o son muy poco usadas. Bueno, cosa típica de las obras de teatro clásicas. Siempre me ha gustado el teatro, pero sólo verlo. No me gusta mucho el teatro escrito. Lo leí para ver si me gustaba la obra escrita, pero en realidad no. Espero algún día interiorizarme en la literatura teatral porque sé que tiene mucho que entregar.

[Manny · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I read this play for the first time, I had a strange feeling that I'd seen it somewhere before. Cretinous Orgon can't understand what's obvious to the audience and everyone else in the play, namely that the slimy cleric Tartuffe is not only trying to ruin him, but also to get into his wife's pants. He seems to have neatly engineered his own downfall when - hey presto! - a deus ex machina saves the day. It's very funny.

After a little thought, I realized that this is the basic structure of several of Frank Oz's films, e.g. Little Shop of Horrors, In & Out and his 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives. In each case, the completely illogical ending only heightens the preceding satire. Any chance of Oz directing a Muppett version of Tartuffe? I can just see Miss Piggy as Elmire...

[Duane Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tartuffe (Imposter), written by French playwright Moliere in 1664, and first performed that same year. It's a comedy, and even though it reads well, I imagine to be truly appreciated it would be better to see the stage production, and see these remarkable characters come to life. It was banned shortly after the first production because it offended the Church and the upper class French society. The Archbishop of Paris threatened to excommunicate anyone who read, watched, or performed in the play. But it has survived the years with 21st century productions in Europe, Canada, Australia, and the United States.

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 4 out of 5]

While reading the Chekhov play Ivanoff recently, I became curious about why one character told another not to be a Tartuffe. I Googled and discovered that in French and English, calling anyone a Tartuffe means that they are a hypocrite, especially one who pretends to be overly pious. And I learned that the term comes from the play of the same name by Moliere. So here we are with my first Stray Cat book of 2016; one of those books that curl purring around your ankles until you simply have to read it. Sometimes I make lists of these books and save them for later, and other times (like now) I read them immediately.

At first I thought that the way the play was written would be a distraction. Here is the line from Wiki that made me feel that way: The play is written entirely in 1,962 twelve-syllable lines (alexandrines) of rhyming couplets. An entire play written in rhyme?! I was afraid I would be reading sing-song the whole time, but I was also very curious about how such a thing would work. Imagine how hard it would be to shape your thoughts to fit that formula and still have everything your characters are saying make sense!

As it turned out, I was enchanted from the moment the curtain rose on Act 1. I did need a few scenes to properly sort out who was who in the cast of characters, but once I managed that, I was able to relax and enjoy the story of Orgon and his family and the way their lives are affected by Tartuffe. Orgon had offered Tartuffe a home after meeting him in church, and Tartuffe settled in so well he was able to pull the wool over his host's eyes about many things. The other family members don't like him, but Orgon refuses to listen to a single word against the man who has become his guide, his
confidante, his closest advisor. Orgon even decides to allow Tartuffe to marry his daughter, even though she is in love with Valere and hates Tartuffe.

The play moves fast: it is funny, even bawdy at times, and makes a great many excellent points about the differences between appearance and reality. My two favorite characters were Dorine and Cleante. Dorine was Orgon's daughter's maid, described in the cast list as 'the impertinent maid'. She certainly did speak her mind; she was a hoot! Cleante is Orgon's brother-in-law, and was the main voice of reason in the household. Not that Orgon listened to him at all, but Cleante tried.

This was an extremely controversial play when it first appeared in 1664. The Wiki article I read says that this version of Tartuffe was the only one published and was the third time Moliere had re-written his play. This version was first performed in 1669. I can see that even this version would put a burr under the saddle of many people of those times, most especially if they felt it to be a mirror they were looking into and not simply a play they were being entertained by. Moliere was lucky to have the King's protection, and there is a bit of a speech in the final act which refers to the wisdom of the King, how he sees the truth and cannot be fooled. At the very least he could recognize immense talent, even genius, when he saw it.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my the great masterpieces of world theater history, one of three or four of such plays that Molière wrote in 1664, but The Church objected to its characterizations of (supposedly) religious people, and threatened excommunication to anyone associated with it, including the by-then-already esteemed playwright. So he took five years to tone it down by working with the Church censors, but it was nevertheless immediately a world-wide success when it was finally released.

Tartuffe is also subtitled in some editions as an "imposter" or a "hypocrite." He's pretending to be pious, and some characters in the play believe him, though most do not. Early on in the play his true moral character is much the subject of debate, as he does not appear on stage for a long time. Orgon is on the side of admiring him, to the amazement of the majority of those who know him, and he decides to marry off his daughter to Tartuffe. His daughter is one of those that sees through (the much older, and insufferably boring) Tartuffe's hypocrisy, so she is adamant not to marry him, and besides, she is in In Love with Another.

If we had any doubts about the issue of Tartuffe's true moral character, we watch as he attempts to seduce Orgon's wife, as he would prefer to marry her than her daughter. When his wife reports this news to Orgon, he refuses to believe her, privately signing off all his worldly goods to Tartuffe, though he confidently agrees to hide and listen in as his wife arranges a meeting with Tartuffe, who of course reveals his True (Dastardly) Purpose.

“Evil exists only when it's known. Adam and Eve were public in their fall. To sin in private is not to sin at all!”

Orgon is now finally convinced he was wrong about Tartuffe, but it appears too late to undo his own folly as he had indeed signed over his daughter and everything else to Tartuffe, who gives him 24 hours to vacate the premises. A last minute deus ex machina act of the King prevents his ruin, and allows his daughter to marry her True Love. It's a comedy, and all's well that ends well, which is to say happily, so we forgive the playwright for this sudden turn of events. We want the young woman to marry for love, and who she wants to marry, not the hypocrite Tartuffe!

Why is this so good? You know, Molière had in previous plays been working on buffoonish male characters such as Orgon who insist on complete control of women's lives, but are easily duped. Hypocrites such as Tartuffe abound in Molière, but this is just better written, funnier, obviously a playwright coming in to his prime. See it if you can! The production I heard is part of the LA Theaterworks Molière series, starring Brian Bedford, in an amazing translation by Richard Wilbur. I first saw it at the Stratford (Ontario) Festival Theater also starring Bedford in 1983! So good! on to The Misanthrope!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Molière on stage at the Comédie Française is like Shakespeare on stage at the Globe. Timeless. Each interpretation a new version. Tartuffe as the machiavellian power player was painfully good. Modern. Scary!

[P.E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A study on pharisees and hypocrites. The title of this play has turned into a common noun in French for such types.

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Tout est dans le titre :)

[David Sarkies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conned by a Charlatan
18 May 2013

Isn't it interesting that there are some sectors of society that get really upset if you poke fun at them, or even criticise them in anyway. Normally this happens because these particular people are well aware that what they are doing is wrong and that they are simply playing on people's stupidity to get away with what is little more than fraud. Much of the offence that is generated is not so much offence at the fun, but rather that what the person are doing is ripping the veil off of their fraud and exposing it for the world to see.

This is what happened to Moliere when he wrote this play, and the thing was that he was not actually poking fun at the church but rather at certain fraudsters that go around scamming people out of their hard earned savings for their own personal benefit. There have been people like this this throughout the ages and many writers have laid into these types of people particularly hard. However the church itself ended up being quite offended at Moliere's play (which actually says something about the church of the day) and put enormous pressure on the king to pretty much ban it.

Tartuffe is about this religious guru who becomes involved with a family and many of the family members see him as this wonderful person who is bringing wisdom and salvation to the house. However, there are some who see right through his lies, though through his silvered tongue Tartuffe is able to alienate these people. However, when pretty much everybody wakes up to the fraudster that Tartuffe is, he pulls another trick, which involves confiscating all of the family's property.

As I have mentioned, there have been fraudsters like this throughout the ages, and the church knows very well they exist. However it seems that the church really does not appreciate criticism in any form. In a way it seems to be offensive to turn religion into a joke, even if they joke doesn't actually involve them. The thing is that people like Moliere are not turning religion into a joke but rather exposing how certain people use religion to entrap segments of society and pretty much enslave them. Religion is, and always has been, about control, and the problem is that when certain people get into positions of power, and they do not necessarily need to be single fraudsters like Tartuffe, they could be members of an orthodox Christian denomination, they use this power to feather their own nest. However, the idea of salvation and life after death is something that concerns us all, and due to the veil that has fallen down between God and ourselves, many of us believe that salvation is not certain. It is when we let that belief creep in that certain people are then able to hold our salvation for ransom.

The thing about Christianity is that salvation is assured, which means that people cannot actually hold the threat of excommunication over you with regards to your actions. Granted, there is a moral code, but the idea is that genuine Christians will live by that moral code rather than having that code forced upon them. It simply comes down to loving your neighbour as yourself, and loving the Lord your God. However, people don't seem to necessarily understand this, and many people, with good intentions (and we all know where good intentions lead us to) try to pass judgement on other's actions. Okay, there is always accountability, and with us being fallen human beings, we are always going to be led astray (I know I have), however we must always remember that Jesus said that we should look to ourselves and examine our actions before we go off an pass judgement on other people. Further, accountability should always be a two way street. Being accountable to somebody while that person is not being accountable to you is a fast way of becoming enslaved to that person.

[Ivana Books Are Magic · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely play about a religious hypocrite Tartuffe that moves in with one French family and takes over the household. The pater familias Orogon will not listen to reason, he is convinced that Tartuffe is a living saint and fails to see how Tartuffe is using religion to exploit him financially. Orogon will listen to neither his children, nor his wife as they try to warn him. They will have to show him (rather than just tell about ) Tartuffe's true face. Will it be too late?

Moliere did a great job with brining all the characters to live. His satire on religious hypocrites is very precise and straightforward. So credible was the religious satire that it caused the play to be banned! The plot is well written and the story makes sense. Besides the Tartuffe plot (that involves him trying to seduce Orogon's wife and take possession of his home), there is also a subplot that involves Orgon's children, especially his daughter who is promised to a young man she loves but is suddenly being pressured by her father to marry Tartuffe. So, there is a Romeo and Juliet type of subplot as well. There is also a comic servant character that helps to move the plot forward.

As all Moliere's comedies, it is wonderfully written and the comic timing is simply perfect. The play is written in twelve-syllable lines of rhyming couplets - and I really enjoyed that. I like poetic plays. I wish I could read it in original, but alas I don't read in French. I read Tartuffe in Croatian translation. The edition I read also contained several letters that Moliere wrote to the king of France in defense of Tartuffe play (banned at some point) that were an interesting read on their own.

The ending is possibly the weakest part of this comedy. The deux in machina solution makes it seem less credible, although I see how it was perhaps necessarily. It is a comedy after all, so a happy ending is to be expected. On the other hand, the ending is a lovely example of 'deux in machina' play device being used in a more modern play. All in all, I would recommend this play. It is an easy and enjoyable read.

[Το Άθχημο γατί του θενιόρ Γκουαναμίρου · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Fernando · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Los hombres maliciosos mueren, pero la malicia nunca lo hace."

Me resulta imposible no comparar a "Tartufo" de Molière con "El inspector" de Nikolái Gógol y podría asegurar fervientemente que Gógol se inspiró en ese inolvidable personaje para crear a Iván Aleksándrovich Jléstakov, el otro famoso impostor que hace de las suyas con los pobres desdichados de un pueblo que lo confunden con un implacable inspector enviado por San Petersburgo para fiscalizar lo que sucede allí.
Ambos impostores se encuentran en la misma posición, aunque tal vez el de Gógol se encuentra con esa oportunidad para sacar una buena tajada mientras que Tartufo ya viene socavando las bondades de Orgón, este hombre obnubilado por el supuesto misticismo y devoción católica de Tartufo, a punto tal que desoye a todos en su familia que le advierten lo poco fiable que parece ser este personajes surgido de la nada.
Nadie, ni su esposa Elmira, ni su madre, Madame Pernelle, ni sus hijos Mariana y Damis, ni la astuta criada Mariana que ya le sacó la ficha al taimado Tartufo logran torcer la idea que Orgón tiene de su ídolo y lo pagará caro conforme va avanzando esta comedia que tiene un final feliz pero que debe pasar por una serie de acontecimientos en la trama que a mitad del libro parecen indicar lo contrario.
Jean Batiste Poquelin, que posteriormente se hiciera famoso como Molière es considerado junto a Racine y Corneille uno de los padres del teatro francés. Era intimo amigo de Luis XIV, lo cual le permitía representar sus obras sin inconvenientes hasta que se encontró con el duro escollo de poner en escena su "Tartufo", a punto tal que obviamente la Iglesia y posteriormente el Rey le prohibieron representarla en tres oportunidades debido a la naturaleza del personaje de Tartufo que por razones eclesiásticas desprestigiaba completamente a la institución y acercaban peligrosamente al autor a la cárcel.
Para esto, Molière presentó tres notas conocidas como "Súplica" ante Luis XIV en los años 1664, 1667 y 1669 rogándole la posibilidad de poner a Tartufo en escena.
En la primera oportunidad, la obra, presentada bajo el nombre de "El impostor" fue bajada rápidamente de cartel y Molière fue castigado por hacerlo. La segunda oportunidad también fue fallida y fue recién en la última oportunidad, la de 1669 la que permitió que la obra fuera representada y el éxito fue total.
A partir de allí la fama de Molière fue ascendiendo sin parar hasta que severos problemas de salud lo llevaron a la muerte a una temprana edad de 47 años.
A partir de su muerte Molière se transformó en uno de los más grandes autores de la literatura francesa. Y aún lo sigue siendo.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

What! Will you find no difference between
Hypocrisy and genuine devoutness?
And will you treat them both alike, and pay
The self-same honour both to masks and faces
Set artifice beside sincerity,
Confuse the semblance with reality,
Esteem a phantom like a living person,
And counterfeit as good as honest coin?

Reread for school. Surprisingly, I liked it even more the second time around.

Also Dorine is amazing, all right?

Dorine

Then what’s your plan about this other match?

Mariane

To kill myself, if it is forced upon me.

Dorine

Good! That’s a remedy I hadn’t thought of.
Just die, and everything will be all right.
This medicine is marvellous, indeed!
It drives me mad to hear folk talk such nonsense.

__________________________


First Read: September 2015

3 1/2

I don't know why I'm weirded out that I enjoyed this one.

[Labijose · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Tartufo, o el impostor» es una de mis obras preferidas de Molière, y desde luego su crítica mordaz a la hipocresía religiosa está tan vigente a día de hoy como, imagino, el día de su estreno. No es de extrañar que recibiera la censura de la iglesia allá en 1664. Se comenta que Luis XIV se vio obligado a retirarla, a pesar de que él personalmente disfrutó con la representación. Pocos años después se levantó la prohibición.
He intentado leerla en francés, pero confieso que la tuve que terminar en castellano para poder disfrutar de la sátira con mayor entendimiento. Tiene momentos muy divertidos, y creo que el tiempo no ha hecho mella en su mensaje.

[Mohamed Bayomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

جميلة , سهلة ومباشرة

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A funny play about a lascivious religious charlatan. I think I read it in college—I know I had to watch the 1985 Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation. Highly recommended.



Manny wrote in his review that the structure of Tartuffe can be found in many Frank Oz films, citing Little Shop of Horrors, In & Out, and the 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives. According to him, this structure is: Cretinous Orgon can't understand what's obvious to the audience and everyone else in the play, namely that the slimy cleric Tartuffe is not only trying to ruin him, but also to get into his wife's pants. He seems to have neatly engineered his own downfall when a deus ex machina saves the day.

When I hear Frank Oz, my mind goes to What About Bob?, and I can see some Tartuffe parallels, but inverted. In Tartuffe, the father embraces an interloper despite the objections of the rest of his family. In What About Bob?, the father is the only one in his family who objects to an interloper.

Like Tartuffe, Bob Wiley worms his way into a family through a charm offensive. Bob and Tartuffe are both seen as angelic, exerting a positive influence on other characters. Bob is a childlike figure whose oddities and violation of social norms like personal boundaries are excused by his mild mental illness. In Tartuffe’s case, all is justified by his religious fervor and saintliness. Bob takes the Marvins’ family home from them (blowing it up), while Tartuffe dispossesses Orgon’s family of theirs. There’s also a role reversal in each. Bob, the nutty patient, ruins Dr. Marvin’s psychiatrist career and reduces him to a nervous wreck who has to be institutionalized, stealing the spotlight to position himself as a medical expert and going on to become a psychologist with a bestselling book. Similarly, the former beggar Tartuffe is poised to take all of Orgon’s property and cast him out into the street. After some light flirting with Dr. Marvin’s wife and daughter, Bob ends up marrying his sister, Lily; while Tartuffe lusts over Orgon’s wife, Elmire (but is willing to settle for his daughter Mariane in the meantime).

And on and on. Also, looking at the creators of these wily usurpers, Molière = France’s national treasure, while Bill Murray = America’s national treasure. We’ve finally found the missing link.

I read the translation by Curtis Hidden Page and then the highly praised translation by Richard Wilbur. Wilbur’s translation is genius because he managed to keep the entire play in rhyming couplets, but I preferred the prose version.

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Notes from a class in 1994 where I read this:

A high comedy or Comedy of Maners - which began in the 17th Century. 1st age to produce a society of cultivated, educated people who had leisure time, human relations and to the forms and manners that make a society possible.

Presents social pattern of a correct world. There is reason, control and conformity on society and not on the individual. Plots are highly ordered and controlled.

Theme: Degree to which people are driven by their own obsessions to be blind to the needs of others.

Social Conventions: Father would have absolute power over daughters marriages. Deus ex Machina = God of the machine - King sets things right.

Interesting to see my old notes.

[Jesús De la Jara · Rating 5 out of 5]

"¡Ah! No porque sea devoto dejo de ser hombre; y cuando llega uno a contemplar vuestros celestiales hechizos, el corazón queda prendido en ellos y no razona. Ya sé que tal discurso parece extraño en mí, mas, señora, después de todo no soy un ángel; y si condena la confesión que le hago, culpe de ello a sus encantadoras prendas."

Una obra que busqué, como siempre, gracias a "Rojo y Negro" cuando Julián Sorel en los momentos de mayor duda pensó: "Una mujer perdió a Tartufo, yo debo escarmentar de su ejemplo ..."
Ésta fue quizás la obra más polémica en su tiempo de Molière, hasta él mismo le dedicaba en sus prefacios el estupor que le causaba que los que se veían atacados por la representación de Tartufo desplieguen tanta cólera e interés en prohibirla. Se refería obviamente a los religiosos hipócritas.
Tartufo es un invitado que llega a casa de Orgón y su esposa Elmira, protegido por el primero ya que llega a querer mucho a Tartufo por sus maneras irreprochables, su piedad inmensa y sus actos caritativos que lo pintan de católico extraordinario. Sin embargo todo esto es maquillaje pues realmente Tartufo es un hipócrita que simula toda esta devoción que en realidad no siente. Es en estas situaciones de contradicciones y ridículos donde mayormente se concentra lo divertido de esta obra y las carcajadas.
Tartufo no sólo llega a ser aceptado como huésped ilustre sino que tramará poco a poco mayor poder ante la ceguedad de Orgón. Mientras Damis y Mariana hijos del dueño de casa harán todo lo posible por desenmascaralo.
Tartufo es desde luego un maestro en el arte de engañar, acusar, convertir una infracción propia en fuente de remordimiento o castigo para otra persona. Una perversa mente que sin lugar a dudas creó un arquetipo tan intenso como los de Shakespeare con sus piezas dramáticas.

[Andreea Zelenyak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I swear, no matter how tired, sad or angry I am...somehow, Moliere always manages to put a smile on my face! I like to read his books , listen to the audiobooks.....I can't get tired to read/listen his masterpieces! Because, he was a genius and his work is brilliant!!
In my opinion he is one of the greatest masters of comedy in western literature! Hands down!!
Now, let's talk about 'Tartuffe'!!
This was good, not as good as 'The Learned Ladies', 'The Imaginary Invalid' or 'The Impostures of Scapin', but still very enjoyable and amusing!!
I recommend!!!! :))))

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taught this play in World /Western Literature several times in Wilbur's dazzling translation, but also included Moliere's lines, would write on the board in my bad French spelling (accent grave etc). Everybody spells French poorly, their spelling bees featuring 60-year-olds, not teens like American ones. To illustrate Wilbur's brilliance, here's Cleante advising his brother in law, the family head Orgon:
Brother, I have no fear
Of speaking out, for you and Heaven to hear,
Against affected zeal and pious knavery.
There's true and false in piety, as in bravery.
From Moliere I.v.:
Je sais comme je parle, et le Ciel voit mon coeur,
De tous vos façonniers on n'est point esclaves.
Il est des faux dévots ainsi que des faux braves."(259)*
As for "faux braves," false military heroes, I would tell my classes Plautus wrote Miles Gloriosus, the Braggart Soldier, about exactly such a Roman soldier, who became a comic type. The false Dévot, Tartuffe, has not become as prominent as a comic type, unfortunately. (I write as one whose brother has been a vrai Dévot, a Congregational preacher for decades, including a year at the Gregorian in Rome under Vatican II, with his Latin major at Carleton College.)

L'église catholique made King Louis Quatorze ban Tartuffe, whose title character is a religious hypocrite. Molière wrote this a couple years after the King had granted him a pension, not as a playwright, but as a great poet for L'Ecole des Femmes (the author thanked the King with an ode, "Remercîment au Roi"). The King came to regard Tartuffe as a great play. Moliere says he delayed the entrance of Tartuffe for two full acts so his hypocrisy grew fully clear.
We Americans need this play most since electing an unethical, criminal U.S. president whose multiple wives, sexual abuse and ignorance of the Bible never diminished his support among the right-wing religious (Baptists apparently as hypocritical as Tartuffe). Of course, America has spawned hundreds of preacher hypocrites, like TV preacher Jimmy Swaggart in 1988, with his famous "I have sinned..." confession of sex. Flannery O'Connor features hypocritical Protestant ministers in all three of her novels.

Orgon is duped into giving his daughter Marianne, and also his house, to the Hypocrite, who is finally revealed by his wife Elmire's allowing Tartuffe's making a pass, overheard by Orgon hiding under the very table the big T plans to use--and not for dining. Tartuffe uses Jesuitical argument, as in La Mandragola by Machiavelli. Elmire fears Heaven's wrath, but Tartuffe assures,
"Madame, forget such fears, and be my pupil,
And I shall teach you how to conquer scruple.
Some joys, it's true, are wrong in Heaven's eyes;
[Molière, fearful of churchy critics, adds in text: "C'est un scélérat qui parle."]
Yet Heaven is not averse to compromise...
And any harmful act you care to mention
May be redeemed by purity of intention.
The Hypocrite in Chief adds, It's no sin to sin in confidence, in silence,
"Et ce n'est pas pécher que pécher en silence."(302)

The play concludes with the arrival of the Law, a very polite bailiff, Monsieur Loyal, who brings Or-gon an Or-der to vacate his own house which he's given to the pious Tartuffe--a bit like the Trumpster's ripping off his supporters more after he was defeated ($200 M in a month). Outdoing himself in politeness, M Loyal wishes those whose home he's just taken a good day, "Le Ciel vous tienne tous en joie!"(313).
Do the courts overturn the fraud? No, but the King intervenes, saving Marianne not to marry T, but her lover (in a nice touch, she can't believe the danger's past). King Louis sends his own lieutenant colonel bodyguard, "Un exempt," to escort the big T to prison. (Americans can only hope the same for our Fraudster in Chief, as Jimmy Kimmel says, our "Uncle Scam.") The Royal Bodyguard testifies, We live under a King who sees into hearts, who despises fraud, "Nous vivons sous un prince ennemi de la fruade"(316).
Orgon starts to upbraid the Fraud, but his brother-in-law Cleante advises him not to "hit a man when he's down,"
"Ne vous joignez point au remords qui accable," Don't re-bite the oppressed. Rather, hope he'll reform enough to leave prison.


* Pagination from (Hachette, Molière Théâtre, tome II)

[Kassia · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Christian myself, I read Tartuffe with close precision. Taking apart each verse, I tried to figure out if the play was really an attack on Christianity and my faith. However, after close examination of the play, I found that the play doesn’t really try to attack the Christian faith. Rather, it tries extremely hard to avoid such an attack, and instead simply targets the hypocrites in the Church at the time.

Many parts of the play show the respect that Moliere had for religion. An example of this is when Cleante is speaking to Tartuffe. He says, “No, no; let’s simply do what Heaven ordains, / And let no other thoughts perplex our brains.” (IV.1.43-44) Here, Cleante is not making fun of religion. Instead, he is trying to emphasize the most important aspects of Christianity. On the other hand, Moliere attacks hypocrites by attacking the character of Tartuffe in his play. Tartuffe says, “No one shall know our joys, save us alone, / And there’s no evil till the act is known.” (IV. 5.117-205) Here, Tartuffe twists the teachings of the Bible around. He’s saying that if nobody catches them committing the sin, then it’s not considered a sin. I found Tartuffe to represent a lot of problems in both the Church and the world.

By portraying Tartuffe as a hypocrite and as an antagonist, Moliere effectively attacks the problem in society. I agree with Moliere in that even today, there are many hypocrites in the many religions and cultures. However, hypocrites only have power and influence when a person gives it to them. I believe that as people become more aware of the people around them, nobody will fall into the trap of hypocrites, who only do things to suit their selfish needs.

[Gorgona Grim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Za potpuno razumevanje "Tartifa" neophodno je pomenuti kontekst u kojem ovo delo nastaje. U Francuskoj tog doba (1660ih) su svi koji su na bilo koji način delovali i govorili protiv vere i crkve bili surovo kažnjavani, bez obzira na Nantski edikt koji je garantovao versku slobodu protestantima. Ovakve okolnosti uticale su na međuljudske odnose, uzrokujući strah i zaziranje od špijuniranja i špijuna u vidu rođaka ili komšije koji bi mogli da ih prokažu organima vlasti zbog krivoverja i blasfemije.

Tartif označava licemernu osobu, u kontekstu drame to je osoba koja se hvali osobinama koje ne poseduje, poput pobožnosti, skromnosti, milosrđa i blagonaklonosti. Molijer je želeo da iskritikuje licemere koji su sebe predstavljali afirmativno, prokazivajući druge "nevernike", dok bi se daleko od tuđih očiju prepustili uživanju u stvarima koje su kod drugih nalazili kao mane. Tekst je prvobitno bio napisan kao drama u tri čina i bila je tragedija. Nedugo nakon prvog izvođenja je bila zabranjena jer su se prozvane strane pobunile, kritikujući "Tartifa" kao bogohulno delo. Shvatajući da je pogodio srž problematike, Molijer se bori za svoje delo, ostvarujući kontakt sa kraljem lično. Luju XIV se komad izuzetno dopao i dao je Molijeru dopuštenje da tekst doradi i ponovo ga postavi kao pozorišni komad.

Pred nama se nalazi treća verzija teksta koja je komedija u pet činova. Bez obzira na doradu teksta, jasno možemo prepoznati prethodne verzije koje su bile tragični komadi jer samo razrešenje situacije u petom činu deluje više nego nakalemljeno. Nakon što je Tartif uneo pometnju u Orgonov dom, opčinjavajući ga da je siroti bogomoljac a zapravo proračunati lupež i nakon što je uspeo da prevari Orgona da mu prepiše imovinu, prvobitne verzije su se završavale tragično, ostavljajući porodicu bez igde ičega na ulici. U ovoj verziji teksta, u trenutku kada izbacivanje postaje izvesno, pojavljuje se policajac, poslat od Kralja lično, sa obaveštenjem da je dobri kralj uvideo kakvu igru igra Tartif. On je ujedno poništio sporne dokumente o primopredaji imovine i porodica ostaje gde je, a Tartif biva uhapšen.

Više je nego jasno zašto se Luju XIV sviđala drama i zašto je stao u Molijerovu zaštitu. Na ovaj način dobijamo poruku da je kralj ultimativni vladalac pravednog srca koji brine o svojim građanima. Iako nisam bila oduševljena načinom na koji se komedija završila, moram istaći lik kućne pomoćnice Dorine koji je fantastično napisan. U pitanju je lik koji prvi uviđa kakav je Tartif i otvoreno kreće u borbu za dobrobit porodice. Unosi dinamiku koja je bitna za stvaranje ritma u toku komedije, stvarajući brojne simpatične, pa i smešne situacije u interakciji sa drugim protagonistima.

[Keith Bruton · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.3
.
Excellent comedy play by Molière. First performed in 1664. Tartuffe is a snake of a character who tries to weasel his way into the family which the father Orgon has fallen for. The family are up in arms with their fathers naivety and so the play unfolds.

Highly recommend to those who are fans of Oscar Wilde, Carlo Goldoni, Noel Coward, Chekhov and Ibsen.

[Pia G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

oyunun en sevdiğim yanı, gerçeği en başından beri görenlerin beklenmedik anlarda çıkması: mariane’in dadısı dorine, cléante gibi aklı başında karakterler, hatta elmire.. özellikle kadın karakterler oyunda çok güçlü çizilmiş. tartuffe’ün gerçek yüzünü ortaya çıkaran da elmire oluyor zaten. bu yönüyle oyun, sınıf farkına ya da cinsiyete göre değil de düşünebilen ve sorgulayabilen insanlara değer veriyor. ve bu, gerçekten çok güzel bir detay!

molière’in o gözlem gücü ve zekâsı o kadar etkileyici ki oyun hem eğlenceli hem de düşündürücü. aradan yüzlerce yıl geçmesine rağmen hâlâ çok tanıdık.. çünkü bugün de tartuffe gibi rol yapanlar var ve hâlâ orgon’lar da var, hiç sorgulamadan inanan gözü kapalı güvenenler ne yazık ki hâlâ aramızda.

finalde kral gelip her şeyi çözüyor ancak o dönemi düşününce bu da anlaşılır molière oyunu kilise ve saray baskısından kurtarmak için böyle bir son yazmak zorunda kalmış çünkü tartuffe gibi sahte dindarları eleştirmek o zamanlar pek kolay değildi. yine de bu final olmasa da olurdu bence..

[Siv30 · Rating 4 out of 5]

טרטיף הוא סיפורו של נוכל, שבמסווה של כומר מצליח לעוור את עיניו של אב המשפחה, אוראגון, שמנשל את בנו, מבטיח את בתו לכומר ומעביר לו את נכסיו.

סיפור שמדגיש את השפעתם של אנשי דת על הציבור ואת הניצול של הדת כדי לצבור נכסים תוך עושק שלא בדין.

ההתרה של המחזה קצת צולעת לדעתי אבל התרגום נהדר ולא נס ליחו של המחזה.

[huzeyfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

2024 Yılı Fransızca okumaları çerçevesinde bu ay elime aldığım bir Moliere oyunu. Kurgusu itibariyle zaten günümüze ışık tutacak nitelikte bir eser olması ile birlikte ayrıca şiirsel dili ve akicili, dialoglardaki incelikler Moliere’in ne kadar büyük bir oyun yazarı olduğunu da gösteriyor.

Oyunda dini inançlarına körü körüne sayılabilecek bir saflıkla sıkıca bağlı soylu ve zengin bir adama kendini dine adamış bir sofu rolü oynayarak sinsice malını, mülkünü, kızını ve hatta karısını dahi elinden almaya çalışan bir sahtekarın (Tartuffe) öyküsünü anlatır. 20. Yüzyılda birçok dizi ve film senaryosuna öncülük ettiğini bu oyunu okuyunca anlayacaksınız.

[İlkim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Döneminin dindar sofularına gönderme yaptığı için çok kez yasaklanan bir oyun Tartüf. Tartüf dini kullanıp kendi çıkarlarını gözeten bir karakter, bu sayede evin tapusunu dahi üstüne geçirmeye çalışıyor. Moliere'in diğer oyunları gibi aslında: Kibarlık Budalası'nda asil sınıfına dahil olmaya çalıştığı için tuttuğu öğretmenler ve diğer insanlar tarafından kullanılan karakter, Hastalık Hastası'nda adı üstünde hastalık hastası olduğu için doktorların ve eczacıların bol bol söğüşlediği bir karakter, Cimri'de asla elini cebine atmadığı için oyun yapılan bir karakter vardı. Yaşadığı dönemde sevmediği, hazzetmediği ne kadar itici tipleme varsa hepsini oyunlarına alıp yermeyi uygun görmüş ki bu konuda çok başarılı. İnsanların da tepkisini çekmiş, hatta Hastalık Hastası'nı yazdıktan sonra ölüm döşeğinde ona yardım edecek doktor bile bulamamış. Kısacası 1600'lerin nasıl bir dönem olduğunu, günümüzle de ne derece benzediğini görmek için Moliere'in oyunları sağlam bir kaynak .

[emi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I haven't read many plays, not including, Shakespeare's work, but I can safely say that I enjoyed this one. It was humorous, fun and the characters were very well developed (even in such a short play). My only problem was with the language; there were some lines I just couldn't really grasp the meaning of. Luckily, the edition I had, contained lots of annotations, otherwise, I think I'd have some trouble understanding what was going on.

But, otherwise, it was a very good read with an interesting outlook on religion and hypocrisy. I'd recommend it, if you're looking for a short comedy! Definitely one worth noting down.