Theatre
Tartuffe
Le Tartuffe
Molière · 1669
Opening lines
Madame Pernelle
Allons, Flipote, allons ; que d’eux je me délivre.
Come, Flipote, come; let me be rid of them.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from fr.wikisource.org
Synopsis
Orgon has taken Tartuffe into his home, regarding him as a pious man, and his mother, Mme Pernelle, shares this admiration, while the rest of the family sees him as a hypocrite. Orgon decides to give him his daughter Mariane, who is nevertheless promised to Valère, and the maid Dorine tries to prevent this marriage. When Damis, Orgon's son, catches Tartuffe courting Elmire, his father's wife, and denounces him, Orgon believes the hypocrite over his son, whom he drives out and disinherits.
Context
A first version, in three acts, was performed before the king at Versailles on 12 May 1664, then immediately banned, under the influence of the Archbishop of Paris, Hardouin de Péréfixe. A second, entitled L'Imposteur, in which the character was called Panulphe, was given at the Palais-Royal on 5 August 1667 and banned the very next day. The definitive version, in five acts, was finally authorised and premiered at the Palais-Royal on 5 February 1669.
Who it is for
A comedy in five acts and in alexandrines; the main character does not come on stage until the third act, after the others have described him at length.
Prizes and reception
Staged with immediate success, the play caused the name of its central character to pass into the language, in French as in English, to mean a hypocrite.
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