Tartuffe script pdf

ENG 325 week 7 Unit B: Molière

1. Discussion board (200 words)

Reading: Watch Acts IV and V

Attached Files:

· File Tartuffe Script.pdf (12.901 MB) (Watch Acts IV and V, and sorry for I forgot post this Script last time, but you still did great job)

Richard Wilber's verse translation is superb. Find a pdf version attached.

Magnify the text on your screen to make the reading easier.

Character Map

Attached Files:

· File Tarttuff Character Map.docx (169.482 KB)

Tartuffe.jpg

Discussion Question:

Discuss the ending of Moliere’s Tartuffe. The playwright makes use of what is called a deus ex machina (“god from the machine”), a technique whereby resolution is achieved by divine, or in this case royal, intervention in a convenient but unexpected way. In your opinion, does the ending detract from your enjoyment of the play? Why or why not? If you don’t like Moliere’s ending, what sort of ending would you have preferred?

2. Reply for another 2 student’s work. (75 words each)

First student:

Moliere ridicules judgmental people like Madame Pernelle, hypocritical posers like Tartuffe, and people who talk about others behind their back which all of the characters are guilty of at some point. He ridicules the characters whose actions he particularly dislikes by overemphasizing these bad qualities. The audience can see through Tartuffe when he pretends to be on his way to donate the last of his money or when he stands up for Damis to Orgon. Madame Pernelle doesn’t have a good thing to say about any of her family in her scene at the start of the play. She places a lot of blame on Elmire who comes off as one of the more reasonable characters by the end of Act III. I think that Moliere also ridicules naiveté. He paints Orgon as the biggest fool of them all for not seeing through Tartuffe.

Conversely, Moliere advocates calm (Elmire and Cleante) and wisdom (Dorine and Cleante). Elmire speaks very little and remains calm throughout the scene in which she is propositioned by Tartuffe. It remains to be seen whether her behavior will work out for her in the end, but she comes across better than any of the other characters at this point in the play. Dorine’s persistent wisdom is the counter to Orgon’s persistent obsession with Tartuffe. I think the way that Moliere portrayed her, he meant to advocate her wisdom and ridicule her pushiness.

Second student：

In Tartuffe Moliere perception of human nature, is that full of complexity and many colors or dimensions that confuse the very same humans expected to accept their nature with ease. This is because of the characters’ inclination to divert from human nature that makes the reader truly question what then could truly be human nature. In this case, to stress on the diversion, which is also part of human nature, in reference to humans diverting from what is expected of them, Moliere advocates and ridicules some elements of human nature to show the true essence of human nature. The play explores the quest for justice as part of the human nature with the primary goals of advocating for justice. Moliere does this by ridiculing injustice that Orgon directs to his family after Tartuffe blindness him. He subjects his daughter to a marriage in which love does not exist, as well as, disinherits his son. Nonetheless, Moliere advocates for justice when the monarch becomes the embodiment of true justice that Moliere seem to advocate for, as he makes sure that those who are innocent are not punished while the wrong-doers in Tartuffe’s deceit get the punishment they deserve.

Sex also becomes another embodiment of human nature that is explored in the play. Sexuality is a true element of human nature and Moliere seems to advocate for people to embrace it, by ridiculing how people respond to sexuality. He does this by first ridiculing criticism surrounding it. Madame Parnell criticizes the lax in the household morality and Tartuffe seems to criticize lust by avoiding looking Dorine’s bosom. Their quest to avoid what is truly part of human nature become their downfall and this presents a way of ridiculing people to stop fighting against nature. For example, to the audience, what defines Tartuffe more is his sexuality rather than his soul. He is perceived as libidinous creature incapable of controlling himself in presence of Elmire. This simply implies that his sexual desires override his reasoning and this becomes the point of weakness that the family employs when they want to destroy him. In this case, by ridiculing how people respond towards sexuality, Moliere seems to advocate for it by shows that sexuality is so natural with no need to pretend it is not part of human existence, thus no need to employ rhetoric virtue and abstinence.