Monday, January 27, 2014

Tartuffe

Tartuffe was one of Moliere most popular - and most banned - works. It centers around a pious charlatan, Tartuffe. He has ingratiated himself with a well-to-do family. They have taken him in after seeing his difficult circumstances. They grant him all of his material needs and respect his opinions. However, the younger generation does not share this respect. This is especially bad after the father promises his daughter to Tartuffe (even though she is already planning on marrying somebody else.) They eventually plot to uncover Tartuffe in making advances to the woman of the house. The plot works and they throw Tartuffe out. However, Tartuffe gets the last laugh as the family has given him a strongbox and signed away the house to him. (This was in part to escape a possible difficult situation.) Tartuffe attempts to evict the family. Luckily, some officials are aware of Tartuffe's activities and arrest him, thereby rescuing the family.

Like many other Moliere comedies, this deals with the comedy of different people communicating on different levels. There is also a wedding and the shenanigans that almost result in the breakup of the wedding. Luckily, everything works out in the end.

No comments:

Post a Comment