Deceit in the Church

Deceit in the Church

In Moliere’s Tartuffe, the principal character Tartuffe uses his religious actions and expressions to play a convincing religious hypocrite. He is a parasite who is sucking Orgon, a wealthy, trusting father, for all he is worth. Orgon does not realize that Tartuffe is a phony, and caters to his every whim. He views Tartuffe’s shouting in church and religious expression as signs of his true piety. Even though his own children and other people around him understand Tartuffe for who he really is, an imposter, Orgon refuses to believe anyone. Orgon only sees Tartuffe for his outward expressions and he never tries to understand why he acts the way he does or discuss religion with him. Through Orgon’s blindness towards Tartuffe’s true wickedness and turpitude and belief in his outward appearances as means of achieving faith, Moliere shows that Christianity can be lampooned and parts of the doctrine are corrupted. Although Tartuffe may be seen as a satire on religion, Moliere shows that truly religious individuals are not easily mislead by false divinely appointed figures concerned with outward appearances, but rather strive for true devotion and inner spirituality.

The first mention of Tartuffe’s name is from Orgon’s son, Damis, who calls him a “bigot criticaster [person falsely devout]” (2) which is counterattacked by the mother of Orgon, Madame Pernelle when she says: “He wants to guide you on the way to heaven… love him well” (2). This argument gives the audience a first impression that Tartuffe is thought of as a religious fake by one person and at the same time supported by another, revealing controversy within the family about his real identity and intentions. Both Madame Pernelle and Orgon love Tartuffe and respect him for his piousness, while their children, their servant, and brother-in law understand his fraud. Orgon loves Tartuffe so much that he actually favors him over the kids and his wife. When told that his wife was very sick, he repeats the phrase “And how about Tartuffe” (5) four times and responds to each answer with “Poor man!” (5) which exposes his overwhelming love, care, and adoration for Tartuffe. This statement is both comical as well as revealing, as it makes fun of Orgon’s ignorance and lack of knowledge for what is really important; his family. Orgon’s blind love for Tartuffe will turn against him, however, as the plot develops.

The adoration Tartuffe receives comes from his extreme actions and expressions when “practicing” Christianity. While in Church, for example, Tartuffe makes “deep-drawn sighs and great ejaculations” (6) and “humbly kissed the earth at every moment” (6). Tartuffe’s eccentric appearances in church highlight his use of outward actions as a means to convince people that he is religious on the inside. Tartuffe also mixes romantic expressions and clever analogies