1. Describe/discuss the character of Tartuffe.

2. Do you think there is any way that decent people can protect themselves from the evil of a brilliant hypocrite such as Tartuffe? How? (remember, only the king's intervention saves Tartuffe's victims in this play.)

Tartuffe is the devil in disguise. He appears to be well-meaning, pious, innocent, altruistic, and self-sacrificing, but all of these good qualities are a front, a means to an end, which is to take advantage of people who are affected by the Enlightenment. He is indeed very intelligent, cunning, and is certainly a good student of human nature. Tartuffe is only interested in Tartuffe, yet he gets others to believe that all he cares about is piety. He is a very convincing actor to those who are naive and afraid enough to believe him. He is a powerful politician, and knows his subject, religion, for what is has always been, a power play for control over the majority of the population. Tartuffe preys upon the fears of those who are trying to hold on to the old ways of religion; first as a result of the struggles between the Catholics and the Protestants; later by the Age of Reason, where people began questioning God's role in everyday life. Tartuffe took advantage of the times just like others seeking power, profit, and revenge have done throughout history. He made psychological warfare under the guise of a holy war.

Tartuffe knew a "mark" when he saw one, and wasted no time in figuring out a way to ingratiate himself to Orgon and his mother. He was a poor man who probably had lived by his wits his whole life, and was looking for a way out of poverty; however, the fact that Tartuffe was able to exploit Orgon is not totally Tartuffe's fault. If Orgon was willing to play the fool, are we to totally blame Tartuffe? No. Moliere at one point even invents the word "tartuttified" to describe the experience. Orgon becomes a Tartuffian of his own volition. He appears to be brainwashed, but it is a very conscious decision to become Tartuffe's disciple. Orgon is also waging a war in the name of religion. He now has the excuse he has been looking for to finally divest himself once and for all of any emotional commitment toward his family. His comment that his whole family could die right then and there without any grieving on his part because of the peace that Tartuffe has given him supports this statement.

Orgon's alliance with Tartuffe also gives him an excuse to exercise his total control over his household to his own end. If Orgon is to divest himself completely of all responsibility, then why not give Tartuffe all of his worldly possessions, including his daughter? Such a contribution to the Church would please his mother tremendously, thus killing two birds with one stone, as it were. More than one person has hidden behind the crucifix; Orgon is not the first or the last to do so. If God goes, so does Orgon and everything he represents at this point in history. In short, Orgon has a lot invested in God for reasons other than eternal salvation as much as Tartuffe does. I therefore believe that Tartuffe is not wrong in thinking that if Orgon falls for his act, then he gets what he deserves. I also think that Tartuffe is unaware of how much control Orgon actually has over the situation.

There are some excellent allusions to Jesus Christ and martyrdom in general within the context of this play regarding the question of Tartuffe's virtue. Tartuffe is set up by Elmire and Dorine in order to expose his immorality to Orgon as an attempt to wake him up; however, Orgon does not want to be awakened. It works to Tartuffe's advantage when this plan backfires; he is now able to capitalize on his existing role as resident saint by playing the martyr to the hilt in order to further convince Orgon that Tartuffe is indeed the Chosen One. Moliere first has Tartuffe bound to a dining room chair with his own rosary beads, just like martyrs in the past had been tied and burned at the stake, or tied and nailed to the cross . Tartuffe is very much aware of the impression he is inadvertently making, and expands upon it first by self-flagellation, beating himself with his beads and screaming his unworthiness after confessing his guilt (his lust for Elmire), and later by his abuse of the stigmata to further convince Orgon of Tartuffe's saintliness. Thus, Tartuffe and Orgon continue to play off of each other, each so preoccupied with his own ambition that neither one sees nor cares that he is also being used.

I agree with Cleante that people who really believe in something, in any context, are at peace with themselves and go about their business quietly. The need to continue the love/hate relationship of a parent and child into adulthood is critical for some people, however. These people have not learned to take responsibility for themselves, and thus keep rebelling against authority figures their whole lives. Some say that God was created in man's image for just this reason, not the other way around. Unfortunately, a lot of people need to know that "someone up there" is looking out for them. Others like to live dangerously, sinning at will and then going to church and confession.

Penance makes everything okay; conversely, when Tartuffe told Elmire that confidentiality negates the sin, he meant that there is no sin if no one knows about it. This is where Tartuffe's hypocrisy may be at its highest: if he were really as pious as he appeared, then he would believe that God is really listening and watching everything we do.

People like Orgon are not innocent victims; rather, they are victimizers, no matter how foolish they appear. In my opinion, "real" decent people are already protected from corruption of the mind and heart because they are not able to be manipulated, and are not themselves manipulators. They are sure of who they are and their purpose in life. Unfortunately, these are the people who also get hurt the most by others who are jealous of their security within themselves. I do not see Orgon or anyone in his household in this light with the possible exceptions of Elmire and Cleante.

Along with several levels of deception, it is a natural law that there must be a balance between good and evil, or constructive and destructive forces in the universe. It would be nice to be able to eradicate all evil from existence, but evil has a very definite purpose. If it were not for evil, we would not be able to recognize the good things in life. It is therefore my opinion, taken in this context, that it is fairly impossible for decent people to avoid getting hurt at some point in their lives, but very few would actually complain about it because they do not have a "victim mentality," meaning, we are only victims if we see ourselves that way. They realize that in questioning God's motives, we must also question our own.

Unfortunately, Tartuffe is not as smart as he thinks he is, and eventually is arrested and taken away by the king and the king's men. In using others, Tartuffe becomes his own victim, and therein lies justice. The story does have a happy ending for the other characters. Tartuffe is finally tricked into revealing his lust for Elmire in Orgon's presence, which is almost consummated because Orgon does nothing to stop Tartuffe from his hiding place under the dining room table no matter how many times Elmire bangs on it. Tartuffe is discovered with his pants literally down, and threatens to destroy Orgon. Wrath hath no fury like a Tartuffe outsmarted. Unbeknownst to us at this point (and not surprisingly), Orgon has become involved in another dangerous liaison at the same time he is involved with Tartuffe, this time with a "friend" who happens to be a rebel and an enemy of the king. Orgon agrees to hold some treasonous papers for this friend, and then confesses this sin to Tartuffe, giving him the ammunition he needs to destroy Orgon after getting him to draw up legal papers making him sole heir.

In getting involved with a rebel, Orgon again endangers not only himself but his family. This act seems to make no sense since he supported the king during the wars, but this is typical of the way Orgon's mind . I do not doubt that if Orgon were a real person, that he would definitely get involved in scams like these two on a fairly regular basis.

In conclusion, it is hard to know who really engineered the two seductions of Elmire; did Tartuffe mastermind his own humiliation to bring Orgon down? He is such a good actor that it is hard to know. Regardless, good triumphs over evil, Orgon and his mother are supposedly deprogrammed (and again, I doubt that any permanent damage was done), Mariane and Valere are allowed to get married (for now), and life goes on as before, until the next temptation comes along.