Tartuffe the Terrible

It's easy to dismiss Moliere's work as simple satire, or to get caught up in the political allegory that is Orgon. One could be distracted by how horrible a family dynamic Orgon, Elmire, and company have. But what stood out to me after not thinking about the book for a few days was how well written a character Tartuffe was. So many common satirical characters, especially in modern works, are very cliched and taken to extremes. Not that Tartuffe isn't extreme, but Moliere did such a good job with making the pitiful priest so simultaneously real and despicable. I think a big key to Tartuffe's plausibility as a real person is how closely he came to taking over Orgon's property. Throughout most of the play, Tartuffe doesn't seem to be particularly brilliant (although he isn't stupid) and that's why it's so shocking to me that he almost pulled off the con job of the century. If it weren't for Valere, Orgon probably would have had a lot of time to think about how blind he was. Tartuffe is just so miserable a character from the very beginning that I think Moliere should be praised for character construction.

Edit: I commented on Osten and Rachael's posts.