Blog #3

Elmire: It is essential you be well-hidden.

Orgon: Why there?

Elmire: Oh, Heavens!  Just do as you are bidden

I have my plans; we’ll see how they fare.

Under the table, now; and once you are there,

Take Care that you are neither seen nor heard.

Orgon: Well, I’ll indulge you, since I gave my word

To see you through this infantile charade

Elmire: Once it is over, you will be glad we played.

(To her husband who is now under the table)

I’m going to act quite strangely, now, and you

Must not be shocked at anything I do.

Whatever I may say, you must excuse

As part of that decit I’m forced to use

I shall employ sweet speeches in the task

Of making that imposter drop his mask

I’ll give encouragement to his bold desires

And furnish fuel to his amorous fires

Since it’s for your sake, and for his destruction

That I shall seem to yield to his seduction

I’ll gladly stop when you decide

That all your doubts are fully satisfied

I’ll count on you, as soon as you have seen

What sort of man he is, to intervene,

And not to expose me to his odious lust

One moment longer than you feel you must

Remember: you’re to save me from my plight

Whenever…He’s coming! Hush! Keep out of sight!

In this exchange, Elmire is telling her husband to wait under the table to witness the true nature of Tartuffe.  This passage was climatic because Orgon was about to discover Tartuffe’s true nature.  This conversation was especially ironic because similar to this scene, Tartuffe’s personality is hidden from Orgon throughout the play.  Also, in this scene Elmire is in control.  Elmire’s wit demonstrates that while Orgon is the “head of the household” and makes all of the executive decisions, Elmire is the real mastermind behind the downfall of Tartuffe.

The scene is also a representation of the blatantly obvious lies that occur in the play. At the beginning of the play Orgon was metaphorically “under the table”.  He had no idea what was truly going on.  What is remarkable about this is the obliviousness and stubbornness that Orgon possessed to deny the truth for such a long period of time.  In the game of hide and seek, hiding under the table is an obvious hiding spot.  So even though all the evidence pointed to Tartuffe not being honest, Orgon choose to overlook what was right in front of his face, like the obvious hiding spot of the table. 

                                                                                                                                              

When further examining the passage closely one can pick out more examples of how unaware and oblivious Orgon is.  He states, “Well I’ll indulge you since I gave my word to see you through this infantile charade.”  This further demonstrates how Orgon is still under the table at this point in the play.  It is not until he fully comes out from under the table that he understands the true nature of Tartuffe. 

This passage furthers the point that ignorance can lead to one’s downfall.  While Orgon walked around with a skewed perception that the man to whom his daughter would marry was someone that he could trust, he was loosing his family’s trust and his family’s fortune.  While ultimately Orgon does get his possessions returned to him in the end, it is only due to the exploitation of the evilness of Tartuffe and the full knowledge that everyone has of who is good and who is clearly bad.  If Orgon had kept his guard up in the first place and listened to his family, then maybe he would not have gone through all the turmoil he faced.