Tartuffe Class Notes

Hum. 2

I. A little background

A. As can see in head note, Moliere stirred up some controversy with his plays, although actually any actor was automatically excommunicated by the church in France

B. Even though Moliere was in disfavor of church, did find friendly audience at the Court, which gave him safety and support—but even the king banned Tartuffe from public performance

C. Two very different reactions:

1. "...a very dangerous play, which under the pretext of condemning hypocrisy or false piety, is all the more capable of harming religion. It allows all those who profess the deepest devotion to be indifferently accused and exposes them to the continual barbs and slander of the libertines..." Archbishop of Paris, 1667.

2. "Here is what obliges me to defend myself. It is to the truly devout that I want to justify myself in the course of my play. If comedy is used to correct human vices, I see no reason why there should be any exemptions." Moliere, Preface to Tartuffe, 1669.

D. If you have a chance, do see a production of it; as with all plays, it’s much better seen than read

II. Themes in the play

A. What were your reactions to the play?

B. To begin, let’s brainstorm together: what are some themes are that you noticed in the play

[religious hypocrisy, role of women, excess emotion/lack of reason, (maybe) role of the king/state, way to solve problems]

-consider these in turn

C. Religious hypocrisy:

1. Can you see why the Church may have wanted to prevent this play ever from being performed?

[concern that this play would be seen as an attack on religious people more generally]

2. Is this a reasonable concern?

[perhaps partly legitimate: there aren’t really “good” examples of how to be devout; but, on the other hand, the play clearly shows what Tartuffe is doing to be a perversion of Christianity—so it seems fairly far removed from a direct attack]

3. Read through Scene 2 (pp. 136-7); need Tartuffe and Dorine

a. Probably pretty obvious, but how does Moliere satirize religious hypocrisy here?

[-Tartuffe is just getting signs of piety when sees he has an audience

-seems especially interested in the “flesh”—note contrast with Dorine’s response!

-suggestion already about Tartuffe’s interest in Elmire]

b. How does this critique in this scene and of religious hypocrisy more generally fit in with the Enlightenment ideasl?

[-attack on the extreme of religiosity (not rational)

-attack on a lack of control (by Tartuffe)

-the approach to religion in here is not to ask deep theological questions about the existence of God but rather to be concerned about how we should act in society]

D. Role of women

1. What do you observe in here about how women are presented?

[probably seems that they’re fairly liberated: they do get to speak, and they apparently can say anything they want; they’re the smart ones in here—and generally the most level-headed, too]

2. All that is true, so to some extent Moliere is pushing the audience, but as far as I can tell, Moliere was no early feminist (he also wrote a play satirizing the intellectual pretensions of women)

3. Assuming that he was generally supportive of a dominant role for men, whom was he likely criticizing in creating such out-spoken, witty women?

[probably Orgon, for letting his household get to such a state that women had to take charge]

E. Importance of reason over the irrational (emotion, sexual desire, power)

1. When (or in whom) do we see reason pushed aside in the play?

[-Orgon’s refusal to believe that Tartuffe is a scam artist

-Tartuffe’s excessive desires to take over everyone’s life

-silliness of those in love (pp. 130-131)

(and many more examples)]

2. Read part of Act IV, Scene 1 (p. 145 to bottom of p. 146); need Cleante and Tartuffe

a. How does this conversation interact with Enlightenment ideals?

[see faultiness of logic, twisted religious formulations]

b. Cleante embodies Enlightenment values of reason and moderation

3. Read part of Act IV, scene 5 (pp. 151-153, lines 51-133); need Elmire, Tartuffe (and silent Orgon)

(as they read, think especially about two levels of the conversation)

a. How is the lack of reason satirized in here?

[see very faulty reasoning: “It’s scandal, Madam, which makes it an offense, / And it’s no sin to sin in confidence” (lines 119-120)

b. Could also make the case, although it’s a very humorous example, that there’s a kind of Enlightenment urge in here to test a hypothesis through experimentation (what Elmire sets up with Tartuffe)

c. A lot of the humor in this scene is to recognize the two levels to the conversation—did you pick up where that happens?

[-line 111—“bad” about husband

-line 124—“nothing less / Will satisfy you” (spoken really to her husband)

-line 132—attack on Orgon: “him who drove me to it”

F. Political allegory

1. Since Moliere was being supported by the king, it’s hard not to notice the role that the king plays in here: what is his task?

[-he needs to restore things to their proper place at the end of the play—restores property and pardons Orgon for being foolish]

2. Possible to see the play as dealing with the need for order—and advocating a strong king at the top of the social order to make sure that “all’s right with the world”

III. Neoclassical structure of the play—how is this play structurally Neoclassical?

A. Heroic couplets—even though it’s a translation (and Richard Wilbur is a contemporary poet whom I heard read at a conference), he is providing a sense of the time period by writing in rhyming couplets

B. Unities—does Moliere follow them?

Mostly, yes:

1. Place—all at Orgon’s house

2. Time—all in one day

3. Action—all about Tartuffe and his plans; all tied in with that without extraneous subplots

C. Clear moral at the end—what is it?

[-be moderate, be reasonable; see Cleante’s speech on p. 156 (lines 36-56)—can also see here Moliere’s attempt to mollify the church: he’s not attacking all believers;

-likewise, emphasis on prince’s role with officer’s speech p. 164 (lines 45-60)]

D. Sense of renewed order/new society at the end with the marriage (although this was a common move in other times as well, as is obvious in many of Shakespeare’s plays)

E. Get teaching, but also get very clever lines (the best combination!)