Tartuffe Flaws

What if in some points in our life we got to look at ourselves through someone else’s eyes; good or bad? How would we evaluate ourself? Through some of the events portrayed in Moliere’s Tartuffe, we see two characters becoming numb to the way they act.
Everybody has a blind side and sometimes near disaster is the only thing that will open their eyes. When you are too busy trying to impress others, you blind yourself to your own insecurities. Being young and somewhat blind to the world around you, blinded by your own hopes and dreams to the point you refuse to deal with issues right in front of you, you set yourself up to fail. Become more aware of the heartache you felt the last time you experienced disappointment and you will discover your

own blindness. Surround yourself with friends you like, friends whom you become close with and friends who influence you in a positive way. The type of friends who are negative are the types of friends who don't need to be in your life at all. Owning your life is truly taking in one’s opinion, filtering it, and learning from that mistake or whatever it is they’re saying.

Part of becoming an adult is to see your flaws and correcting those. This kind of honesty is the greatest protection you can have against others taking advantage of your weakness. If you find them, and expose them to yourself, then it becomes virtually impossible for others to exploit those weaknesses.
Like the world in which we live in today each character in Moliere’s Tartuffe are blind to their own faults but easily see the faults in others. So much of what the world is about today, I think this is good inside Moliere puts in his drama just so we could see how we act too. Thankfully despite the weaknesses of the people he rescues, the omnipresent King figure, sees all, knows all, and carries out justice. The kind reveals their blindness, allowing each of the characters to grow through the experience. When a character in the play “Tartuffe” talks about seeing, they aren't talking about actually seeing, but understanding or believing. The problem in the story concerned with not seeing, which is what starts this sequence of events. Orgon refuses to see the fact that Tartuffe is a hypocrite and won't believe it until he sees it with his own eyes near the end of the play. To see how loyal Orgon is to Tartuffe, just look

at page 319. When Dorine is telling him about the sickness his wife had, Orgon's only concern is Tartuffe, who was doing very well. Page 315 shows us our first look at “seeing”, everyone except Madame Pernelle realizes that Tartuffe is a hypocrite. Even though Mariane, Elmire, Cleante, and Damis tell her that he is in the wrong for what they see in him, Pernelle defends Tartuffe and criticizes them. “You see him as a saint. I'm far less awed; In fact I see right through him. He's a fraud”(Moliere. 321). We see a conversation between Cleante and Orgon in which Cleante accuses Orgon of defending Tartuffe and saying that anyone who disagrees is in want of respect. I think means that he thinks that the accusers think that they are better than Tartuffe. “Are you so dazed by this man's hocus-pocus That all the world, save him is out of focus? Being blind you'd have all others blind as well... And he who sees through humbug and pretense Is charged, by you, of want of reverence”. Beginning on page 336 Tartuffe's facade is nearly ruined when he doesn't realize Damis is hiding in the closet while he is confessing his love for Elmire. But lucky for Tartuffe, Orgon doesn't believe Damis and instead of just yelling at him, Orgon revokes Damis' birthright and gives it to Tartuffe. Orgon doesn't find out about Tartuffe's intentions until he becomes nosey by hiding to hear in on the conversation between Tartuffe and Elmire. Later, when Madame Pernelle returns, Orgon tries to tell her about Tartuffe but she won't believe it. “You're Talking nonsense. Can't you realize I saw it; saw it; saw it with my eyes? Saw it do you understand me? Must I shout it into your ears before you'll understand me?”
Orgon's speech is kind of ironic since no matter how much his family told him he still wouldn't believe in Tartuffe's hypocrisy. In the end, good prevails, and everything is as it should be. The importance of seeing in Tartuffe is that it is what set everything into motion. Moliere's Tartuffe reflects completely on the aspect of sight or, more specifically, perception, perception can be so deceiving sometimes. Orgon is deceived because he refuses to see Tartuffe for the con artist he is. Tartuffe is hugely successful because he is so good at putting on a different character for himself than truly what he is, being someone he is not. Orgon regards Tartuffe as his religious guide and is blind to the fact that Tartuffe is deceiving him.
Imagine the Paris home of Orgon, who meets Tartuffe at church and is completely taken in by him - so much so, that he foolishly not only invites Tartuffe to live in his home, but also promises his daughter Mariane in marriage to the man, though she has promised her heart to Valère. Moliere’s Tartuffe centers on what is seen and what is believed. Orgon falls into the category of seeing Tartuffe deceitfully, Orgon sees and believes Tartuffe to be what he tells Orgon. Tartuffe puts on the mask of piety for Orgon. Tartuffe paints himself as a holy and virtuous man. Orgon cannot judge Tartuffe beyond the image he has of him in his mind even though he is warned by other Characters in the drama repeatedly.  His brother-in-law, Cléante, warns Orgon. Dorine, lady's maid to Mariane—outspoken not only as a woman, but also as a member of the hired staff—berates Orgon for not seeing Tartuffe for what he really is. Even Orgon's own son, Damis is the most outraged by Tartuffe's behavior, reacting impulsively and threatening violence on several occasions. Even when Damis hears Tartuffe attempting to seduce his stepmother Elmire and tells his father, Orgon will not listen, throws his son out of the house and threatens to disinherit him altogether. The staging of the play is particularly important in the scene where Orgon's wife tries to convince him that Tartuffe is a fake—not the devout man he pretends to be. Elmire pretends that she loves Tartuffe, having hidden Orgon beneath the table in the room. Because Orgon cannot envision Tartuffe to be the man everyone claims he is, his wife shows and reveals the truth of Tartuffe's character by allowing Orgon to hear from the Charlatan’s own mouth what kind of a wrongful person he truly is. Because Orgon is unable to see beyond Tartuffe's feigned saintliness, it is only after hearing the man not only make advances toward his wife, but also dismiss his religious beliefs that Orgon is able to step back, distance himself from the pretense Tartuffe has surrounded himself with, and call Tartuffe out as a dishonest person, a liar. Elmire lays the trap for Tartuffe about his faith—how can he contemplate seducing her, when he says he is devoted to Heaven? “But how can I consent to what you wish, Without offending Heaven you talk so much of?” then Tartuffe said “If Heaven is all that stands now in my way, I'll easily remove that little hindrance;Your heart need not hold back for such a trifle.” In perhaps the most entertaining scene of the drama, Elmire convinces her husband to hide under the table to listen to this discussion. Only after witnessing Tartuffe's promiscuous behavior can Orgon understand for himself what almost everyone around him has been saying since he brought Tartuffe home. “Nothing more wicked e'er came out of Hell.”
Is Orgon’s obsession with Tartuffe so strong that it makes him put this phony hypocrite above Elmire, the woman he is married to?

Metaphorically speaking Orgon is becoming numb to what he is doing to his family by his obsession with Tartuffe.The first evidence we have of Orgon’s obsession with Tartuffe is in Act I, Scene IV, when Orgon comes back from being away for a while. Orgon’s brother-in-law, Cleante, wishes to talk to him, but Orgon replies by saying, “Excuse me, Brother; just one moment” (20). He then dismisses his brother-in-law because he wants to learn of any family news; however, it is not his family that he wants to hear about but rather his new guest, Tartuffe. At first, Dorine, the family servant, assumes that Orgon would like to hear about his wife when she answers, “Your wife, two days ago, had a bad fever, and a fierce headache which refused to leave her” (21). Normally, in a situation where a husband learns that his wife is sick, the husband would ask more about her condition and likely show sincere concern, particularly if the illness is of a serious nature. Orgon, on the other hand, is no longer a “normal” husband, due to his obsession with the sly and malicious Tartuffe. It is almost as if a spell has been cast upon Orgon that allows him only to be concerned with Tartuffe. Orgon responds to Dorine’s statement by asking about the object of his obsession, “Ah. And Tartuffe?” (21). Dorine replies, “Tartuffe? Why, he’s round and red, bursting with health,

and excellently fed” (21). When Orgon responds, in turn, with the concerned, “Poor fellow” (21), the audience is left dumbfounded by Orgon’s unnecessary sympathy towards Tartuffe. Not only does the audience question Orgon’s concern with Tartuffe, but more importantly, his lack of interest in his sick wife.Although the play focuses on Tartuffe’s deception of Orgon, Tartuffe greatly affects the other characters of the play. Cleante, who represents the voice of rationality and reason throughout the play, is constantly in a struggle to help Orgon come to his senses. In Scene 1, Act IV, as Cleante talks with Tartuffe, Cleante uses logic to point out the hypocrisies of Tartuffe’s actions. Cleante argues, “Your reasoning is badly warped and stretched, and these excuses, Sir, are most far-fetched” (110). As Tartuffe tries to justify his taking Damis’s money and estate, he expostulates, “Lest so much wealth fall into wicked hands, lest those to whom it might descend in time turn it to purposes of sin and crime” (111). This quote, of course, is extremely ironic: There can be no more wicked hands that the money could fall into than Tartuffe’s. Cleante then reasons that Damis, being Orgon’s son, should be the first in control of the family’s money, and also, points that it is not a pious action to be the cause of a son’s disinheritance. Cleante advances the argument skillfully by evoking the principle of piety, “Does true religion teach that lawful heirs may freely be deprived of what is theirs?” (112). Cleante’s point is valid, especially given that Tartuffe has no claim to the family’s wealth and is merely a stranger who manipulates those around him. Cleante’s logical reasoning proves to be overwhelming, and consequently, Tartuffe interrupts him to say that he has “certain pious duties to attend to” (112), thus leaving the scene. Tartuffe realizes that his scheme is in danger and thus makes this hypocritical statement to escape the power of reason.
Such things happen when you become numb to the way you've been acting. Whenever you know you are doing something wrong. It is funny how you make yourself think of your self differently because you know you are doing something wrong, but you are telling yourself it is right.