Molière believed that the duty of comedy is to correct human vices by exposing them and mocking them to absurd extreme. He also believed that human behavior should be governed by reason and moderation. In Tartuffe, he presents characters who engage in extreme behavior driven by passion rather than reason. Identify two or three characters who fall into this category and discuss their specific behaviors, the consequences of their actions and what that means to you. (You can find the power point attached )

Although the production of ^ Tartuffe we’re going to watch can be appreciated as is, I think a bit
of contextual information might make it even more enjoyable. ^ Jean Baptiste Poquelin was
born in Paris in 1622. He was the son of the king’s upholsterer, and destined to follow in his
father’s footsteps. The family was prosperous, middle-class, and the royal connections were a
definite plus. He was educated in a prestigious Jesuit college and after graduating, studied law
for a while. When he was 21, he ^ met a great actress…Hmmm. They formed a theatre company
and ran off to tour the provinces. The theatre company soon went bankrupt and After a brief
stint in debtors prison, he adopted the ^ stage name Molière. He and Madeleine formed a new
company and toured the provinces for a few more years, where he honed his comedic craft in
the tradition of commedia d’ell arte and built an admirable reputation for his razor sharp, satiric
wit.
By the time ^ Molière and his troupe were ready to play Paris, ^ Louis the 14th, who had
become king at the age of five, was coming into his own both as a ^ monarch and as a patron of
the Arts. Molière and his company performed before the Sun King in the Louvre and was such a
success, that The King took them under his royal wing. Molière developed many enemies in the
church and politics because of the merciless attacks of his satiric wit, but he was wise enough to
refrain from even the slightest insult to the king. As a matter of fact, you might even say he went
a little too far in the other direction when you hear the officer’s speech at the end of Tartuffe.
By the middle of the 17th century, the authority of the ^ Catholic church was being challenged
by scientists, philosopers, freethinkers and even heads of state. The atmosphere was filled with
tension and very fragile. The Catholic church has always had it’s share of internal theological
spats as well, and one of them was causing great consternation among Church leaders in Paris in
the 1660s. The established school of thought derived from the teachings of the Jesuits and was
approved ^ by the Pope. There were a number of bishops and priests dissatisfied with the status
quo and many longed for the good old days of the inquisition. Many of them latched on to the
writings of ^ Cornelius Jansen and wanted to promulgate a more pessimistic, less forgiving
theology. The Jesuits believed that holiness could only be achieved through confession and
taking communion as often as possible. The Jansenists believed that people were so sinful that
they had to be purified of even the tiniest sins before they were allowed to take communion.
Molière’s response to this hornet’s nest of controversy was to poke it with a stick.
He created a wonderfully wicked character in ^ Tartuffe; a greedy, lustful, immoral con artist; a
hypocrite, masquerading as the pious spiritual advisor of ^ Orgon, and his family. His portrayal
of Tartuffe can be viewed as a ludicrous parody of the overly strict view of morality preferred by
the puritanical Jansenists. He also viciously satirized the members of the “nobility” by
portraying ^ Orgon as an upper class buffoon, ^ easily led by the nose, blinded to reason, logic
and truth, by his passion for all things religious (blind faith is, after all, a highly prized tenet of
most religions) These portraits seems to have touched a wide variety of nerves, Church leaders
on both sides and all the nobles but the king, responded with great indignation. They declared
the play a blasphemous attack on the church itself.
So much so, ^ the Archbishop of Paris immediately ^ issued an edict, Proclaiming that anyone
who produced, acted in, read or even possessed a copy ^ of the play would be ^ instantly
excommunicated and ^ condemned to the ^ ^ fires of hell.
That pales in comparison to what they wanted to do to Molière himself! Many scholars believe
that only the ^ king’s favor kept him ^ from being burned at the stake. ^Although Louis found the play hilarious ^ (and wickedly accurate in its portrayals of those
around him), in the interest of keeping the fragile peace, he allowed the ^ ban to remain in
place for five years. By 1669, things had calmed down a bit; the ^ Pope had condemned
Jansenism as heresy, and responded favorably to Moliere’s petitions. So the ^ ban was lifted. Of
course, human nature being what it is, the curiosity generated by the ban having been allowed
to fester ^ for five long years, ^ exploded into a virtual stampede of people clamoring for tickets
to see the once forbidden play.
Tartuffe has entertained countless audiences in every succeeding ^ generation and in theatres
around the world.
Before we leave this discussion altogether, There are a few references that bear closer scrutiny.
First is the concept of cuckoldry. ^ A cuckold is a man who’s wife is unfaithful. Seducing another
man’s wife has always been a popular plot device in comedies. Wearing the horns of a cuckold
is a symbol of the public ridicule to which the husband is subjected, because he is usually the
only one in town who doesn’t know that his wife is an adulteress. ^ Deus Ex machina means
“God Machine” and it’s a label for a device used to raise and lower an actor impersonating a
god in a play. It has also used to describe a contrived ending that isn’t consistent with the
internal credibility of the plot. In other words, The playwright paints the characters into such a
tight corner, that it looks like there is no escape, only to have someone from outside the play
come to their rescue. As deus ex machinas go, Tartuffe has a pretty good one.
In his first entrance, you’ll hear Tartuffe refer to a couple of devices that might sound innocuous
unless you know what they’re used for. ^ The hair shirt is an undergarment made of goat hair
designed to irritate the wearer into extreme discomfort and ^ the birch rod or birch is a bundle
of switches used to flog the naked back or buttocks into bloody welts. These are two of the least
diabolical implements of “mortification” that have been developed over the centuries.
Mortification, which literally means ‘death to the flesh’ is defined by Merriam-Webster as “the
subjection and denial of bodily passions and appetites by abstinence or self-inflicted pain or
discomfort.” Some time in the 13th century, radical cults of ultra pious Catholics began to spring
up all over Europe called “Flagellants.” These religious zealots believed that punishing your own
body in public was a great way to purify your soul. Thousands of people paraded through cities
and towns, in a frenzy of singing, chanting and flogging themselves bloody. After tolerating this
movement for a century or so, the mainstream church finally decided it was too creepy. So the
pope issued an edict, declaring the practice heretical and officially banning it. Enforcing the ban
was more difficult than one might think. Finally, during the inquisition, several hundred
flagellants were burned at the stake for heresy and the movement was either suppressed or
driven underground. There are semi-secret societies carrying on the tradition in New Mexico
and other places around the globe to this day. Although Tartuffe was written near the beginning
of the age of reason, it’s not difficult to imagine that there were quite a few Jesuits, Jansenists
and nobles alike, either experiencing the secret discomfort of a hair shirt or bearing the scars or
even the fresh wounds of self-mutilation as they squirmed in outrage in the original audience.
One of the major conflicts in the play is passion versus reason. Who makes decisions based on
reason and logic? and who makes decisions based on extremes of passion? What are the
consequences of those behaviors? The performance we’ll see was produced by the Royal
Shakespeare Company in 1983. The title role is played by Anthony Sher and Orgon is played by Nigel Hawthorne. You’ll find a listing of the cast of characters along with the script to the first
few pages of the actual script in Module 6. This should help you become more familiar with the
characters and their relationships to each other before you watch the video. More importantly,
there’s a list of questions you should download to consider while you’re watching.

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