Random Thoughts on Tartuffe

As a theatre and musical geek, I was overjoyed to read Tartuffe. The witty banter of Dorine, literary irony of everyone besides Orgon seeing through Tartuffe's farce, and of course the major slap in the face of the meaning behind Tartuffe's name all make me very happy. Firstly, Dorine majorly reminded me of Kate from Taming of the Shrew. (I would like to thank Jamie for characterizing this in class perfectly). Her monologue, famous among the theatre circle, leaves me wanting to z-snap. Also, "Tartuffe" literally means "the imposter," "the hypocrite," or "a religious hypocrite." I also think that Tartuffe himself is disgusting. One, because he claims to be so religious, he runs the risk of souring people to the idea of Jesus. Another thing is that he is just gross towards Elmire on so many occasions, providing for literal irony, a device where the reader knows something that a character does not. The reader is aware that Tartuffe is a gross, sexual con-man, and Orgon continues to praise his virtue and righteousness. Poor, poor Orgon.


PS I commented on Rebecca Belew and Breanna Poole's posts