An example of “high comedy” can be “Tartuffe”. The struggle for the production of Tartuffe went on from 1664 to 1669; counting on resolving the comedy, Moliere remade it three times, but was unable to soften his opponents. The opponents of “Tartuffe” were powerful people - members of the Society of the Holy Sacrament, a kind of secular branch of the Jesuit order, which served as the secret moral police, instilled church morality and the spirit of asceticism, hypocritically proclaiming that it was fighting heretics, enemies of the church and the monarchy. The denunciations of secret agents of this society caused a lot of evil, so that contemporaries called it a “conspiracy of saints.” But the Jesuits during this period reigned supreme in the religious life of France, from among them the confessors of the royal family were appointed, and the Queen Mother, Anne of Austria, personally patronized the Society of the Blessed Sacrament. Therefore, although the king liked the play, first presented at a court festival in 1664, Louis for the time being could not go against the clergy, who convinced him that the play attacked not bigotry, but religiosity in general. Only when the king temporarily fell out with the Jesuits and a period of relative tolerance began in his religious policy, “Tartuffe” was finally staged in its current, third edition. This comedy was the hardest for Moliere and brought him the greatest success in his lifetime.
"Tartuffe" in one of the dialects of southern France means "swindler", "deceiver". Thus, already by the title of the play, Moliere defines the character of the main character, who walks in secular dress and represents a very recognizable portrait of a member of the “cabal of saints.” Tartuffe, pretending to be a righteous man, enters the house of the wealthy bourgeois Orgon and completely subjugates the owner, who transfers his property to Tartuffe. Tartuffe's nature is obvious to all Orgon's household - the hypocrite only manages to deceive the owner and his mother, Madame Pernelle. Orgon breaks with everyone who dares to tell him the truth about Tartuffe, and even expels his son from the house. To prove his devotion to Tartuffe, he decides to become related to him and give him his daughter Mariana as his wife. To prevent this marriage, Mariana's stepmother, Orgon's second wife, Elmira, whom Tartuffe has been quietly courting for a long time, undertakes to expose him to her husband, and in a farcical scene, when Orgon is hiding under the table, Elmira provokes Tartuffe to make immodest proposals, forcing him to ascertain his shamelessness. and betrayal. But by expelling him from the house, Orgon jeopardizes his own well-being - Tartuffe claims rights to his property, a bailiff comes to Orgon with an eviction order, moreover, Tartuffe blackmails Orgon with someone else’s secret inadvertently entrusted to him, and only the intervention of a wise king gives The order to arrest the famous rogue, who has a whole list of “unscrupulous acts” to his name, saves Orgon’s house from collapse and provides the comedy with a happy ending.
Characters in classic comedy express, as a rule, one characteristic feature. Moliere's Tartuffe embodies the universal human vice of hypocrisy, hiding behind religious hypocrisy, and in this sense, his character is clearly indicated from the very beginning, does not develop throughout the action, but only reveals itself more deeply with each scene in which Tartuffe participates. Topical features in the image associated with exposing the activities of the Society of the Holy Sacrament have long faded into the background, but they are important to note from the point of view of the poetics of classicism. Many other characters in the comedy are also one-line: the usual roles of young lovers are represented by the images of Mariana and her fiancé Valera, the lively maid is represented by the image of Dorina; the reasoner, that is, the character who “pronounces” for the viewer the moral lesson of what is happening, is Elmira’s brother, Cleanthes. However, in every play by Moliere there is a role that he played himself, and the character of this character is always the most vital, dramatic, and most ambiguous in the play. In Tartuffe, Moliere played Orgon.
Orgon - in practical terms, an adult, successful in business, the father of a family - at the same time embodies the spiritual lack of self-sufficiency, as a rule, characteristic of children. This is a personality type that needs a leader. No matter who this leader turns out to be, people like Orgon are imbued with boundless gratitude to him and trust their idol more than those closest to them. Orgon lacks his own inner content, which he tries to compensate for with faith in the goodness and infallibility of Tartuffe. Orgone is spiritually dependent, he does not know himself, is easily suggestible and becomes a victim of self-blinding. Without gullible orgones there are no deceiving Tartuffes. In Orgone, Moliere creates a special type of comic character, which is characterized by the truth of his personal feelings despite their objective falsity, and his torment is perceived by the viewer as an expression of moral retribution, the triumph of a positive principle. In this regard, A. S. Pushkin’s remark is very true: “High comedy is not based solely on laughter, but on the development of characters - and, quite often, it comes close to tragedy.”
In form, “Tartuffe” strictly adheres to the classicist rule of three unities: the action takes one day and takes place entirely in Orgon’s house, the only deviation from the unity of action is the line of love misunderstandings between Valère and Mariana. The comedy is written, as always with Moliere, in simple, clear and natural language.
The clergy never forgave Moliere for Tartuffe: when he died in February 1673 (during the fourth performance of his last play“An imaginary patient,” his throat began to bleed, and they barely had time to carry him home, but he did not have time to confess), the Archbishop of Paris gave permission for the playwright’s funeral in church land only by order of the king.
In 1680, the king issued a decree merging Moliere's theater with the leading theater specializing in the production of tragedies, the Burgundy Hotel, and thus was the beginning of the Comedy Francaise, the oldest French theater, which is also called the "House of Moliere" and in the repertoire of which he always appears plays.
Moliere's work, being one of the highest achievements of classicism, goes far beyond its scope. Each era finds its own Moliere, and depending on the time, one or another of his plays turns out to be especially relevant. The most aesthetically sensitive contemporaries of the great playwright predicted exactly such a future for him, as evidenced by the dialogue that took place after Moliere’s death between Louis XIV and Nicola Boileau. The king asked:
- Who is it? greatest writer who glorified my reign?
- Molière, sir.
“I didn’t think so, but you understand this better than me.”
2.3 Image of Tartuffe
Tartuffe, the main thing actor comedy, is a collective image that personifies the entire “Society of the Holy Gifts”. This is clearly evidenced by certain details: this is the mask of holiness with which he hides behind himself, posing as an impoverished nobleman, and his secret connections with the court and the police, and the presence of his patrons among high-ranking courtiers. Therefore, the appearance of a holy man in Orgon’s house is not accidental. As mentioned above, the young housewife Elmira brought into the family a mood of freethinking, incompatible with official piety, and Orgon himself is associated with former member parliamentary Fronde, political emigrant, enemy of the king. It was these families that the Society agents took control of.
The name "Tartuffe" presumably comes from the old French word“truffer” - “to deceive.” Contrary to the rules of classical dramaturgy, he appears in the play only in the third act. In the first two he appears as an off-stage character; he is not there, but we are talking only about him. Moliere explains this by saying that he first wanted to prepare the viewer for a correct perception of the hero. “The viewer is not deluded about him for a minute: he is recognized immediately by the signs with which I endowed him.” There really is no doubt about the saint from the very beginning: a hypocrite, a scoundrel and a complete scoundrel appears before the public. His base, repulsive nature emerges from the family conflict that opens the play. The appearance of Tartuffe in Orgon's house disrupts the harmony in the family and breaks it into two warring parties: those for whom the deceit and duplicity of the “righteous man” are obvious, and those who sincerely believe in his holiness. Despite the fact that there are only two of the latter, Tartuffe is not particularly worried about the serious hostility of the household towards him. Orgone is important to him. He befuddles him, gaining his attention and then his admiration with an ostentatious performance in the church. Tartuffe is a subtle psychologist; Having once lured the victim into the trap set for him, he uses all the techniques known to him to keep him in a kind of hypnotic state. These techniques allow the scoundrel to cleverly manipulate Orgon, giving him the appearance of free will in making decisions. In fact, Tartuffe only carefully pushes his benefactor to such decisions that are fully consistent with his, Tartuffe’s, insidious plans: he sets him up against his son Damis, whom Orgon kicks out of the house and deprives of his inheritance; upsets the engagement of Mariana and Valera in order to marry her himself and take possession of her dowry; finally, playing on Orgon’s gullibility and fear, Tartuffe receives a deed of gift for his entire fortune, as well as a casket with important political papers. He should be given his due - he knows how to understand someone else's soul, feels the weaknesses of those he deceives, and due to this achieves considerable results.
However, one should not be mistaken about him. Tartuffe may be a skilled manipulator, but he plays his role of the righteous (or even, in La Bruyère’s opinion, the role of the hypocrite) very poorly. He makes gross mistakes through which his essence shines through; he loses control of himself whenever it is difficult for him to cope with the natural inclinations and instincts that overcome him. He loudly declares all-night self-torture and mortification of his flesh, and at the same time he cannot and does not even try to resist the temptation to eat deliciously and sleep softly. “So, apart from Orgon and his mother, no one will fall for his bait, neither the other characters in the play, nor the audience. The whole point is that Tartuffe is by no means the embodiment of a reasonable and cold-blooded hypocrite, but simply an uncouth lout whose feelings are rude and whose desires are indomitable.” But this is precisely what the comic effect, which Moliere sought. He did not set himself the task of portraying an ideal hypocrite - the comedy of this image is based on the contrast between the role of the saint and his nature.
Each character gives Tartuffe some characteristic. Damis calls him a trickster, an all-powerful tyrant, an intolerable bigot; Cleanthes - a slippery snake; Dorina is an empty saint and a deceitful scoundrel. The maid tells Cleanthe about the power of Tartuffe's influence on the owner of the house. This weasel has taken over the management of economic affairs, sticks his nose everywhere and freely interferes in everything that does not concern him at all. Damis and Dorina are sincerely outraged that he, barefoot and beggar, has appeared from nowhere and behaves in such an unceremonious manner. Tartuffe rants about the decline of morals in the family that sheltered him and vigilantly monitors the behavior of his family; Apparently, not a single action of theirs and not a single word of theirs can be accomplished without his teachings and nagging. He carefully kept all the guests away from the house in order to avoid unnecessary rumors about his “good deeds” - after all, it could reach the ears of the king or people close to him. Or perhaps the reason lies in what Dorina pointed out to us: “He is simply jealous of his mistress” (i.e. Elmira).
Further - more: Orgon is going to marry his daughter Mariana to Tartuffe. The saint's calculation is simple - the girl has a rich inheritance and for him she is of exclusively business interest. Where did Orgon get this idea from? Many are inclined to believe that Tartuffe was its initiator. It doesn’t take much effort for him to approach the subject that interests him so subtly in conversation that Orgon, having warned his wishes, will make a decision in favor of his favorite or give him what he needs. It is possible that the issue is in Orgon himself, in his psychology of the owner. Here is how I. Glikman develops this idea: “Since the fashion for praying mantises and “saints” appeared in Paris, Orgon wanted to have “his own” saint at his side, who would protect the house... from all sorts of misfortunes.<…>The thought of Tartuffe marrying Mariana seemed tempting to Orgon because in this way he acquired “his” saint forever.”
Tartuffe demonstrates duplicity from the first seconds of his appearance in the play. Seeing Dorina nearby, he deliberately loudly pronounces a prepared speech about the whip and hair shirt with which he allegedly killed his flesh at night:
“Laurent! Take away both the whip and the hair shirt.
Whoever asks, answer that I went to prison
To the unfortunate prisoners, in order to console them
And give them a contribution from my meager means.”
He does not take off his mask even when he knows that his hypocrisy is obvious: the appearance of a saint, ruddy and portly, does not fit in with what he says. But Tartuffe is not embarrassed by such a contradiction, and even by the fact that this scene will not make the right impression either on Dorina or on other household members. The deception is intended for Orgon, but as for the others, it is enough for him that they create the appearance that they believe.
To the lush bouquet of the predominant character traits of the saint, another one is added: Tartuffe, among other things, turns out to be a sensualist and a secret libertine. Feeling his strength and complete impunity, he does not restrain his vicious attraction to the mistress of the house. However, even now he continues to be a hypocrite. The conversation begins in the traditional “Tartuffe” style. Left alone with Elmira, Tartuffe begins to “test the waters,” to check whether a response to his feelings is possible. He talks about love, and the pathetic timbres of a church sermon sound in his voice. Moreover, he skillfully weaves heaven and providence into his speech - one gets the impression that this is not a love confession, but a reading of psalms. But, having followed Elmira’s reaction, inspired by her goodwill, Tartuffe slightly lifts his mask. If at the beginning we observed a radical discrepancy between his judgments and behavior, now it begins to be smoothed out by the established temporal correspondence. Tartuffe sits down next to Elmira, puts his hand on her knee (“I wanted to feel the fabric”), touches the scarf on her neck, the words remain the same prayerfully pompous. But the further he goes, the more difficult it is for him to cope with his emotions. Elmira’s irony over his imaginary righteousness stung Tartuffe to such an extent that he forgets himself and finally throws off his mask, admitting that, after all, he is still a man, and not a “disembodied angel.” Continuing to be a hypocrite out of inertia, the scoundrel almost openly persuades Elmira to cheat, assuring her that he will keep the secret of their relationship, and, accordingly, the purity of her honor. Tartuffe reveals here his deeply vicious essence.
The scene ends abruptly with the intrusion of the enraged Damis, who was standing outside the door in the next room and heard everything. The young man rejoices: the scoundrel is caught at the crime scene, and, without hesitation, denounces him to his father. However, he does not know Tartuffe well. The saint has something to lose, and therefore he uses a subtle trick based on the morality of Christian self-abasement. He does not deny his guilt, because denial can give rise to the idea of the likelihood of a crime. Tartuffe, on the contrary, begins to repent and mercilessly flagellate himself. The trick works perfectly - the more he indulges in self-reproach, the more Orgon believes in his purity. And the trickster gets away with it again! Moreover, without losing anything that was at his disposal (namely, a well-fed and carefree life), he acquires what he could only dream of a day ago: Orgon transfers all the property into his name and makes him his only heir.
This event is a turning point in comedy. Orgon is no longer the master of the house. Feeling his strength and superiority over his enemies, Tartuffe becomes impudent, he behaves almost arrogantly. When, during a second, staged date with Elmira, he is exposed, it would seem that a scene of terrible shock should occur. However, Tartuffe, without blinking an eye, moves from meek, sublime words to direct threats. Now there is no need to be cunning and pretend to be righteous. Tartuffe is now terrible, because Orgon can suddenly lose not only his home, but also his freedom. The reason for this is a casket with the papers of a rebel friend, which Orgon personally handed over to the hands of the wicked man.
Tartuffe does not stop there. He returns to the house, bringing with him an officer to arrest his former benefactor. The saint behaves not just impudently, he is arrogant, boorish and cynical - the whole range of his inherent qualities flows out of him like a fountain. He is in a hurry to put an end to this family, but then the well-oiled mechanism malfunctions. Tartuffe himself is arrested. The failed apotheosis of hypocrisy and deception is replaced by the apotheosis of royal mercy and justice.
This was Moliere's idea: evil should be punished, and comedy should have a happy ending.
Conclusion
In this course work an attempt was made, on the basis of selected materials, to reveal the theme included in the title, to analyze the main images of the comedy “Tartuffe”, to take a new approach to highlighting some aspects of their characters, to reflect in the work my view of the problems of the play, to show the significance that it had for Moliere, as well as provide answers to a number of questions that arise in the process of studying this work.
The comedy “Tartuffe” occupied a very special place in the writer’s work. Moliere's satire was directed against the mannered and pretentious aristocracy, various retrograde oppressors, charlatan doctors, miserliness, stupidity, boasting and arrogance. The turn of hypocrisy has come; and not the one that is found everywhere in secular society- Moliere had already “executed him with laughter” in his plays - and religious hypocrisy, according to the writer, is one of the most common, dangerous vices.
Unlike his literary contemporaries, Moliere was universal in his depiction of human types; he tried to cover all classes of the society around him. They are presented in extremely concise, clear images, each of which is a kind of ancestor of all subsequent similar images in literature.
In Tartuffe, Moliere, in the image of a saint, depicted the hypocrisy, hypocrisy, trickery and depravity of the clergy and clerics of his time. The intrigue of the work unfolds against the background of the life and morals of the French bourgeois family. Tartuffe is a type that is both individual and socially generalized, embodying a characteristic phenomenon in the life of French society 17th century. The leading feature of his character is deliberately exaggerated, extremely pointed; Tartuffe is absolute both in his imaginary piety and in his sinfulness. This trait of his is not given in its entirety right away; it reveals itself gradually and the more so the closer to the end. There is no evolution in it, the trait changes, but not qualitatively, but quantitatively - in the finale it is maximally condensed and expanded to a size that embraces almost the entire living space depicted in the play.
There are images in Tartuffe that do not directly participate in the central events. These are Cleanthe, who plays the role of a reasoner and observer of the development of events, Mariana Valer’s fiancé, and the silent Flipota. However, each of them has its own purpose in comedy. For Flipota, it is to contrast with Madame Pernelle, for Cleante, it is to express the author’s attitude to the problem (it is not for nothing that he speaks mainly in long monologues), for Valera and Mariana, it is more likely to introduce a grain of romance into the comedy. There are also off-stage characters, but necessary for the writer to create balance in the balance of power around the main character and for the most complete depiction of the conflict. Thus, Tartuffe is not the only hypocrite in the play, and this gives it greater realism and social urgency.
Hypocrisy is the main, but also far from the only character trait of Tartuffe. The rest seem to be layered on top of each other and serve as a background for it, making it sharper, clearer, and easier for correct perception.
Moliere does not combine the bad with the good in the hero. Tartuffe is devoid of internal contradictions, internal development and internal struggle. Everything is clear in it at once and to the end; the character turned out to be somewhat flat and shallow. But it is no coincidence that the author conceived it this way, otherwise the goal would not have been achieved, it would have been impossible to identify the commonality that the playwright sought to display in the main character.
The comedy “Tartuffe” not only has not lost its relevance, today it is perhaps even more topical than ever: you just have to pay attention to high degree the gullibility of people, which is shamelessly abused by various scammers and charlatans for the purpose of material gain. Various sects are multiplying and flourishing, poisoning the common sense of citizens with their insane teachings, subjugating their will and consciousness, again with the goal of taking away their well-being. This problem existed during Moliere's time, and it still exists today. On this occasion, S. Artamonov expressed an interesting thought: “He [Moliere] concentrated in his stage hero all the distinctive features of a hypocrite, showed from close-up, threw a spotlight on them and made the audience remember them forever and then unmistakably recognize their speeches and actions public figures in life, in the behavior of people around him, sometimes in his acquaintances, maybe even in his friends.”
The value of the play lies in the fact that it boldly and vividly exposed the reactionary role of the clergy and created a generalized image of Tartuffe, which became a household name for hypocrisy and hypocrisy.
Bibliography
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Not a single Moliere comedy brought him so much suffering, but also such enduring success. For five years the playwright fought for its production, correcting the text, softening the critical focus of the comedy. Moliere directed his attack on the secret religious organization “Society of the Holy Gifts,” which was engaged in surveillance of ill-intentioned fellow citizens and apostates. By removing specific allusions to the activities of the Society of the Blessed Sacrament, he achieved more by showing how religious fanaticism cripples the souls of believers. “Tartuffe” eventually became a parable about how ardent piety deprives a person of sound mind. Before meeting Tartuffe, Orgon was a caring father of the family, but the bigot and hypocrite hypnotized him with ostentatious asceticism so that the noble nobleman was ready to give the swindler everything he owned.
The name Tartuffe has gone down in history as a common noun. It shows hypocrisy in close-up
But for the comedy to reach the viewer, Moliere had to fight the powerful church authorities for five years. M dressed Tartuffe in secular clothes, and changed the name to “The Deceiver,” but even so everyone recognized Tartuffe. The ban on the work dealt a blow to Moliere's repertoire.
Tartuffe. Hypocrite. And here it doesn’t matter to Moliere whether he is a nobleman or a bourgeois. We do not know the environment in which he acquired this trait. His passion itself is significant - hypocrisy, a psychological trait, and not a social background. This is a crystal clear image, taken from the historical environment. Moliere strives to create pure abstract stage space and time. This desire for abstraction is characteristic of classicists, and this desire is reflected even more strongly in the characters. Moliere, typifying the image, cannot help but give the hero individual traits. Individual feature Tartuffe is that he is a bearer of hypocrisy. He is arrogant and stubborn. It's like a person. And as a type, he embodies what Moliere wants to express in him - condensed hypocrisy. One of the ways to depict such an image is the hero’s surroundings. It emerges from this environment. Tartuffe is generally outlined by those around him. Orgon admires him. Dorina talks about him. This environment of Tartuffe is artificial. With the hand of Moliere, all obstacles were removed from the path of the protagonist. The reverse side of Tartuffe’s boundless arrogance and hypocrisy is Orgon’s boundless gullibility, his devotion to Tartuffe. Moliere's second way of achieving abstraction is hyperbole. He introduces this hyperbole with strokes. It is necessary that the exaggerated trait be truthful, real, fixed in gestures, intonation, phraseology, and behavior that are truly characteristic of a person obsessed with this passion. Tartuffe is absolute in his imaginary piety: he covers Dorina's neckline with a scarf. Moliere brings the classicist principle of characterization to the last degree of completeness, surpassing in this sense the most orthodox classicists. In general, the principles of classicism are very important to him. For example, what is important to him is his attraction to symmetry, to the balance of all parts. Moliere always has two heroes who complement each other using the method of contrast. In “Tartuffe” it is the arrogant Tartuffe and the gullible Orgon
15. Interpretation of the image of Don Juan and the “high” comedy of Moliere
Don Juan is a legendary Spanish hero who gave his name to one of the most popular types in art. The hero of the legend is a representative of one of the aristocratic Seville families, D. Juan Tenorio. His bold adventures remained unpunished, thanks to the participation in them of his close friend, King Don Pedro (1350 - 1369), for a long time terrified all of Seville, until, finally, heavenly justice, in the person of the commander Don Gonzago, who was killed by him, put an end to him outrages. This legend was subsequently mixed with another, also from Seville, about the libertine D. Juan de Marana, who sold his soul to the devil, but later repented and entered a monastery. Over time, the type changes as morals soften; the harsh character traits and rudeness of the methods of D. Juan's predecessors are gradually replaced by more attractive qualities, and finally the hero of the Seville legend takes on a charming form, which immediately gains him extraordinary popularity. This is the work of Tirso de Molina, who created in his play that bizarre character who later went around the whole world under the name of D. Juan.
Moliere, in his comedy: the first to deprive the hero distinctive features of Spanish origin and was introduced into the play by the French. the reality of its time. He discarded the comedy introduced by the Italians and destroyed the clerical overtones that characterize Tirso's play.
D.J. - the only mythical hero in the entire history of world culture who was not borrowed from the theater, but generated by the theater. But unlike the comedic characters of the Renaissance, the hero of “The Mischief of Seville” plays a love game, not knowing love, at least that uplifting, beautiful love that triumphed in the art of the Renaissance. Baroque art, to which The Mischief of Seville is close, reveals the tragic duality of love.
Behavior of D.J. may seem contradictory: he laughs at women’s feelings, but is almost brotherly towards the servant Sganarelle, he is indifferent to what they say about him “in the world,” but rushes to the aid of a stranger in trouble. He is bold and fearless, but he can also escape from his pursuers by dressing in a peasant costume.
When drawing his hero, Moliere does not seem to be too concerned about presenting him as a cynical monster. The pranks of D.J. with women, which the reader has the opportunity to observe, do not cause active protest, much less indignation; on the contrary, they make one marvel at the gallant virtuosity of the loving lord. The hero's inspired tirades in praise of his victories over women make him see more of an ardent conqueror than a cold seducer. Meanwhile, heavenly punishment falls on the sinner, whose guilt is so recognizable and so commonplace. Apparently, the immoderate and irresponsible love of women of D.Zh. and his blasphemous hypocrisy is only a part and consequence of the crime that entailed such a terrible punishment. Molierovsky D.Zh. truly belongs to its time, and the hero’s guilt cannot be interpreted without taking into account the priority ideas for the era, without analyzing the many components that make up the spiritual climate of society. “Don Juan” is one of the most “baroque” plays by the great comedian. The Romanesque legendary plot that underlies it, many structural violations of the classic canon, and the genre stripes indicate that Moliere’s masterpiece belongs to the grandiose cultural and historical complex that determined the face of the 17th century,
The main thing for DZh, a convinced woman lover, is the desire for pleasure. Moliere portrayed in Don Juan one of those secular freethinkers of the 17th century who justified their immoral behavior with a certain philosophy: they understood pleasure as the constant satisfaction of sensual desires. At the same time, they openly despised the church and religion. For Don Juan there is no afterlife, hell, heaven. He only believes that two and two make four. The pretense, the mask of piety that Don Juan puts on, is nothing more than a profitable tactic; she allows him to extricate himself from a seemingly hopeless situations; make peace with his father, on whom he financially depends, and safely avoid a duel with the brother of Elvira, whom he abandoned. Like many in his social circle, he only assumed the appearance of a decent person. In general, Moliere had long been attracted by the theme of hypocrisy, which he observed everywhere in public life. In this comedy, Moliere turned to the most common type of hypocrisy in those days - religious. In Don Juan's own words, hypocrisy has become a “fashionable, privileged vice” that covers up any sins, and fashionable vices are regarded as virtues. Moliere shows the universal nature of hypocrisy, widespread in different classes and officially encouraged. The French aristocracy was also involved in it.
“Tartuffe, or the Deceiver” - a play by J.-B. Moliere. The first edition of Tartuffe, which has not reached us, dates back to 1664. Here Moliere dared to make the title character a clergyman, and as a result the play was banned from production. The second edition appeared in 1667: in it the author changed the name of the hero (Panjulf), made him a secular person and added two acts. Although this edition managed to appear on stage with the approval of the king, the play was soon again banned by the judicial parliament, and the Archbishop of Paris threatened with excommunication those parishioners who would stage, read or listen to this work. Only the third edition of Moliere's play has reached us - Tartuffe (1669), permission for the production of which was eventually given by Louis XIV.
The performance, which took place on February 5, 1669 at the Palais Royal theater, brought Tartuffe a huge success. In the same year, the first publication of the comedy by the Parisian publisher J. Riboud took place. Among the modern French editions of Tartuffe, one can highlight a separate publication of the play in the series “French Classics” (1994) and a commentary edition of it as part of full meeting plays of 1910. The comedy was repeatedly translated into many languages; there are a large number of Russian translations of Tartuffe, among which we can highlight the first, prose translation by I. Kropotov (1757) and the modern translation by M.L. Lozinsky (published in 1957).
“Tartuffe” is one of the “high” Molière comedies, distinguished by the seriousness of the problems and the “borderline” (N.Ya. Berkovsky) laughter: although there are many truly comic situations and funny dialogues, the conflict in the play develops catastrophically quickly and intensely, being safely resolved only by using " deus ex machina " - "God ex machina" - by the intervention of the king. Despite the fact that Tartuffe was destined to become a household name for every hypocrite, Moliere sought in his play not only to expose this “eternal” vice, but also had specific social phenomena of his time, in particular, the activities in France of the “Society of the Holy Sacrament”, which performs the functions of the secret police.
Unlike other comedies, the plot of which most often had a long literary pedigree (the writer, by his own admission, “took his goods where he found them”), “Tartuffe” is more based not on book tradition, but on Moliere’s life impressions from the activities of a secret religious society, which, under the patronage of Anna of Austria, fought against those who seemed to religious hypocrites to be too free-thinking and free. As Moliere himself wrote in the preface to Tartuffe, “the task of comedy is to castigate vices, and there should be no exceptions here. From a state point of view, the vice of hypocrisy is one of the most dangerous in its consequences.” We can say that Moliere's Tartuffe is a high satirical civil comedy. This is also a classic comedy, which is reflected both in the strict observance of the rules of the three unities, and in the peculiarities of the characters’ characters, who embody primarily one, dominant moral and psychological trait: Orgon - boundless gullibility, Tartuffe - many-sided hypocrisy, etc. At the same time, the conflict of the comedy is not only deep, but also, according to A.S. Pushkin, is extensive, demonstrates “the highest courage of Moliere,” the sharpness and universality of his satirical plan. As V. Hugo rightly noted later, “Moliere occupies the pinnacle place in French drama, not only as a poet, but also as a writer whose verse contains a thought and is closely intertwined with it into one whole.” It was the fusion of real poetry, comic skill and sharp satirical thought that allowed Moliere in “Tartuffe” to “terribly strike ... the poisonous hydra of bigotry” (V.G. Belinsky).
Moliere had a huge influence on the development of world comedy, among his followers are Beaumarchais and Sheridan, Goldoni and Lessing, Fonvizin and Gogol. The number of productions of “Tartuffe” on world stages, including in Russia, is enormous. Special mention should be made of the production of Tartuffe, carried out in 1939 by M.N. Kedrov according to the plan of K.S. Stanislavsky, as well as performances by Yu.P. Lyubimov at the Taganka Theater (1969) and A.V. Efros on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater (1981).
Year of writing:
1664
Reading time:
Description of the work:
The play Tartuffe was written by Moliere in 1664. This play is one of the most popular, as it was staged by almost all theaters. Even today it can be found in theater repertoires. Thanks to the final denouement of the play, it is a comedy.
We invite you to read the summary plays Tartuffe.
At the invitation of the owner, a certain Mr. Tartuffe settled in the house of the venerable Orgon. Orgon doted on him, considering him an incomparable example of righteousness and wisdom: Tartuffe’s speeches were extremely sublime, his teachings - thanks to which Orgon learned that the world is a big cesspool, and now he would not blink an eye, burying his wife, children and other loved ones - extremely useful, piety aroused admiration; and how selflessly Tartuffe cherished the morality of Orgon’s family...
Of all the household members, Orgon’s admiration for the newly-minted righteous man was shared, however, only by his mother, Madame Pernelle. Elmira, Orgon's wife, her brother Cleanthes, Orgon's children Damis and Mariana, and even the servants saw in Tartuffe who he really was - a hypocritical saint who cleverly took advantage of Orgon's delusion in his simple earthly interests: to eat deliciously and sleep softly, to have a reliable roof over your head and some other benefits.
Orgon's family was completely disgusted with Tartuffe's moral teachings; with his worries about decency, he drove almost all his friends away from home. But as soon as someone spoke badly about this zealot of piety, Madame Pernelle created stormy scenes, and Orgon simply remained deaf to any speeches that were not imbued with admiration for Tartuffe. When Orgon returned from a short absence and demanded from the maid Dorina a report on the news at home, the news of his wife’s illness left him completely indifferent, while the story of how Tartuffe happened to overeat at dinner, then sleep until noon, and drink too much wine at breakfast, filled Orgon with compassion for the poor man.
Orgon's daughter, Mariana, was in love with a noble young man named Valer, and her brother Damis was in love with Valer's sister. Orgon seemed to have already given his consent to the marriage of Mariana and Valera, but for some reason he kept postponing the wedding. Damis, concerned about his own fate - his marriage to his sister Valera was supposed to follow Mariana's wedding - asked Cleanthe to find out from Orgon the reason for the delay. Orgon answered questions so evasively and incomprehensibly that Cleanthes suspected that he had decided to somehow dispose of his daughter’s future.
Exactly how Orgon sees Mariana’s future became clear when he told his daughter that Tartuffe’s perfections needed reward, and that reward would be his marriage to her, Mariana. The girl was stunned, but did not dare contradict her father. Dorina had to stand up for her: the maid tried to explain to Orgon that marrying Mariana to Tartuffe - a beggar, a low-spirited freak - would mean becoming the subject of ridicule of the whole city, and in addition, would push her daughter onto the path of sin, for no matter how virtuous the girl was, she would not It's simply impossible to cuckold a hubby like Tartuffe. Dorina spoke very passionately and convincingly, but despite this, Orgon remained adamant in his determination to become related to Tartuffe.
Mariana was ready to submit to her father's will - this is what her daughter's duty told her to do. Dorina tried to overcome her obedience, dictated by natural timidity and respect for her father, and she almost succeeded in doing so, unfolding before Mariana vivid pictures of the marital happiness prepared for him and Tartuffe.
But when Valer asked Mariana if she was going to submit to Orgon’s will, the girl replied that she didn’t know. In a fit of despair, Valer advised her to do as her father told her, while he himself would find himself a bride who would not cheat this word; Mariana replied that she would only be happy about this, and as a result, the lovers almost parted forever, but Dorina arrived in time. She convinced young people of the need to fight for their happiness. But they just need to act not directly, but in a roundabout way, to stall for time, and then something will certainly work out, because everyone - Elmira, and Cleanthes, and Damis - is against Orgon’s absurd plan,
Damis, even too determined, was going to properly rein in Tartuffe so that he would forget about marrying Mariana. Dorina tried to cool his ardor, to convince him that more could be achieved with cunning than with threats, but she was not able to completely convince him of this.
Suspecting that Tartuffe was not indifferent to Orgon's wife, Dorina asked Elmira to talk to him and find out what he himself thought about marriage with Mariana. When Dorina told Tartuffe that the lady wanted to talk with him face to face, the saintly man perked up. At first, scattering heavy compliments in front of Elmira, he did not let her open her mouth, but when she finally asked a question about Mariana, Tartuffe began to assure her that his heart was captivated by another. To Elmira’s bewilderment - how is it that a man of holy life is suddenly seized by carnal passion? - her admirer answered with fervor that yes, he is pious, but at the same time he is also a man, saying that the heart is not flint... Immediately, without mincing words, Tartuffe invited Elmira to indulge in the delights of love. In response, Elmira asked how, in Tartuffe’s opinion, her husband would behave when he heard about his vile harassment. The frightened gentleman begged Elmira not to ruin him, and then she offered a deal: Orgon would not find out anything, but Tartuffe, for his part, would try to get Mariana to marry Valere as soon as possible.
Damis ruined everything. He overheard the conversation and, indignant, rushed to his father. But, as one might expect, Orgon believed not his son, but Tartuffe, who this time outdid himself in hypocritical self-abasement. In anger, he ordered Damis to get out of sight and announced that today Tartuffe would marry Mariana. As a dowry, Orgon gave his entire fortune to his future son-in-law.
Cleant in last time tried to talk humanly with Tartuffe and convince him to reconcile with Damis, give up his unjustly acquired property and Mariana - after all, it is not appropriate for a Christian to use a quarrel between father and son for his own enrichment, much less condemn a girl to lifelong torment. But Tartuffe, a noble rhetorician, had an excuse for everything.
Mariana begged her father not to give her to Tartuffe - let him take the dowry, and she would rather go to a monastery. But Orgon, who had learned something from his favorite, without blinking an eye, convinced the poor thing of the soul-saving nature of life with a husband who only causes disgust - after all, mortification of the flesh is only useful. Finally, Elmira could not stand it - since her husband does not believe the words of his loved ones, he should see with his own eyes the baseness of Tartuffe. Convinced that he had to make sure of just the opposite - of the high morality of the righteous man - Orgon agreed to crawl under the table and from there eavesdrop on the conversation that Elmira and Tartuffe would have in private.
Tartuffe immediately fell for Elmira’s feigned speeches that she supposedly had a strong feeling for him, but at the same time showed a certain prudence: before refusing to marry Mariana, he wanted to receive from her stepmother, so to speak, a tangible guarantee of tender feelings. As for the violation of the commandment, which will be associated with the delivery of this pledge, then, as Tartuffe assured Elmira, he has his own ways of dealing with heaven.
What Orgon heard from under the table was enough for his blind faith in the holiness of Tartuffe to finally collapse. He ordered the scoundrel to get away immediately, he tried to make excuses, but now it was useless. Then Tartuffe changed his tone and, before proudly leaving, promised to brutally get even with Orgon.
Tartuffe’s threat was not unfounded: firstly, Orgon had already managed to issue a deed of gift for his house, which from today belonged to Tartuffe; secondly, he entrusted the vile villain with a casket with papers incriminating his brother, according to political reasons forced to leave the country.
It was necessary to urgently look for some way out. Damis volunteered to beat Tartuffe and discourage him from doing harm, but Cleanthe stopped the young man - he argued that more could be achieved with the mind than with fists. Orgon's family had not yet come up with anything when the bailiff, Mr. Loyal, showed up on the doorstep of the house. He brought an order to vacate M. Tartuffe's house by tomorrow morning. At this point, not only Damis’s hands began to itch, but also Dorina’s and even Orgon himself.
As it turned out, Tartuffe did not fail to use the second opportunity he had to ruin the life of his recent benefactor: Valère brought the news that the scoundrel had handed over a chest of papers to the king, and now Orgon faces arrest for aiding his rebel brother. Orgon decided to escape before it was too late, but the guards got ahead of him: the officer who entered announced that he was under arrest.
Tartuffe also came to Orgon's house with the royal officer. The family, including Madame Pernel, who had finally seen the light, began to unanimously shame the hypocritical villain, listing all his sins. Tom soon got tired of this, and he turned to the officer with a request to protect his person from vile attacks, but in response, to his great - and everyone's - amazement, he heard that he was arrested.
As the officer explained, in fact he did not come for Orgon, but in order to see how Tartuffe reaches the end in his shamelessness. The wise king, an enemy of lies and a stronghold of justice, from the very beginning had suspicions about the identity of the informer and turned out to be right, as always - under the name of Tartuffe was hiding a scoundrel and a swindler, who had a great many dark deeds to his name. With his authority, the sovereign canceled the deed of gift for the house and forgave Orgon for indirectly aiding his rebellious brother.
Tartuffe was escorted to prison in disgrace, but Orgon had no choice but to praise the wisdom and generosity of the monarch, and then bless the union of Valera and Mariana.
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