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    Tartuffe or The Hypocrite
    Tartuffe or The Hypocrite
    Tartuffe or The Hypocrite
    Ebook122 pages1 hour

    Tartuffe or The Hypocrite

    By Molière

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    According to Wikipedia: "Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also known by his stage name Molière, (January 15, 1622 - February 17, 1673) was a French playwright and actor who is considered one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature. Among Molière's best-known dramas are Le Misanthrope, (The Misanthrope), L'Ecole des femmes (The School for Wives), Tartuffe ou l'Imposteur, (Tartuffe or the Hypocrite), L'Avare ou l'École du mensonge (The Miser), Le Malade imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid), and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (The Bourgeois Gentleman)."
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSeltzer Books
    Release dateMar 1, 2018
    ISBN9781455325023
    Tartuffe or The Hypocrite
    Author

    Molière

    Molière was a French playwright, actor, and poet. Widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and universal literature, his extant works include comedies, farces, tragicomedies, comédie-ballets, and more.

    Read more from Molière

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    Reviews for Tartuffe or The Hypocrite

    3.5/5

    432 ratings11 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Moliere has long been on my to-read list because his comedies were on a list of "100 Significant Books" I was determined to read through. The introduction in one of the books of his plays says that of his "thirty-two comedies... a good third are among the comic masterpieces of world literature." The plays are surprisingly accessible and amusing, even if by and large they strike me as frothy and light compared to comedies by Aristophanes, Shakespeare, Wilde, Shaw and Rostand. But I may be at a disadvantage. I'm a native New Yorker, and looking back it's amazing how many classic plays I've seen on stage, plenty I've seen in filmed adaptations and many I've studied in school. Yet I've never encountered Moliere before this. Several productions of Shakespeare live and filmed are definitely responsible for me love of his plays. Reading a play is really no substitute for seeing it--the text is only scaffolding. So that might be why I don't rate these plays higher. I admit I also found Wilbur's much recommended translation off-putting at first. The format of rhyming couplets seemed sing-song and trite, as if I was reading the lyrics to a musical rather than a play. As I read more I did get used to that form, but I do suspect these are the kinds of works that play much better on stage than on the page.Tartuffe is the second play by Moliere I've read out of five; this one, about over-religiosity and hypocrisy is my favorite. The title character Tartuffe is a conman who prays on the religious sensibility and man-crush of his patron Orgon. The scene in particular where Orgon responds to reports of his wife's illness by repeatedly asking, "But what about Tartuffe" nearly had me laughing out loud. The character of the pert and shrewd lady's maid Dorine is particularly delightful.
    • 4/5
      I read this for my World Lit II class. I'm glad it was assigned because I really enjoyed it - way more than I expect I would enjoy a French play from the 17th century. But the subject of religious hypocrites never go out of style. Tartuffe is a major tool, and a master manipulator who, sadly, reminds me of someone I know. Lots of good nuggets of prose and quotable dialogue here. It's pretty much as awesome as awesome can get.
    • 4/5
      The comedy of this play walked the fine line between humor and tragedy. In the modern world there are all kinds of people insisting that black is white and white is black and declaring others crazy for not believing, so Tartuffe is readily believable. The appeal to the king is overt - the ending is resolved through the "wisdom and benevolence" of the king in the play. Even so, the story is a powerful warning against hypocrisy.
    • 4/5
      I prefer the version in verse, but in any event, the story is wonderful. The language of Moliere (even if translated) is what makes it all really work.
    • 5/5
      The humor's a bit outdated, and it's rather short, but if you know anything about how strong the church was in the 1600s then this is the boldest play you will ever read. The balls, Moliere, the balls.
    • 5/5
      This full cast recording of Tartuffe was excellent! A great way to finish the digital audiobook of "The Moliere Collection" (I listened to this 5th play last knowing that it is a favorite of mine).
    • 4/5
      Now this was funny and meaningful. It has a great history, being banned by those whom it attacked. The preface and 3 requests of the king are a work in themselves.
    • 3/5
      I read this for my History of Theatre class, and loved it immediately, although several of my classmates did not. It seems that a lot of people these days have trouble with the language and rhythm of the plays by people like Moliere and Shakespeare, and even the novels of Austen and Dickens. As with most of the plays that I've read and then seen, I really enjoy the live performance more--Moliere's characters in particular simply pop off the page.
    • 5/5
      This is a fabulous contemporary translation. We saw this version performed at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. As a theater major well-acquainted with other translations, I was wondering how this one would compare, and we were very impressed. The language is humorous and accessible to modern audiences, yet remains faithful to the rhythmic meter and period feel.
    • 3/5
      Moliere’s most famous play, concerning the obsequious and hypocritical houseguest Tartuffe. Mildly entertaining, but just OK in my book.Just one quote, on old age: “As long as ‘twas in her power to make conquests, she did not balk any of her advantages; but when she found the luster of her eyes abate, she would needs renounce the world that was on the point of leaving her; and under the specious mask of great prudence, conceal the decay of her worn-out charms.”
    • 4/5
      Reading the introduction of Moliere’s 1664 “Tartuffe”, I noted several distinctions for this celebrated play. - It is the most frequently produced play in the French language and considered to be Moliere’s best. - The play was written entirely in rhymed iambic pentameter (or according to Wiki – in 1,962 twelve-syllable lines [alexandrines] of rhyming couplets). - The play was so “famous” (or as it turns out - “infamous”) that King Louis XIV refused a private performance request from Queen Christina of Sweden and no public performances were allowed for 5 years, i.e. it opened widely in 1669. The third bit caught my attention as I pondered (before reading the play) what was so different about this play that the King kept it from the public for 5 years. “Tartuffe” is the main character and subject of the play where he is a vagrant and a pious fraud, who fooled and influenced the wealthy Orgon and his mother. Much to the chagrin of his other family members, Orgon fell deeply under the spell of Tartuffe, believing all his martyr-like yet self-promoting speeches, so much so that he disowned his son, broke a promise of marriage for his daughter to a loyal young man, and instead offered her to Tartuffe. Believing all of Tartuffe’s preaches and trusting him, Orgon renounced his wealth and contractually signed his possessions to Tartuffe, including a briefcase with confidential and damning information, which is then used against Orgon upon the reveal of the betrayal. The happy ending came when the enlightened King intervened, nullifying the contract, pardoning Orgon, and arresting Tartuffe for fraud. Moliere was quite explicit with his condemnation of the church. “Who could imagine that devout façade could hide such double-dealing wickedness?... he’s the last religious man I’ll trust; in future I’ll recoil from them in horror.” 1664 is far too early and risky for the arts to openly mock the church. On the other hand, the King was presented as the all-seeing wise and mighty hero who swooped in to save Orgon. In short, it is a (perhaps unintended) bold piece of literature that pitted the King against the Church. Though my book’s introduction didn’t include this, I found articles online that validated my hunch. The French Roman Catholic Church was displeased with the play; the Archbishop of Paris issued an edict banning it with the threat of excommunication. Meanwhile, King Louis XIV got his jollies from the play and protected Moliere from excommunication. To be honest, with my modern mind, the plot sounded so preposterous that it is laughable. Though putting on a lens of time, I believe that is the intended appeal of this play – mocking the gullibility of the wealthy and the falsehood of piety. Surely, such was a provocative rarity then. Without being able to read it in French, the charm of the alexandrines rhymes is absent. However, there are indentations that mark the pace of lines; these remain to be affective even in English. Favorite Character: Dorine, the maidservant who was vocal and spoke the truth and obviousness and never held her tongue regardless who she is addressing. You go girl!3.5 stars for the play+0.5 star considering the original publication year

    Book preview

    Tartuffe or The Hypocrite - Molière

    TARTUFFE OR THE HYPOCRITE BY JEAN BAPTISTE POQUELIN MOLIERE

    Translated By Curtis Hidden Page

    _____________

    Published by Seltzer Books. seltzerbooks.com

    established in 1974, as B&R Samizdat Express

    offering over 14,000 books

    feedback welcome: seltzer@seltzerbooks.com

    ________________

    INTRODUCTORY NOTE

    Jean Baptiste Poquelin, better known by his stage name of Moliere, stands without a rival at the head of French comedy. Born at Paris in January, 1622, where his father held a position in the royal household, he was educated at the Jesuit College de Clermont, and for some time studied law, which he soon abandoned for the stage. His life was spent in Paris and in the provinces, acting, directing performances, managing theaters, and writing plays. He had his share of applause from the king and from the public; but the satire in his comedies made him many enemies, and he was the object of the most venomous attacks and the most impossible slanders. Nor did he find much solace at home; for he married unfortunately, and the unhappiness that followed increased the bitterness that public hostility had brought into his life. On February 17, 1673, while acting in La Malade Imaginaire, the last of his masterpieces, he was seized with illness and died a few hours later.

    The first of the greater works of Moliere was Les Precieuses Ridicules, produced in 1659. In this brilliant piece Moliere lifted French comedy to a new level and gave it a new purpose--the satirizing of contemporary manners and affectations by frank portrayal and criticism. In the great plays that followed, The School for Husbands and The School for Wives, The Misanthrope and The Hypocrite (Tartuffe), The Miser and The Hypochondriac, The Learned Ladies, The Doctor in Spite of Himself, The Citizen Turned Gentleman, and many others, he exposed mercilessly one after another the vices and foibles of the day.

    His characteristic qualities are nowhere better exhibited than in Tartuffe. Compared with such characterization as Shakespeare's, Moliere's method of portraying life may seem to be lacking in complexity; but it is precisely the simplicity with which creations like Tartuffe embody the weakness or vice they represent that has given them their place as universally recognized types of human nature.

    TARTUFFE

    A COMEDY

    CHARACTERS

    MADAME PERNELLE, mother of Orgon

    ORGON, husband of Elmire

    ELMIRE, wife of Orgon

    DAMIS, son of Orgon

    MARIANE, daughter of Orgon, in love with Valere

    CLEANTE, brother-in-law of Orgon

    TARTUFFE, a hypocrite

    DORINE, Mariane's maid

    M. LOYAL, a bailiff

    A Police Officer

    FLIPOTTE, Madame Pernelle's servant

    The Scene is at Paris

    ACT I

    SCENE I

    MADAME PERNELLE and FLIPOTTE, her servant; ELMIRE, MARIANE, CLEANTE,

    DAMIS, DORINE

    MADAME PERNELLE

    Come, come, Flipotte, and let me get away.

    ELMIRE

    You hurry so, I hardly can attend you.

    MADAME PERNELLE

    Then don't, my daughter-in law. Stay where you are.

    I can dispense with your polite attentions.

    ELMIRE

    We're only paying what is due you, mother.

    Why must you go away in such a hurry?

    MADAME PERNELLE

    Because I can't endure your carryings-on,

    And no one takes the slightest pains to please me.

    I leave your house, I tell you, quite disgusted;

    You do the opposite of my instructions;

    You've no respect for anything; each one

    Must have his say; it's perfect pandemonium.

    DORINE

    If . . .

    MADAME PERNELLE

    You're a servant wench, my girl, and much

    Too full of gab, and too impertinent

    And free with your advice on all occasions.

    DAMIS

    But . . .

    MADAME PERNELLE

    You're a fool, my boy--f, o, o, l

    Just spells your name. Let grandma tell you that

    I've said a hundred times to my poor son,

    Your father, that you'd never come to good

    Or give him anything but plague and torment.

    MARIANE

    I think . . .

    MADAME PERNELLE

    O dearie me, his little sister!

    You're all demureness, butter wouldn't melt

    In your mouth, one would think to look at you.

    Still waters, though, they say . . . you know the proverb;

    And I don't like your doings on the sly.

    ELMIRE

    But, mother . . .

    MADAME PERNELLE

    Daughter, by your leave, your conduct

    In everything is altogether wrong;

    You ought to set a good example for 'em;

    Their dear departed mother did much better.

    You are extravagant; and it offends me,

    To see you always decked out like a princess.

    A woman who would please her husband's eyes

    Alone, wants no such wealth of fineries.

    CLEANTE

    But, madam, after all . . .

    MADAME PERNELLE

    Sir, as for you,

    The lady's brother, I esteem you highly,

    Love and respect you. But, sir, all the same,

    If I were in my son's, her husband's, place,

    I'd urgently entreat you not to come

    Within our doors. You preach a way of living

    That decent people cannot tolerate.

    I'm rather frank with you; but that's my way--

    I don't mince matters, when I mean a thing.

    DAMIS

    Mr. Tartuffe, your friend, is mighty lucky . . .

    MADAME PERNELLE

    He is a holy man, and must be heeded;

    I can't endure, with any show of patience,

    To hear a scatterbrains like you attack him.

    DAMIS

    What! Shall I let a bigot criticaster

    Come and usurp a tyrant's power here?

    And shall we never dare amuse ourselves

    Till this fine gentleman deigns to consent?

    DORINE

    If we must hark to him, and heed his maxims,

    There's not a thing we do but what's a crime;

    He censures everything, this zealous carper.

    MADAME PERNELLE

    And all

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