Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite

 

Program Notes by Drew Barker

Molière (1622-1673)
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin chose to do two things that committed him to a life of theater: he decided not to inherit the title of “the upholster of the king” from his father and he changed his name to Molière. The latter he decided in order not to embarrass his family because the acting profession was still not respected in France during that time. Deciding not to be royally employed, however, ended up being a bit ironic, because years later Molière’s theater company was eventually installed in the king’s theater, the Palais-Royal.

Portrait of Molière by Auguste Sandoz.

His rise to royal favor, however, was not smooth. Early on, he had to make an indoor tennis court into a stage; and spent a night in jail for debts accumulated with his young traveling company. By the time he was at the Palais-Royal, Molière would be accused of marrying his daughter, slandering the aristocracy and scandalizing the clergy. Most of his burgeoning successes were greeted with criticism from either the people he was satirizing or the other playwrights he was making jealous. Molière would have the last laugh, however, though he would continue to struggle.

Death literally began onstage for Molière. While playing the hypochondriac in his own comedy, The Imaginary Invalid, he collapsed in a fit of coughing. His refusal to stop performing is now the stuff of legend. Molière managed to finish the play and was taken home, only to have another—and fatal— fit of coughing. He passed away later that same night. Historians now believe that earlier in his life Molière contracted pulmonary tuberculosis with which he struggled for a long while, before it finally drew his life to a close.

Molière is now known the world over for his classic comedies such as The Miser, The Misanthrope, The School for Wives, The Imaginary Invalid and, of course, Tartuffe. Molière’s work is lauded for combining old comedy with new ideas, creating plays that stand the test of time for their dramatic individuality—and their hilarity.

 

The Golden Mean
A main theme in Tartuffe is one of Aristotle’s philosophical theories, which states that virtue is a point between two vices. For example, love should be neither obsessive nor careless. And, Aristotle said:
“It is better to rise from life as from a banquet— neither thirsty nor drunken.” 

 

	Illustration of a performance of Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid.

Production History
Tartuffe was first performed in three acts for Louis XIV at a festival in Versailles in 1664. Although the king enjoyed the play and found it uproariously funny, religious dèvots pressured him into banning Tartuffe from future production. Those powerful elite felt that the play was not only immoral, but also was disrespectful to them and feared the lower classes would not understand the satire and become rebellious. Molière denied the play was an attack on religion, insisting his target was hypocrisy—in whatever its form. Five years later, after Molière had continually petitioned the king on behalf of his play (and changed the ending to pander to the king’s vanity), a royal decree was issued ordering the revival of Tartuffe. In 1669, the five-act version at the Palais-Royal was celebrated not only for its comedy, but also for the triumph of a great playwright over church censorship.

 

From Molière’s Petitions to the King
King Louis XIV, whom Molière was petitioning, called himself “The Sun King” because he thought everything revolved around him. (We’re not joking—but that is funny.)

 “The comedy Tartuffe should be approved, or else all comedies condemned.”
“The duty of comedy is to correct men by amusing them.”

“The tartuffes have had the underhanded skill to find grace in the eyes of your Majesty; in short, the originals have had the copy suppressed, no matter how innocent or true the likeness.”

 

From Molière’s Preface to Tartuffe
“A week after it was forbidden, a play called Hermit Scarmouche was presented before the court; on leaving, the king said to this great prince, ‘I should really like to know why the people who are so scandalized about Molière’s comedy don’t say a word about Scaramouche.’ To which the prince replied, ‘The reason is that the comedy Scaramouche makes sport of Heaven and religion, which those gentlemen don’t care a hang about, but Molière’s comedy makes sport of them, which is what they cannot stand.’”