Blog Post 3: Tartuffe

Blog Post 3: Tartuffe

Dorine: Your wife two days ago, had a bad fever,

And a fierce headache which refused to leave her.

Orgon: Ah. And Tartuffe?

Dorine: Tartuffe? Why, he’s round and red,

Bursting with health, and excellently fed.

Orgon: Poor fellow!

Dorine: That night, the mistress was unable

To take single bite at the dinner table.

Her headache pains, she said, were simply hellish.

Orgon: Ah. And Tartuffe?

Dorine: He ate his meal with relish,

And zealously devoured in her presence

A leg of mutton and a brace of pheasants.

Orgon: Poor fellow!

Dorine: Well, the paints continued strong,

And so she tossed and tossed the whole night long,

Now ice-cold, now burning like a flame.

We sat beside her bed till morning came.

Orgon: Ah. And Tartuffe?

Dorine: Why, having eaten, he rose

And sought his room, already in a doze,

Got into his warm bed, and snored away

In perfect peace until the break of day.

Orgon: Poor fellow!

Dorine: After much ado, we talked her

Into dispatching someone for the doctor.

He bled her, and the fever quickly fell.

Orgon: Ah. And Tartuffe?

Dorine: He bore it very well.

To keep his cheerfulness at any cost,

And make up for the blood Madame had lost,

He drank, at lunch, four beakers full of port.

Orgon: Poor fellow!

Dorine: Both are doing well, in short.

I’ll go and tell Madame that you’ve expressed

Keen sympathy and anxious interest.

            The entirety of the play, Tartuffe, is set throughout Orgon’s house with no scenes being played in any particular room. Instead of the setting changing with different Acts or Scenes of the plays, the characters present merely changes. I chose the above passage between Orgon and Dorine to demonstrate how the lack of setting colors how we interpret each character. The lack of setting allows the characters to more easily confront each other. The lack of any detailed setting allows the audience to focus more on the characters.  However, overarching impact of having Orgon’s house as the setting is that it houses an unwelcome intruded, Tartuffe, whom which the whole play is centered around. Essentially every conversation between characters is revolved around Tartuffe, as is the passage above. This back and forth between Orgon and Dorine shows how head over heels obsessed Orgon is with Tartuffe. Instead of worrying or even caring that his wife was so sickly, he only shows care and concern for healthy Tartuffe who is stuffing his face with their food and getting drunk. This passage shows Dorine as an intelligent character that uses other characters’ stupidity to entertain her. Her lines are dripping with mockery and scorn towards Orgon and his fixation on Tartuffe.  Without an elaborate setting, the audience is able to focus on the elaborate text, draw meaning from it, and grasp the mockery and ridiculousness that is so evident in this passage.

            The point of the play as a whole is beyond the faults that can arise from obsession and hypocrisy, but that people are any extreme end are dangerous. Extremists have irrational beliefs, act irrationally, and do not care for the opposing side. Extremists simply focus on doing what will get them only what they want, even if they have to do things hypocritically, without compromise. The point of the play can best be seen through the character of Tartuffe. The setting of the entire of the play as Orgon’s house in Paris shows that extremists are present everywhere, even in common areas, such as a home. The setting allows the play to give a more realistic point and lesson to the audience even though the play has ridiculous situations and is a comedy.