The Downfall of Hubris

by Andrew Michael Flynn

The human capacity for hubris is nearly too predictable at times, especially when the ego of a person can be so coddled and buttered up with pleasing words and confirmations of one’s own bias. Molière’s Tartuffe demonstrates how the use of this kind of manipulation can bring down even the strongest of iron-seeming wills, regardless of how much they want to live in their own harbored delusions. This play shines a spotlight on those who would purport to use religion as a commodity in order to get what they desire, no matter of morals or potential negative consequence.

The French comedy Tartuffe was written by the playwright Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in 1664, although the author used his pen name Molière for his creative works. The play is a social satire and critique of French (although not just French) customs as they pertained to family and religion at the time. The resonance of both allows the play to still be popular in today’s zeitgeist, and likely will be as long as dramatic themes surrounding family and religion live large in people’s lives and mindsets. The play is about a charlatan who uses religious faith to manipulate a family of higher-society French citizens, all to gain clout, love, and property. Tartuffe is a timeless spin on the story of a confidence man who truly does not worry about the depths of his own moral depravity and own soul’s corruption. The conniver Tartuffe gains the favor of Orgon and some of his family, so much that he is to be wed to the patriarch’s daughter Mariane. Only through his own eyes and ears will Orgon believe that Tartuffe’s true demeanor is something he doesn’t believe it to be, although it takes the strongest-willed character of the play, Elmire (Orgon’s wife), to bring the truth about Tartuffe to light. And absent the upstanding letter of the law demonstrated through an Officer of the King at the end of the story, Tartuffe might just have gotten away with his dastardly plan.

In Act I, Orgon gives a long-winded monologue about the supposed graces and majesty that is Tartuffe, and how he is above reproach: “Oh, had you seen Tartuffe as I first knew him, Your heart, like mine, would have surrendered to him.” (Molière, Act I, Scene Five, Lines 281-282) Orgon is essentially under Tartuffe’s long-con spell throughout most of the play, to the detriment of his wife, Elmire. Her objectiveness to Orgon’s passion for Tartuffe has a cynicism and sarcastic nature that informs her whole character, such as this sharp quip after Tartuffe gives her a blessing: “I thank you for the pious wish. But please, Do take a chair and let’s be more at ease.” (III.3.60-61)

The fierce-willed Elmire represents independent-minded female mind at work, even in a culture where women are subjugated and usually given direction at the hand of men in 17th-century France, among countless other centuries around this era. It is the daughter, Mariane, whose path is chosen by Orgon to marry Tartuffe and feels that there’s no real way out since she wants to be with Valere. Mariane’s woe is felt when she says, “I’ll kill myself, if I’m forced to wed that man.” (II.3.188). It is Dorine, who is Mariane’s wise maid, who convinces Mariane to go along what her father believes to be the best plan: “Your father’s addled; he’s acting like a dunce. Therefore you’d better humor the old fossil. Pretend to yield to him, be sweet and docile, And then postpone, as often as necessary.” (II.4.370-373)

The master manipulator Tartuffe triples down when his intentions are questioned by Damis, Orgon’s son who doubts every fiber of Tartuffe’s ostensibly impeccable persona. Tartuffe launches into his big bluff: “Ah, Brother, let him speak: you’re being unjust. Believe his story; the boy deserves your trust. Why, after all, should have you have faith in me? How can you know what I might do, or be?” (III.6.269-272). Especially from devious politicians and similar leaders of today’s world who use charm and obfuscation to gain power and treasure, we see this sort of deceiving behavior when someone from another side calls out what they believe to be false, among other “masters of the universe” types.

The more susceptible and gullible among us mere human beings are prey to those who look to build themselves into controlling figures, whatever the arena of power may be. Tartuffe excels in performing the societal critique of the mentioned aspects of life including specific intra-family relationships like that of between the father and his daughter. It also puts a protruding magnifying glass to religious people who would use their faith to serve themselves and, in the process, manipulate others. The lessons from Molière’s play are to be learned not just from the text or performance of Tartuffe, but they ask us as genuine people to keep a watchful eye on the hucksters and the confidence artists who may prove to do us harm if we are not truly careful with our own wits and those we love.

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Works Cited

Alexander, Bill, director. Tartuffe, or The Imposter, The Royal Shakespeare Company of London, 23 Jan. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8L5JEstlXA. Accessed 18 Nov. 2022.

Carames, Keith, director. Tartuffe – the Complete Stage Play. SOTA Music, YouTube, 15 Jan. 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKm7_CFNIn8. Accessed 18 Nov. 2022.

Greenwald, Michael L., et al. “Tartuffe” by Molière. The Longman Anthology of Drama and Theater: A Global Perspective, Longman, New York, NY, 2002, pp. 229–257.