An Introduction to Moliere

Moliere (1622-1673) was a French actor and playwright. Early in his career he acted in a troop of actors that traveled around the French countryside. This troop of actors became the Comedie Francaise (The Comdiennes of France), a highly successful theatrical company noted for its entertaining farces and comedies.

Among Moliere's most noted works are Tartuffe and The Imaginary Invalid. Both are broad comedies that poke fun at their characters and the times. Tartuffe pokes so much fun at the established Christian church of the times that the Catholic Church forced the French king to ban the play several times.

The plays that Moliere wrote and acted in were noted for a certain set of characteristics they often used, a set of characteristics now known as the comedy of manners. Moliere used the conventions of the comedy of manner to comment on the world in which he lived, especially the social life of the times.

As you read the play, do not expect to see the kind of psychological realism that you expect to see in characters in modern plays. Rather, Moliere in Tartuffe uses the conventions of the comedy of manners, the conventions that play-goers in the 18th century would expect.

The Conventions of the Comedy of Manners

In literature, a "convention" is a set of agreed-upon ideas that everyone "buys into" as they read a poem, story, play, or novel or as they watch a play, movie, or video. For example, it is a convention of the theatre that when a character is alone on stage and talks to the audience (a soliloquy), that the words he says are his inner thoughts and feelings, more true than any other words he may say when other characters are on stage with him. As another example, it is a convention of modern music videos that the words of a song will be illustrated by the action onstage. Conventions are what we come to expect from a given kind of artistic expression.

The comedy of manners was a 17th and 18th century literary invention, often in the form of a play. Such plays are comedies (not tragedies) that often poke fun at an artificial, sophisticated society or social group. They especially make fun of the fashions, manners, and outlook on life of the people of the times--thus the name comedy of manners.

Other conventions of the comedy of manners include:

flat characters--the characters usually do not change over the course of the play; characters usually do not evolve, learn, or grow.
stereotypical characters--characters are often types and stereotypes rather than psychologically developed characters. Some stereotypical characters that you might immediately recognize include the silly young girl, a dashing young suitor, the pompous old man, a jealous husband, and so forth. The characters are types rather than detailed, complex, unique individuals.
exaggerated whims or quirks--characters often show one or two obvious quirks or oddities.
the manners and conventions of a society or of individuals are critiqued--the play as a whole is often a satire of the manners of the social group portrayed in the action.
satirizes the follies of a character who fails to conform to the conventions of the society
punishes and then "reclaims" the satirized character
restores the social order by the end of the play
the family or cast of characters serves as a microcosm or mirror of the social order. (Harmon 107-108)

Not every piece of literature (play, novel, story, etc.) that is a comedy of manners uses all these conventions, nor does each one use the conventions in the same way. But, in general, you can expect to see many of these conventions in the work.

Work Cited

Harmon, William. A Handbook to Literature. (8th ed.) Upper Saddle

River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000.

Major Characters in Tartuffe
(You can see a guide to pronouncing character names on page 300 of your text.)

Tartuffe: a religious impostor, a hypocrite claiming to be a religious man. His actions demonstrate that his words are false
Orgon: a man duped into believing the words of the hypocrite, Tartuffe. He is the father of the family and, as such, is expected to be the leader of the family (according to 18th century thinking) in the same way as the king is the leader of a nation. Orgon's first wife is long dead; he has a son and daughter by her; he is married to Elmire
Elmire: his current wife and step-mother to Orgon's children. In the play, she is propositioned by Tartuffe but refuses his advances. She plots a way to reveal to her husband that Tartuffe is an impostor and hypocrit.
Mariane: Orgon's daughter who wishes to marry her suitor, Valere. Orgon, however, is now ready to give his daughter's hand in marriage to Tartuffe.
Damis: Orgon's hot-headed son who wishes to marry Valere's sister if Valere is able to marry Mariane.
Dorine: Mariane's lady's-maid and friend.
Celante: Elmire's brother. His is the voice of wisdom, rationality, moderation, common sense and self-control in the play. He is the enlightened man.
Madame Pernelle: Orgon's mother who believes all of Tartuffe's lies and condemns her son's family for not being religious enough. She opens the play by telling everyone what their sins and shortcomings are.

Themes and Ideas to Notice in Tartuffe

1. The difference between the real people we are and the masks that we wear and hide behind.

2. The hypocrisy of some religious people.

3. How readily the religious faith of some people can be misused by others.

4. How a lack of rationality and moderation leads to our downfall.

5. How some people can see through the outward appearance to the inner character while other people cannot.

6. The kinds of power used by family members in relating to other members of the family: financial, legal, erotic, psychological, social.

7. The degree to which people are driven by their own whims and obsessions and needs and are therefore blind to the needs of others.

8. Rationality and reason and the threats against them.

9. Is this comedy anti-religious, or does it only attack corruptions of religion?