Tartuffe, by Moliere, translated by Richard Wilbur Presented by Perisphere Theater Resources for teachers and students

January/February 2018

Created by Heather Benjamin and Bridget Grace Sheaff, 2017

Context for Tartuffe

PLOT

The story takes place in the home of the wealthy Orgon, where Tartuffe—a fraud and a pious imposter—has insinuated himself. He succeeds in winning the respect and devotion of the head of the house and then tries to marry his daughter, seduce his wife and scrounge the deed to the property.

Tartuffe nearly gets away with it, but an emissary from King Louis XIV arrives in time to recover the property, free Monsieur Orgon and haul Tartuffe off to jail. His

Frontispiece of the one of the earliest duplicity, lies, and overall trickery are finally exposed printings of Tartuffe, depicting the most and punished. famous scene, from a 1739 collected edition of his works in French and English, printed by John Watts. —Dramatists Play Service summary

PLAY STYLE

Molière’s dramatic roots lie in Old French farce, the unscripted popular plays that featured broad characters with robust attitudes and vulgar ways, emphasized a strong physical style of performance, and were an entertainment staple in the town marketplace and on the fairground. He was, likewise, greatly influenced by his interaction with the Italian commedia dell'arte performers who were known for both their improvisational skills and highly physical playing, and for the everyday truth they brought to their lively theatrical presentations. The “new brand” of French comedy, which Molière developed and perfected, featured the vivacity and physicality of farce, tempered by a commedia-inspired naturalness of character.

What is at the heart of Molière's A sampling of the stock commedia dell'arte figures from the dramatic style, and what made his plays Italian tradition. Moliere would have drawn heavily from their comedic influence in writing his characters. unique for their time, is their satirical bent, brilliant intellect, sharp wit, emphasis on the ironic, and a strong sense of what the dramatist himself viewed as morality. He held a mirror up to both human nature and French society to reflect the comic glory (or horror) of their frailty, stupidity, iniquity and hypocrisy.

—McCarter Theatre

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: LOUISE XIV

• Louis XIV reigned from 1643 until 1715. • He reformed the state, secured the obedience of the French elites, expanded his army to the largest in Europe, and encouraged the growth of colonies abroad. He established a glittering court at Versailles and promoted the arts. • Often known as “The Sun King,” he became a model other European rulers strove to emulate. • Louis XIV’s main philosophy was the perfection of France, the crown, and the monarchy. • Louis XIV’s aggressive foreign policy led to a new round of wars, specifically The Nine Year’s War beginning in 1688 between the France and a collation made up of almost every major power in Europe, including the Holy Roman Empire. Louis XIV of France, king during the tenure of Moliere, was often called the Sun King —Oxford University Press and believed in the perfection of France and its king.

RECEPTION AND SUPPRESSION OF THE PLAY

Molière wrote Tartuffe in 1664. Almost immediately following its first performance, it was censored by King Louis XIV, probably due to the influence of the archbishop of Paris, Paul Philippe Hardouin de Beaumont de Péréfixe, who was the king's confessor and had been his tutor.

Although Tartuffe was received well by the public and even by Louis XIV, it immediately sparked conflict among many different groups who were offended by the play. The factions opposed to Molière's work included part of the hierarchy of the French Roman Catholic Church, members of upper-class French society, and the illegal underground organization called the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement.

Tartuffe's popularity was cut short when the Archbishop of Paris issued an edict threatening excommunication for anyone

The edict declaring the prohibition who watched, performed in, or read the play. Molière against The Imposter by the attempted to mollify church officials by rewriting his play to Archbishop of Paris (August 11, 1667) seem more secular and less critical of religion, but the church could not be budged.

Even during 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 were permitted.

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.

—Wikipedia entry

Questions for Discussion

After seeing Tartuffe, answer the following questions in small groups or as a class:

• Do you agree that “to know the comic we must know the rational”? What does this mean? How does comedy point out what is rational and make a contrast with it?

• What do you think about satirical works of art that imply criticism of a current authority, social or political phenomenon, or practice? Should they be presented to the public or censored? Are they dangerous, or are they valuable?

• What about satire based on human nature and foibles? How does this play present both aspects?

• How do the characters in this play represent different points of view and levels of rationality? Which characters behave rationally? Which behave irrationally? Do they change throughout the course of the play?

• How do you define “hypocrisy”? Is it easy or difficult to see when you or other people are behaving this way? What makes it obvious?

• In your life, have there been works of art have you seen, listened to, or participated in that generated controversy, but to which you responded strongly? Why were they controversial? What aspects of society or human nature did they point out?

• Did this play remind you of anything? What examples from your life (media, news, entertainment, etc.) did you see in the play?

• Was there anything confusing or that you would like to learn more about?

• Did you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing with any character in particular? Did you find yourself identifying with any character or moment especially? Why do you think that was?

• What would have done differently from any of the characters in the play? What would you have done differently than Orgon? What would you have done if you were Orgon’s children (Mariane and Damis)? What would you have done if you were Dorine?

Classroom Activities

1. Think about what happens after the play when the family’s legal issues are cleared up and they get their house back. What do you think becomes of the family? Consider how Orgon did not believe his own family, disowned his own son, and gave everything belonging to the family to Tartuffe. Write a scene between Orgon and Damis, Orgon and Elmire, or Mariane and Valère, describing what happened to their relationship because of Tartuffe’s disturbance among the family.

2. Write a journal entry from Tartuffe’s point of view, describing what happened to him after the play. Do you think he tries this on another family? Do you think he’s learned his lesson? What do you think he does next?

3. Act II, Scene 3, as translated by Wilbur, includes the word “tartuffified.” Dorine (to Mariane): You deserve to be tartuffified! Considering this word, which is not in the dictionary and has been created from Tartuffe’s name, create a definition for the term. 4. Do some research on the characters and styles in commedia dell’arte. Identify which stock commedia character each character from Tartuffe reminds you of. Name three lazzi (comic bits) that you remember from the production. Think about the scope of comedy in general. What parts of this play were funny? Why? Did it have a happy ending? Why?

5. Write a short poem or letter from one of the character’s points of view. (A letter from Mariane to Valere, a poem from Tartuffe to Elmire, a long letter from Madame Pernelle to the household.) Use rhyming couplets to pack an extra punch.