Tartuffe Analysis

Tartuffe, a play first performed in 1664, proves to unite humor with a greater purpose. Moliere, the author of the play, uses wit in combination with amplification and mockery to attack customs and traditions leading up to the period of Enlightenment. Readers and playgoers were able to see first hand the ridicule of ideas of everything from politics to religion and everything in between. The play centers on the relationship between the head of a household, Orgon, and a con artist, Tartuffe. Throughout the play, Orgon’s authority is proven to be lessening and weaker, even though he remains a father, husband and an advisor to the king. At the same time, the lesser of the two, Tartuffe, gains control and authority, surprisingly showing that Orgon does not, in fact, hold this type of power. By utilizing wit, exaggeration and an inversion of authority, Tartuffe debunks common notions of tradition by causing people to rethink typical principles and chief characters in the age of Enlightenment.

Orgon, the king’s advisor and household head, loses his authority to a Tartuffe, a deceitful degenerate, showing that trust should not be placed in the hands of someone who is seemingly in control. Because Orgon pitied Tartuffe, he spends the majority of the play worshipping and concentrating on the comfort and wealth of the liar who resides in his house. Tartuffe successfully made himself appear extremely poor, helpless and needy, fooling both Orgon and Madame Pernelle. The true evidence of the pity and obsession Orgon feels for Tartuffe’s wellbeing lies in the fact that Orgon ends up neglecting his family; he favors the hypocrite above his family. As Orgon is blinded by Tartuffe, he not only removes Damis as his son and from his inheritance, but...

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...ug in the fact that he will prevail and never sees the roles being reversed yet again. (5.7). The ridiculous reaction adds ends the play off in a humorous manner, without distracting from the lessons that can be learned from Tartuffe.

Tartuffe uses its satirical basis in order to make a statement and create some laughs from the readers and audience. The lessons are clear: test everything, do not simply accept rules from authority, power can be in ‘lesser’ peoples, etc. Through role reversal and simply pointing out the flaws in Orgon’s authority, it becomes obvious that sometimes those in power do not deserve to be. Accompanied with these lessons is an element of humor. The exaggeration, parody and ridiculousness of certain scenes of the play are enough to make anyone laugh. As a play rich in humor and thought provoking ideas, Tartuffe ridicules the abuse of power.