Study Questions for Tartuffe

1. Madame Pernelle dominates the first scene. What values does she express/reveal in criticizing her son's household and how might you explain why she believes what she does? Why, for example, is she concerned about the ways Elmire spends money and dresses?

2. In what ways does Dorine respond to Mme. Pernelle's scolding? What are Dorine's objections in 1.1?

3. Sum up the kind of society portrayed in 1.1 as described by both Mme. Pernelle and Dorine.

4. Read Dorine at 1.2.15-25, then Orgon 1.5.12-21. Speculate on the nature of Orgon's love/respect for Tartuffe and its causes based on these passages. In other words, what does Tartuffe do for Orgon? What problems or anxieties does Orgon's belief in Tartuffe help him to resolve or repress?

5. Analyze Cleante's replies to Orgon, 1.5.60-149. Cleante wonders how Orgon fails to distinguish between true piety and hypocrisy, face and mask, reality and semblance. How does Cleante seem to accomplish this? Do you think Orgon can learn from Cleante? Can you?

6. What does Dorine's behavior (2.2) to Orgon suggest about the extent of his authority? What do her arguments reveal about the way women are regarded, particularly in terms of their methods of revenging themselves upon dull/cruel husbands?

7. What strategies does Dorine use to persuade Mariane to find the will to oppose her father's plan to marry her to Tartuffe? (2.3.) How do Dorine's methods of argument differ from those used by Cleante in 1.5? Who (Dorine vs. Cleante) seems the more effective, proficient at persuasion? Why?

8. Why are Mariane and Valere so inept at courtship and communication in 2.4 where they accuse each other of infidelity and deception? Can you explain their behavior in terms of their family and social roles and historical identities?

9. What do you think gives Dorine the ability (vantage, freedom?) to perceive,taunt, and advise others?

10. Analyze the rhetoric (persuasive strategies/premises) Tartuffe uses in his attempt to seduce Elmire. How does he refer to his religious beliefs and values to justify his desire for her? (3.3)

11. How do Damis' and Elmire's values and strategies differ in the way they propose to deal with Tartuffe in 3.4 and 3.5? Why? To what effects?

12. What do you think of Orgon's outrage in 3.6 and his decision at the end of 3.7? What are the sources of this rage and causes of his decision?

13. How apt are Cleante's arguments in 4.1, especially lines 35-44?

14. After Mariane pleads in vain, Elmire proposes to show Orgon that Tartuffe is a hypocrite. How does Elmire's plan comment on what will pass for proof and evidence in this society, or at least with Orgon?

15. On what assumptions does Elmire base her pseudo-seduction of Tartuffe and what proof does he require to be satisfied of her desire for him? (4.5)

16. What makes this scene so funny, and what might be the purposes of such humor?

17. What finally persuades Orgon to emerge from hiding and what do you think of the way he accosts/accuses Tartuffe in 4.7?

18. What seems both peculiar and in character in Tartuffe's reply to Orgon? (4.7) In short, how hypocritical is Tartuffe? Orgon?

19. What do you make of Cleante's advice to Orgon to be rational in 5.1 and to Damis in 5.2?

20. Comment on the comedy of 5.3.

21. What is the function of Monsieur Loyal in 5.4 and what are the larger social and political implications of his rhetoric, his manner of explaining and justifying his duty and the law? What does this have to do with what Tartuffe represents/symbolizes?

22. How do Tartuffe's goals and desires modulate, shift by the end of the play? How do you explain this or what do you think of Moliere's development of Tartuffe's character?

23. Analyze the assumptions and values expressed by the Officer's speech in the play's last scene (5.7). Why do you think Molière concluded the play this way? Can you explain this in relation to his preface and his petitions?

24. What might the secret brotherhood, the cabal formed in 1627 to enforce morality, still find objectionable in Molière's revised version of the play?

25. What do you think of the Royal Shakespeare Company's film version of Tartuffe? How would you direct this play?

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