Obsession In Orgon's Tartuffe

In Tartuffe, Moliere's use's plot to defend and oppose characters that symbolize and ridicule habitual behavior's that was imposed during the neo-classical time period. His work, known as a comedy of manners, consists of flat characters, with few and similar traits and that always restore some kind of peace in the end. He down plays society as a whole by creating a microseism, where everyone in the family has to be obedient, respectful, and mindful of the head of the home, which is played by the father Orgon. Mariane shows her obedience when she replies "To please you, sir, is what delights me best." (Moliere 324,11) Shortly afterwards, Orgon commands Mariane to take Tartuffe as her husband even though she is not interested in him at all.

In the end Elmire comes up with another plan to reveal Tartuffe’s true self to Orgon. She tells Orgon to hide under a table and eavesdrop on their conversation. He agrees to do so. Elmire admits to Tartuffe that she has the same feelings for him. Tartuffe wants proof of this so he wants her to sleep with him and she agrees but tells him to check the hallway to make sure Orgon is gone. When he walks out to do so Orgon appears from under the table and admits he being fooled. He is furious that he has been betrayed by a so called holy man. Tartuffe returns and Orgon bands him from his home but he has the deed to the house. Tartuffe then goes to the king to try and get them out of the house but the king sees right threw him. Orgon takes the issue the king who the arrests Tartuffe and settle the issue.

The extreme level of Orgon's devotion to Tartuffe is obvious. At the end of Act I, Scene 2, Dorinne, the maid, remarks on Orgon's complete infatuation with Tartuffe. She tells Clèante, Orgon's brother-in-law that "he's quite loss his senses since he fell / Beneath Tartuffe infatuating spell. / He calls him brother, and loves him as his life, / Preferring him to mother, child, or wife. / In him and him alone will he confide; / He's made him his confessor and his guide" (18). While this appears to be an exaggeration on Dorinne's part, it is soon clear that she is correct. Throughout Act I, Scene IV, Dorinne tries repeatedly to tell Orgon about his wife's illness. He never once expresses concern or sympathy for his own wife Elmire. In contrast, Tartuffe has been eating enough for several men, drinking wine heavily, and sleeping soundly. However, every time Dorinne begins to talk about the fever and headaches, Orgon repeats, "Ah. And Tartuffe?" or "Poor fellow" (20-23). Furthermore, Orgon himself even admits openly that through Tartuffe, his "soul [has] been freed / From earthly loves, and every human tie: / My mother, children, brother, and wife could die, / And I'd not see a single moment's pain" (25). The blindness Orgon exhibits, therefore, robs him of every human sympathy. The loving husband and father

Orgon is the type of man that is easily impressed because he does not have a strong personality. Once Tartuffe gains his trust, Orgon seems to be willing to act under hypocrite’s guidance: “Under his tutelage my soul’s been freed/ From earthly loves, and every human tie;/ My mother, children, brother, and my wife could die,/ And I’d not feel a single moment’s pain” (Moliere 32).

Before Orgon is left to believe the statements about Tartuffe, it is the discussion between Orgon's wife, Elmire, and Tartuffe that begins to reveal the truth of the rumors of Tartuffe. As Elmire and Tartuffe talk about Orgon's proposal to marry Mariane, Tartuffe says that he would rather find happiness elsewhere. It is at this point in the play that Tartuffe begins to reveal his feelings towards Elmire.

I’m far less awed;/ In fact, I see right through him. He’s a fraud.” (I.1.69-70) Dorine’s blunt words carry more weight than the other characters’ in this scene for several reasons. Dorine represents the average person more than anyone else in the play. She is not highly educated like Cleante and she did not have the upbringing that the other characters did. For someone in her position, a lady’s maid, to see the truth so clearly, it exaggerates the absurdity that Orgon and Madame Pernelle do not. In Dramatic Justice in Tartuffe, Myrna Kogan Zwillenberg wrote, “To be sure, Molière has taken the precaution of signaling such incidents by having the servant Dorine express her exaggerated moral outrage, a significant device which pinpoints the areas meant to be ridiculous.” (Myrna Kogan Zwillenberg 1)

Tartuffe is the ultimate hypocrite in this play due to his immoral actions that go against the Catholic ethics, which he preaches. Though he asserts to be religious, righteous, generous, he is in fact, deceitful, avaricious, and immoral (Cashman 80). Tartuffe hypocrisy is contagious, dangerous, and has a negative impact to those surrounding him; it affects Orgon by destabilizing his entire family and making them believe him as a supposedly spiritual man. Furthermore, those who result in believing him grow into pretenders. For example, Madame Pernelle who preaches Christian kindness, assaults her house help, whereas, Orgon commits wickedness against his household. Notably, some characters, such as Elmire, Dorine, and Cleante are strongly against Tartuffe’s hypocrisy. Both Dorine and Cleante employ rhetoric linguistic to attempt to contradict Tartuffe, and although their opinions are coherent, it is hard to triumph against him. Elmire notes, “You see him as a saint. I’m far less awed…in fact, I see right through him. He is fraud” (1.1.23). This aims to expose Tartuffe for what he truly is, by exploiting his lust for her to attest his insincerity to his spouse Orgon.

From this scene, there is clear evidence showing how Tartuffe is a hypocrite. Here, he preaches about the importance of chastity; however, in the scene that follows, he goes against this statement when he tries to pursue Elmire. Tartuffe tries to persuade Elmire to cheat on Orgon, but she comes up with a plan to expose Tartuffe's true personality to Orgon as well as to show him how Tartuffe was trying

In Tartuffe, Moliere's use's plot to defend and oppose characters that symbolize and ridicule habitual behavior's that was imposed during the neo-classical time period. His work, known as a comedy of manners, consists of flat characters, with few and similar traits, and that always restore some kind of peace in the end. He down plays society as a whole by creating a microseism, where everyone in the family has to be obedient, respectful, and mindful of the head of the home, which is played by the father Orgon. Mariane shows her obedience when she replies "To please you, sir, is what delights me best." (Moliere 324,11) Shortly afterwards, Orgon commands Mariane to take Tartuffe as her husband even though she is not interested in him at all. Orgon's command shows how men are dominate

Orgon's family and friends believed by now that there was no hope in helping him realize the deceit that was going on right under his nose. Orgon decided that giving his daughter to Tartuffe would be the ultimate gift, and hearing this Elmire decided that it best to try to reason with Tartuffe to make Orgon keep his promise to Valere with his daughters hand in marriage. Orgon's character is drawn as that of being naive and ignorant, and displays this when he refers to Tartuffe as blood and tells the story of Tartuffe when he first met him with him asking for money, and then saying he only needed a little not the large amount Orgon gave. " nd how austere he is! Why, he can detect a moral sin where you would least suspect."(Moliere 26). In Elmire and Tartuffe's meeting Damis hiding behind the curtains hears the foul confessions of the holy one's love for Elmire and decides to come our and catch him. Damis tells Orgon of Tartuffe's confessions and the manipulator that Tartuffe is convinces Orgon that is just a plot against him. Orgon as angry as he is makes a stupid mistake "This very day, I'll give to you alone Clear deed and title to everything I own"(Moliere 48). This mistake alone cost Orgon his son, and his family's support. Elmire's plan to call out Tartuffe one more time in front of Orgon to show there was a wolf among them worked, and Tartuffe showed his true colors for Elmire by asking for acts of true caring if her feelings were true for him made

Elmire said, "Some women might do otherwise, perhaps, But I shall be discreet about your lapse; I'll tell my husband nothing of what's occurred if, in return, you'll give your solemn word to advocate as forcefully as you can The marriage of Valere and Mariane." (3,4,135). Elmire tries her best to help her stepdaughter to get her married to the man of her life instead of Tartuffe and to get expose his acts in faking and showing how much he is all about god and a saint. Later on, that day when Elmire was telling Orgon what type of a guy is Tartuffe and that Orgon wasn't ready to believe anything she said, at that point she challenged her husband saying she can prove that Tartuffe is a horrible two faces person. Elmire kept telling Orgon that " You've been too long deceived, I'm quite tired of being disbelieved. Come now: let's put my statement to the test, And you shall see the truth made manifest".(4.4.75) After convincing Orgen to be part of the act. Elmire trying so hard to make Orgon believe and show the true face of Tartuffe and also she just wants to clean the mess. When all fails she is willing to hide her husband under the table and flirts openly to prove her point to her husband.

But once Tartuffe is unmasked and his hypocrisy discovered, Orgon reverses himself and determines to hate and persecute all pious men. Orgon in the play seems to represent man's extravagant and uncontrollable nature, which never takes the right and rational direction, but instead, constantly shifts between absurd extremes.

In a laughing manner, Orgon agrees to hide and listen to his wife and Tartuffe speak. Elmire begins to say the things she must in order for Tartuffe to come clean and there are several times in this scene in which she coughs in

He is at the beginning of the play seen as a God like figure, particularly to Orgon and Madame Pernelle, by this he is strong and inspirational, however, when he does realises he has been found out for being in the wrong, his persona changes to guilty and even vulnerable. This is shown in Act III scene 6 when Damis accuses Tartuffe of trying to seduce Elmire, Tartuffe uses reverse psychology to win Orgon over by confessing the all things awful, to an extent in which Orgon begins to sympathise with him. It is clearly shown that Tartuffe goes to the absolute extreme when he apologises to Orgon;

Tartuffe is, a French comedy, written in 1664 by Moliere about a fraud posing as a holy man with sexually deceitful intentions. The plot takes place in Orgon's house and keeps the viewers interested and aware. The story begins with Madame Pernelle visiting her son, Orgon and criticizing everyone but Tartuffe. Orgon believes Tartuffe to possess great character, and is so fooled by Tartuffe that he renders his daughter, Mariane, to marry him as well as hands over the deed to his house. Tartuffe's true intention is to take Orgon's wife, Elmire. On multiple occasions Tartuffe tries to sexually assault Elmire, until she has a plan to expose him to Orgon, so he can see the truth about Tartuffe. Tartuffe tries to take possession of the house,