Matthew Schopp
Professor Mary Frances Heinsohn
English 2210.28
9/27/2012
Tartuffe: Not a Christian! Do Not Be Fooled! In the French play Tartuffe, playwright and actor Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Molière creates a character whose treachery and capacity for evil know no limits. The character named Tartuffe reveals throughout the play that his nature, though seeming to be humble and pious, actually reeks of foul treachery and deception. His pious shell that he wears so pompously, places him among those who exploit the church for their own means by using an exterior false piety. This false piety fools only two characters, yet the effects of the deception nearly deal very harsh consequences. The Oxford English Dictionary defines piety as “the quality of being religious or reverent .” A negative connotation does not usually resound when the topic of piety is discussed. In fact, those who practice piety generally receive higher levels of respect from all. Tartuffe exploits the trust and respect of a French Nobleman named Orgon, having no intentions other than to bring evil schemes to his household. Tartuffe solidifies his title as a villain because of his air of being pious while having no intentions to bring glory to God, only putting on pleasantries to deceive, thus fulfilling the true definition of false piety. Tartuffe makes it very clear that he has devious intentions from his very first scene of play. In act III scene 2 Tartuffe makes his first appearance and is seen very haughtily requesting Dorine to cover her bosom with a handkerchief that Tartuffe has provided. Tartuffes' reasoning for this is that “the flesh is weak” and “unclean thoughts are difficult to control” (Molière 8-9). Dorine sees through his false piety and calls him out on it. She replies “your soul, it seems has very poor defenses” (Molière 11). If Tartuffe truly acted on what he preached, he would have better defenses against temptation and would not be as quick to project the guilt on someone else, especially not a lady. Tartuffe makes his intentions even more clear in the very next scene, in which he proceeds to profess his profound love for Elmire, Orgons' wife. The way in which Tartuffe confesses his love shines light on his false piety. Alluding to the fact that only God could make something as beautiful as Elmire, Tartuffe uses his supposed connection to God to try and convince Elmire that he has no control over his emotions and cannot help but to fall in love with her. In act III Scene 3 Elmire even points out the fact that Tartuffe is a holy and pious man and should not be talking to her in such a manner, to which Tartuffe replies “I may be pious, but I'm human too:/ with your celestial charm before his eyes,/ a man has not the power to be wise” (Molière 88-90). Here Tartuffe once again demonstrates his lack of devout piety by once again projecting his sinful nature on Elmire. Not only does he blame others for his nature to sin, but he also sees the sin as a lost cause. As if he did not serve a God who would be able to deliver him from temptation. Unknown to Tartuffe, an extra pair of ears happen to be lurking in an adjacent closet. Damis, Orgons' son, hears Tartuffes' entire confession of love for his mother, Elmire. Tartuffe immediately dissolves into a pitiful and dramatic rant about being the filthiest sinner on earth. Instead of true admittance to guilt, he makes himself out to be the victim of every sin imaginable. Tartuffe does not once ask for forgiveness or make any attempt to make restitution in the situation, yet Organ mistakes his false piety for true humility and actually encourages Tartuffe to have more interaction with his wife. Tartuffe, now realizing that he has complete and total control over Orgon, turns Organ against his own son. Through his own crafty means, Tartuffe convinces Orgon to name himself heir to Orgons' entire estate. Tartuffe is not done here, his ultimate goal, Elmire, has not been reached yet. When Tartuffe gets Elmire alone again he reaches the pinnacle of his discrete false piety. In his last move under the muse of being holy and devout he again attempts to seduce Elmire and lures her under the false pretense that he can make their forbidden love into something that is not sinful. When confronted by Elmire about their love being wrong, Tartuffe replies “some joys, its true, are wrong in heavens eyes; yet heaven is not adverse to compromise; there is a science, lately formulated, whereby one's conscience may be liberated, and any wrongful act you care to mention may be redeemed by purity of intention.” These are words of a man who is twisting and defiling doctrine to make what he wants acceptable, even though everyone can tell that what he is doing is wrong. Once Orgon sees with his own eyes Tartuffes' foul intentions, Tartuffe is banished from the house by Orgon. Tartuffes' treachery however, is not yet at an end. He sends back a bailiff with the instruction that Orgon and his family are to leave the estate. Orgon, in his arrogant trust of Tartuffe had signed all that he owned over to Tartuffe. Just as he is getting over the shock of being removed from his own household, Tartuffe strolls up and with him is an officer. Here Tartuffe adopts the smuggest of tones in his voice, with which he says “Gently, Sir, Gently; stay right where you are./ No need for haste; your lodging isn’t far./ You're off to prison, by order of the Prince” (Molière 2-3). Not only is Tartuffe kicking Orgon, the man who took him off the streets and treated him like a blood relation, out of his house, but is also arresting him. Here is the highest pinnacle of the treachery of the man known as Tartuffe. At this point, not only does every single character know that Tartuffe is not who he says he is, but the full extent of how purely evil Tartuffe really is. Fortunately the Prince has had his eyes on Tartuffe and does not allow him to fulfill his treacherous desires. Through all his deception and false pleasantries, the character Tartuffe has a special place in hell reserved for his kind. Not only does he take advantage of humble people who are only trying to do him well, but he also uses the holy name of God to lull those around him into a false sense of security. He is a man without morals who completely disregards the emotional and physical needs of others to bring about what he desires. All these faults culminate on the single fact: he has no intention on bringing glory to God. Lacking in desire to bring his almighty Creator glory collectively negates any pious action that Tartuffe can conceive.