Tartuffe, or The Impostor, or The Hypocrite (;"Tartuffe". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. , ), first performed in 1664, is a theatrical comedy and farce by Molière, written in poetic verse.
The play was first performed in 1664 in three acts, but the text of it has been lost after it was condemned by the Archbishop of Paris, Hardouin de Péréfixe de Beaumont. The play was revised in 1667 to be less provocative, and eventually re-released in its current form in 1669.
History Molière performed his first version of Tartuffe in 1664. Almost immediately following its performance that same year at Versailles' grandes fêtes (The Party of the Delights of the Enchanted Island/Les fêtes des plaisirs de l'ile enchantée), King Louis XIV suppressed it, probably under the influence of the archbishop of Paris, Paul Philippe Hardouin de Beaumont de Péréfixe, the King's confessor and former tutor. While the king had little personal interest in suppressing the play, he did so because, as stated in the official account of the fête: although it was found to be extremely diverting, the king recognized so much conformity between those that a true devotion leads on the path to heaven and those that a vain ostentation of some good works does not prevent from committing some bad ones, that his extreme delicacy to religious matters can not suffer this resemblance of vice to virtue, which could be mistaken for each other; although one does not doubt the good intentions of the author, even so he forbids it in public, and deprived himself of this pleasure, in order not to allow it to be abused by others, less capable of making a just discernment of it.
As a result of Molière's play, contemporary French and English both use the word "tartuffe" to designate a hypocrite who ostensibly and exaggeratedly feigns virtue, especially religious virtue. The play is written entirely in twelve-syllable lines (alexandrines) of rhyming couplets—1,962 lines total.
Characters Character Description Orgon: MolièreHead of the house and husband of Elmire, he is blinded by admiration for Tartuffe. Tartuffe: Du Croisy Houseguest of Orgon, hypocritical religious devotee who attempts to seduce Elmire Valère: La GrangeThe young romantic lead, who struggles to win the hand of his true love, Orgon's daughter Mariane. Madame Pernelle: Louis Béjart, cross-dressedMother of Orgon; grandmother of Damis and Mariane Elmire: Armande Béjart-MolièreWife of Orgon, step-mother of Damis and Mariane Dorine: Madeleine BéjartFamily housemaid (suivante), who tries to help expose Tartuffe and help Valère and Mariane. Cléante: La ThorillièreBrother of Elmire, brother-in-law of Orgon (the play's raisonneur) Mariane: Mlle de BrieDaughter of Orgon, the fiancée of Valère and sister of Damis Damis: André HubertSon of Orgon and brother of Mariane Laurent Servant of Tartuffe (non-speaking character) Argas Friend of Orgon who was anti-Louis XIV during the Fronde (mentioned but not seen). Flipote Servant of Madame Pernelle (non-speaking character) Monsieur Loyal: Mr. De BrieA bailiff A King's Officer/The Exempt An officer of the king
Plot
Orgon's family is up in arms because Orgon and his mother, Madame Pernelle, have fallen under the influence of Tartuffe, a fraud and vagrant prior to Orgon's charity. Tartuffe manipulates Orgon by aping devotion and pretending to speak with divine authority. Madame Pernelle, also convinced of Tartuffe's piety, denounces Elmire and Cléante, Orgon's second wife and brother-in-law, respectively.
Orgon returns from his estate with news: although his daughter Mariane is engaged to Valère, Tartuffe will now marry his daughter. The news causes a rift between Mariane and Valère as each are convinced of the other's apathy until Dorine, the maid, reconciles the couple and plots to reveal Tartuffe's hypocrisy. Suspecting that Tartuffe will be swayed by Elmire, she arranges for the two to meet. Unbeknownst to her, Damis, Orgon's son and heir, eavesdrops on their conversation. When Tartuffe declares his love for Elmire, Damis interrupts and triumphantly reports everything to his father. However, Tartuffe uses reverse psychology to accuse himself of being the worst sinner:Yes, my brother, I am wicked, guilty. A miserable sinner just full of iniquity. Orgon is convinced that Damis is lying and banishes him from the house. He signs over all his worldly possessions to Tartuffe, disinheriting Damis. After seeing that Orgon will listen to neither reason or emotion after interviews with Cléante and Mariane, Elmire decides to act. She challenges Orgon to eavesdrop on a private meeting between her and Tartuffe. Orgon, convinced of Tartuffe's piety, agrees and hides under a table. Elmire's attempts to seduce Tartuffe make him suspicious, but his lust soon offers Orgon unobjectionable proof of his hypocrisy. Orgon demands that Tartuffe leave his household, but Tartuffe reminds him that he is its owner as he threatens to return.
Orgon despondently reveals to his family that, before the events of the play, he had admitted to Tartuffe that he had kept letters written by his friend, Argas, that denounced Louis XIV. The box is nowhere to be found. Soon after, a bailiff, Monsieur Loyal, arrives with a message from Tartuffe: Orgon and his family must vacate the house. Dorine mocks Loyal's name and his false loyalty. As he leaves, Valère enters, warning Orgon that Tartuffe has just revealed the treasonous letters to the King and that an officer is on his way to the house with a warrant for Orgon's arrest.
Before Orgon can flee, however, Tartuffe arrives with the officer but, to his surprise, the officer arrests him instead. The officer explains that the enlightened King Louis XIV—who is not mentioned by name—has heard of the injustices happening in the house and, appalled by Tartuffe's treachery towards Orgon, has ordered Tartuffe's arrest instead. The officer explains that Tartuffe has a long criminal history and has often changed his name to avoid being caught. As a reward for Orgon's previous good services, the King not only forgives him for keeping the letters but also invalidates the deed that gave Tartuffe possession of Orgon's house and possessions.
The entire family is thankful that it has escaped the mortification of both Orgon's potential disgrace and their dispossession. As a thanks for Valère's loyalty, Orgon consents for him to marry Mariane. The surprise twist ending, in which everything is set right by the unexpected benevolent intervention of the heretofore unseen King, is considered a notable modern-day example of the classical theatrical plot device deus ex machina.
Controversy
Though Tartuffe was received well by the public and even by Louis XIV, it immediately sparked conflict amongst many different groups who were offended by the play's portrayal of someone who was outwardly pious but fundamentally mercenary, lecherous, and deceitful; and who uses their profession of piety to prey on others. The factions opposed to Molière's work included part of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, members of upper-class French society, and the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement, a Catholic underground organization. Tartuffes popularity was cut short when the archbishop of Paris Péréfixe issued an edict threatening excommunication for anyone who watched, performed in, or read the play. Molière attempted to assuage church officials by rewriting his play to seem more secular and less critical of religion, but the archbishop and other leading officials would not budge. The revised, second version of the play was called L'Imposteur and had a main character named Panulphe instead of Tartuffe, the only performance of which occurred in the Palais-Royal theatre on 5 August 1667. Immediately the following day, on 6 August, as the king was away from Paris, Guillaume de Lamoignon, first president of the Paris Parlement, censored public performances.
Even throughout Molière's conflict with the church, Louis XIV continued to support the playwright; it is possible that without the King's support, Molière might have been excommunicated. Although public performances of the play were banned, private performances for the French aristocracy did occur. In 1669, after Molière's detractors lost much of their influence, he was finally allowed to perform the final version of his play. However, due to all the controversy surrounding Tartuffe, Molière mostly refrained from writing such incisive plays as this one again.
An ally of Molière (believed by Robert McBride to be François de La Mothe Le Vayer, but a hotly-debated point) responded to criticism of Tartuffe in 1667 with a Lettre sur la comédie de l'Imposteur. The anonymous author sought to defend the play to the public by describing the plot in detail and then rebutting two common arguments made for why the play was banned. The first being that theatrical works should not discuss religion at all; the second being that Tartuffe's actions on stage, followed by his pious speech, would make the audience think that they were to act as Tartuffe did. This section of letter contradicts the latter by describing how Tartuffe's actions are worthy of ridicule, in essence comic, and therefore by no means an endorsement.
Centuries later, when the satirical anticlerical magazine La Calotte started publication in 1906, its first editorial asserted that Laughter is the only weapon feared by the soldiers of Tartuffe; the new magazine proposed to effectively deploy that weapon, with articles and cartoons mercilessly lampooning the Catholic Church and its clergy.La Calotte at caricaturesetcaricature.com
Production history The original version of the play was in three acts and was first staged on 12 May 1664 at the Palace of Versailles' Cour de Marbre as part of festivities known as Les Plaisirs de l'île enchantée. Because of the attacks on the play and the ban that was placed on it, this version was never published, and no text has survived, giving rise to much speculation as to whether it was a work in progress or a finished piece. Many writers believe it consisted of the first three acts of the final version, while John Cairncross has proposed that acts 1, 3, and 4 were performed.Koppisch 2002. Although the original version could not be played publicly, it could be given privately, and it was seen on 25 September 1664 in Villers-Cotterêts, for Louis' brother Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, aka Monsieur and 29 November 1664 at the Château du Raincy, for the veteran of the Fronde, Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti.Garreau 1984, vol. 3, p. 417.
The second version, L'Imposteur, was in five acts and performed only once, on 5 August 1667 in the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. On 11 August, before any additional performances, the Archbishop of Paris Péréfixe banned this version also. The largely-final, revised third version in five acts, under the title Tartuffe, ou L'Imposteur, appeared on 5 February 1669 at the Palais-Royal theatre and was highly successful. This version was publishedMolière 1669. and is the one that is generally performed today.
Modern productions Since Molière's time, Tartuffe has stayed on the repertoire of the Comédie-Française, where it is its most performed play.
The Russian theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski was working on a production of Tartuffe when he died in 1938. It was completed by Mikhail Kedrov and opened on 4 December 1939.Benedetti (1999, 389).
The first Broadway production took place at the ANTA Washington Square Theatre in New York and ran from 14 January 1965 to 22 May 1965. The cast included Michael O'Sullivan as Tartuffe, Sada Thompson as Dorine, Salome Jens as Elmire, Hal Holbrook as M. Loyal, John Phillip Law as King's Officer, Laurence Luckinbill as Damis and Tony Lo Bianco as Sergeant.