Reading Notes, Week 3, Part A

This reading was longer than others so my reading notes are really long, this is mostly just to help me since I always go back to look at my notes! The purple is my thoughts on certain scenes and moments in the reading.

Act 1

Orgon is a middle class man that served in the war. He has a wife, Ermile, and two children, Mariane and Damis. His family doesn't follow Tartuffe, they think he is a hypocrite and a fake.
Madame Pernelle goes over their house one day when Orgon was out of town and let Ermile know that she was not happy with the way the house was being ran and then went on to ridicule her grandchildren and her daughter-in-law. She called Damis a brat and told Mariane and him they didn't treat thier father with enough respect. She told Ermile that she worried about her appearance to much and she practically accused her of cheating on Orgon.
The conversation quickly turns to Tartuffe. A religious leader that Madame Pernelle and Orgon follow. Madame Pernelle is trying to convince her family to follow them as well but it was not working. Damis shut it down fast, "Now grandmother, listen. Not Father, not you, No oen can make me follow this man who rules this house, yet came here as peasant. I'll put him in this place and it won't be pleasant." (145)
          I liked this quote because it showed me just how much the family didn't like or trust                  Tartuffe. I also think the author might be foreshadowing, this being because I think in the end      Tartuffe will be a hypocrite and not trustworthy.  I think the author wants us to have an opinion  on Tartuffe even thought he hasn't really been introduced yet. 

     After Damis said that, Dorine, Mariane's maid stepped in. She went on to say stuff like he "Flaunts his Godliness and he's a hypocrite." (146). Dorine even accuses Tartuffe of lusting after Ermile, Orgons wife!
Madame Pernelle will not listen to Tartuffe being talked about so negatively, instead she tells her family they should be following him and listening to his advice, she says they can use his protection.
Cleante, Orgon's Brother-in-law and Dorine decide to avoid Madame Pernelle. They talk about how Tartuffe's power is overpowering Orgon. They say he is only using Orgon for his money. They even think that Orgon values Tartuffe more than his own family.
         This scene really interested me because it was crazy to see how many of the characters thought  Tartuffe was a bad man and a hypocrite. It also was interesting to me that Orgon was so blindly      following Tartuffe he couldn't even see that Tartuffe was trying to go after his wife. 

When Orgon gets back it seemed he had only cared about Tartuffe's well being. His mother had grown sick and he asked about Tartuffe and the same with his wife. Dorine (I assume sarcastically) says that she will go tell Ermile how anxious her husband was to know about her health and well-being. (151)
Orgon and Cleante go on to have a long talk about Tartuffe. Orgon says that Cleante doesn't know Tartuffe like he does and if he did, he would also be a follower (152) Orgon even admits to loving Tartuffe more than his family!

Themes
Hypocrisy:
I saw this when Madame Pernelle was being a hypocrite for yelling and scolding her family when she was supposed to be religious.
Religion:
When Madame Pernelle and Orgon were both making Taruffe seem like a great man and also making him seem like he can give good advice and lead them on a righteous path.
Family:
(1) When Madame Pernelle was shaming all of them, they all stuck together.
(2) When Orgon said he loved Tartuffe more than his own family (negative side)
Quotes 
"So you think he's a saint. That's what he wants. But He's a hypocrite and merely flaunts this so-called Godliness." (146)
"If you only could know him as I do. You would be his true disciple too" (152)
"Orgon, Listen, You're out of you mind. Or you're mocking me. Or both combined. How can you speak such nonsense without blinking?" (153)

Act 2

In the beginning Orgon finds his daughter, Mariane. Bascially he tells Mariane that he wants her to marry Tartuffe and Mariane is applaud that her father would even say that. Dorine then comes in, since she was obviously eavesdropping and almost mocks or makes fun of Orgon. Saying that she knows he would never tell Mariane to marry Tartuffe. Orgon then says he isn't joking but Dorine interrupts him once again saying things like if Mariane marry Tartuffe she will not be faithful.
Orgon's reasoning to give Marine away to Tartuffe is because Valere gambles too much and he doesn't go to church.
          For me, This scene was intense. Maraine obviously does not want to marry Tartuffe but it is hard for her to go against her dad. You are supposed to follow your father's orders. This also          furthers my reasoning to believe that Orgon might be a little crazy. Especially since Mariane                just got engaged to Valere and she said she loves him. Maybe the author is trying to hint to us              that Orgon may actually end up being crazy. 


Dorine is disappointed in Marine for not sticking up for herself when it came to her father. Mariane goes on to tell Dorine that she is obligated to obey her father. She also says that she will kill herself is she has to marry Tartuffe. Dorine kind of laughs at her and says she is wallowing in Self-Pity. Mariane then gets the bright idea to have Valere stick up to her father since she couldn't. Mariane begs Dorine to help her get out of this and eventually she agrees.
Mariane tells this news to Valere and he is shocked and very angry and her words. Valere then tells Mariane that she should marry Tartuffe! (Crazy!) Mariane in the moment is hurt and she says she in fact will marry Tartuffe. Dorine comes into the scene and tries to get the two to make up and realize they love eachother. They end up fighting again! Dorine snaps at both of them and reminds them what is at stake. She tells Mariane she should act sick to postpone the wedding.

Themes
Family:
Orgon is trying to get Mariane to marry Tartuffe which I think is for this own selfish reasons because he wants his family to be a follower of Tartuffe.
Hypocrisy:
When Dorine was criticizing Tartuffe to Orgon about he was a hypocrite and how low his social status was.

Act 3

So Damis hears about Mariane and Tartuffe new "marriage" announcement and he is furious. Dorine of course tries to calm him down and reassures him that Elmire has a big impact on Tartuffe since he is in love with her. Tartuffe and Elmire being to talk and he does confess his love for her and while Elmire is uncomfortable she still remains strong and tell Tartuffe he should keep this hidden since she doesn't want her husband finding out. He agrees and she said to keep it quiet he must refuse to marry Mariane and instead convince Orgon to let Mariane marry Valere. Damis then busts out of the closest Dorine put him in and says it Elmire doesn't tell Orgon about this than he will. Elmire tells Damis there is no need for that and she is being a good wife by ignoring the confession from Tartuffe. Damis refuses to keep quiet as Orgon walks in. Damis wasted no time in telling Orgon what had just happened. Elmire is disappointed in Damis, she believes she could have handled the situation herself.
          It is hard to look past how a lot of the women are being treated in this. It is obvious that we can see women being treated a lot different than men. Multiple times they have been told to "shut up" and being disobeyed. For example, just now Damis told Orgon about Elmire and Tartuffe where talking and even if Elmire is a step mom she should still be respected. I think the reason is because this was written in a time where being a women just meant being a house wife or a mother and never having a say. I don't think the author intentionally meant too make it seem like women are inferior to men, it may have just been the time period. 

Orgon can't believe what he just heard. He goes straight to Tartuffe and asks him if it's true. Tartuffe says, "Yes Brother, I'm wicked through and through." (175) Tartuffe goes on to bash himself and basically says Orgon should kick him out and that he is a sinner. Orgon then turns to Damis and starts yelling at him! Damis can't believe that Orgon is doing this.
         I'm not sure what the authors complete intentions where right here but I believe now that            Orgon is crazy. I say this because he not only didn't believe Damis, but Tartuffe even admitted     
to being a fake, a sinner and hypocrite! Tartuffe even told Orgon that he was in love with his              wife, if after all of that you can be okay with that you must be crazy. 

Tartuffe tries to defend Damis from Orgon and says Damis is right about his sins but this makes Orgon grow more mad. Orgon then accuses his family of plotting against Tartuffe and in spite of them he is going to make Mariane marry Tartuffe this night. Damis practically begs for him not to do this but Orgon instead disowns Damis.
Orgon is so distraught when Damis exits he turns to Tartuffe and tells him it makes him sick that Damis was so evil and it hurt him to have Damis talk so badly about him. Tartuffee says he should go because he doesn't want to create more drama but Orgon insists and begs for him to stay. Tartuffe warns him that his family will not be happy and will continue to be against him. Tartuffe reassures Orgon he will stay away from Elmire moving forward. Orgon says no, he said he wants Elmire and Tartuffe to be spending day and night together to make his family mad. He then goes on to say that he wants to Tartuffe is new Heir so he will sign all his property over to him.
           This took a major turn for me, I never thought after Orgon found out about Tartuffe being a fake, liar and phony that he would turn his back on him. Instead Orgon turned his back on his family! This was a plot twist for me and I didn't see it happening. I think the author made this twist to keep the readers entertained! It's always refreshing to read something that you didn't guess was going to happen.

Themes
Family:
Orgon has gone against his family and has decided to take Tartuffe now. I guess that makes Tartuffe his family. Orgon also disinherited Damis.
Hypocrisy:
Tartuffe admitted to being a hypocrite after being called out on it.
Religion:
Tartuffe admitted to being a sinner and a fake and says he won't be going to heaven
Quotes
"The most miserable of sinners, I. Filled with iniquity, I should just die." (175)
"A contract is what we need to write. And let all envious burst with spite." (178)

Act 4 

This act starts off with Cleante going to Tartuffe and telling him the whole town knows about the fight that happened between Damis and Orgon. Cleante tries to get Tartufee to talk Orgon into forgiving Damis. He also says it's foolish to take the property from Orgon. Tartuffe said he was hesitant to take such a gift but he is going to use it and it was going to be a part of his plan, "for the glory of heaven and the good of man" (179)
          I personally think Tartuffe is smart. I don't like him though. It's like when you watch a TV show and you want to love a person they you also hate them. Tartuffe is smart because he has Orgon on his side and he has nothing to worry about. Tartuffe is sitting pretty because Orgon is abandoning his family for his sake! Orgon makes all the final decisions so Tartuffe knows he won't be going anywhere unless Orgon tells him too. 

In the next scene, Maraine is approached by Orgon with the contract (or document) between the marriage between her and Tartuffe. Mariane begs her father not to do this and she says if she can't marry Valere then she will go to more extreme options. She says she would rather become a nun then marry Tartuffe. This sets Orgon off. He is furious at Mariane at this point. Trying to help him see, Elmire speaks up and reminds Orgon that Tartuffe just confessed his love for her. Orgon says she is only saying this to defend Damis. He said that if Tartuffe really tried to seduce her than she should be angry,  not calm.
Orgon says nothing and no one will draw him from his faith in Tartuffe. Elmire insists on him listening to bu he wont. Instead she asks if she could show him what she means. He eventually agrees. Elmire tells Orgon to get under then table and hide while she talks to Tartuffe.
Elmire tries to convince Tartuffe to admit his love once again by "confessing" her love.
Tartuffe says she most show him physical affection if what she is saying is true.
          I think Elmire is a smart character too. She tells her husband she will show him proof to this and she did! She wanted her husband to stop blindly following a man that he doesn't even know as well as he thinks. She knows that Tartuffe's intentions are not pure.

Orgon is so applaud that this is happening he comes out from under the table when Tartuffe checks to see if any one was in the hall. Elmire insists on him hiding again and they weren't finished. Apparently to Orgon, they were finished.
Orgon then finally kicks Tartuffe out of this house but ah ha Tartuffe know owns the property since Orgon made him is heir but he decided to leave anyways and said that he would be back.
          I had a feeling this was going to happen. When I was reading Act 3 I thought that this was going to be the first thing that was going to happen. I thought Tartuffe was going to get kicked out of the house, now Orgon has a big mess. He acted impulsively and signed the deed over to Tartuffe in spite of his family and now he has to deal with it. He should have listened to his family. He was not thinking critically in this situation. He should have at least taken what his family said into consideration. 

Themes
Family:
Orgon finally saw the evil within Tartuffe and has listened to his family.
Hypocrisy:
Tartuffe was finally seen as the hypocrite he is and was also kicked out.
Religion:
Tartuffe told Ogron he was going to be cursed by the heavens since he has offended them.

Quotes
"You've offended Heaven. You must repent. But I know how to really punish you. Those who harm me, they know not what they do." (187)

Act 5

Act 5 starts with Cleante trying to talk Orgon down. Orgon seems worried and frustrated about a box of some sort that Tartuffe had in his room. We soon learn that the box has papers and documents of a friend that was not loyal to the king. If he was found with them in this possession, he could be in a lot of trouble. He is foolish because he gave them to Tartuffe.
Damis comes back into the picture and weirdly begs for his father to allow him to kill Tartuffe, Cleante tells him to calm down.
Madame Pernelle arrives once again and she doesn't believe a word that Orgon is saying
           I thought this scene was ironic. I thought this because Madame Pernelle isn't believing anything that Orgon is saying and he started to grow angry. I wonder if he knows now how other members of his family felt when he was so quick to shut them down and call them liars. 

Cleante interrupts them and tells Orgon that he is wasting time and they needed to stop Tartuffe. Elmire admits that if she would have known how much power Tartuffe had over he family she would have never done this is the first place. After the family begins to plot on how to deal with this situation, a bailiff shows up and tells them they are being evicted from the house. The family argues but the bailiff says there is nothing he can do and said they had the morning to get out.
Madame Pernelle finally saw the evil in Tartuffe her reaction was "Overwhelming and astonishing" (194)
Valere enters and says that the police are on their way with Tartuffe to arrest Orgon for stashing the papers in the box. They plan to flee but Tartuffe gets there too quickly. Tartuffe tells the officer to arrest Orgon but another twist forms. The officer announces he was infact arresting Tartuffe. The King saw right past the lies and manipulations. The King gave all of the papers back and the deed to their property back.
           Finally! Tartuffe got what he deserved. I was in the dark most of the time because from my perspective I thought he was going to get Orgon arrested and walk off free. I can tell the author really likes to keep readers interested and surprise them. 

Themes 
Family:
Orgon believed his family and they all came together in the end to help him.
Hypocrisy:
The King saw through Tartuffe and had him arrested.



Comments

  1. You get, like, a gold star for these notes! This is exactly what the notes are supposed to help you do. If you do any writing on Tartuffe this semester, you'll be able to look back on what happened AND on what you thought about it. Great job, Megan!

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