Tartuffe by Molière (most motivational books TXT) 📕
Description
The first three acts of Molière’s Tartuffe were first performed for Louis XIV in 1664, but the play was almost immediately suppressed—not because the King disliked it, but because the church resented the insinuation that the pious were frauds. After several different versions were written and performed privately, Tartuffe was eventually published in its final five-act form in 1669.
A comic tale of man taken in by a sanctimonious scoundrel, the characters of Tartuffe, Elmire, and Orgon are considered among some of the great classical theater roles. As the family strives to convince the patriarch that Tartuffe is a religious fraud, the play ultimately focuses on skewering not the hypocrite, but his victims, and the hypocrisy of fervent religious belief unchecked by facts or reason—a defense Molière himself used to overcome the church’s proscriptions. In the end, the play was so impactful that both French and English now use the word “Tartuffe” to refer to a religious hypocrite who feigns virtue.
In its original French, the play is written in twelve-syllable lines of rhyming couplets. Curtis Hidden Page’s translation invokes a popular compromise and renders it into the familiar blank verse without rhymed endings that was popularized by Shakespeare. The translation is considered a seminal by modern translators.
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- Author: Molière
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Might order matters in less gentle fashion. Orgon
And how could one do worse than order people
Out of their house?
Why, we allow you time;
And even will suspend until tomorrow
The execution of the order, sir.
I’ll merely, without scandal, quietly,
Come here and spend the night, with half a score
Of officers; and just for form’s sake, please,
You’ll bring your keys to me, before retiring.
I will take care not to disturb your rest,
And see there’s no unseemly conduct here.
But by tomorrow, and at early morning,
You must make haste to move your least belongings;
My men will help you—I have chosen strong ones
To serve you, sir, in clearing out the house.
No one could act more generously, I fancy,
And, since I’m treating you with great indulgence,
I beg you’ll do as well by me, and see
I’m not disturbed in my discharge of duty.
I’d give this very minute, and not grudge it,
The hundred best gold louis I have left,
If I could just indulge myself, and land
My fist, for one good square one, on his snout.
Aside to Orgon. Careful!—don’t make things worse.
DamisSuch insolence!
I hardly can restrain myself. My hands
Are itching to be at him.
By my faith,
With such a fine broad back, good Mr. Loyal,
A little beating would become you well.
My girl, such infamous words are actionable.
And warrants can be issued against women.
To Mr. Loyal. Enough of this discussion, sir; have done.
Give us the paper, and then leave us, pray.
Then au revoir. Heaven keep you from disaster!
OrgonMay Heaven confound you both, you and your master!
Scene V Orgon, Madame Pernelle, Elmire, Cléante, Mariane, Damis, Dorine. OrgonWell, mother, am I right or am I not?
This writ may help you now to judge the matter.
Or don’t you see his treason even yet?
I’m all amazed, befuddled, and beflustered!
DorineTo Orgon. You are quite wrong, you have no right to blame him;
This action only proves his good intentions.
Love for his neighbour makes his virtue perfect;
And knowing money is a root of evil,
In Christian charity, he’d take away
Whatever things may hinder your salvation.
Be still. You always need to have that told you.
CléanteTo Orgon. Come, let us see what course you are to follow.
ElmireGo and expose his bold ingratitude.
Such action must invalidate the contract;
His perfidy must now appear too black
To bring him the success that he expects.
’Tis with regret, sir, that I bring bad news;
But urgent danger forces me to do so.
A close and intimate friend of mine, who knows
The interest I take in what concerns you,
Has gone so far, for my sake, as to break
The secrecy that’s due to state affairs,
And sent me word but now, that leaves you only
The one expedient of sudden flight.
The villain who so long imposed upon you,
Found means, an hour ago, to see the prince,
And to accuse you (among other things)
By putting in his hands the private strongbox
Of a state-criminal, whose guilty secret,
You, failing in your duty as a subject,
(He says) have kept. I know no more of it
Save that a warrant’s drawn against you, sir,
And for the greater surety, that same rascal
Comes with the officer who must arrest you.
His rights are armed; and this is how the scoundrel
Seeks to secure the property he claims.
Man is a wicked animal, I’ll own it!
ValèreThe least delay may still be fatal, sir.
I have my carriage, and a thousand louis,
Provided for your journey, at the door.
Let’s lose no time; the bolt is swift to strike,
And such as only flight can save you from.
I’ll be your guide to seek a place of safety,
And stay with you until you reach it, sir.
How much I owe to your obliging care!
Another time must serve to thank you fitly;
And I pray Heaven to grant me so much favour
That I may some day recompense your service.
Goodbye; see to it, all of you …
Come hurry;
We’ll see to everything that’s needful, brother.
Stopping Orgon.
Softly, sir, softly; do not run so fast;
You haven’t far to go to find your lodging;
By order of the prince, we here arrest you.
Traitor! You saved this worst stroke for the last;
This crowns your perfidies, and ruins me.
I shall not be embittered by your insults,
For Heaven has taught me to endure all things.
Your moderation, I must own, is great.
DamisHow shamelessly the wretch makes bold with Heaven!
TartuffeYour ravings cannot move me; all my thought
Is but to do my duty.
You must claim
Great glory from this honourable act.
The act cannot be aught but honourable,
Coming from that high power which sends me here.
Ungrateful wretch, do you forget ’twas I
That rescued you from utter misery?
I’ve not forgot some help you may have given;
But my first duty now is toward my prince.
The higher power of that most sacred claim
Must stifle in my heart all gratitude;
And to such puissant ties I’d sacrifice
My friend, my wife, my kindred, and myself.
The hypocrite!
DorineHow well he knows the trick
Of cloaking him with what we most revere!
But if the motive that you make parade of
Is perfect as you say, why should it wait
To show itself, until the day he caught you
Soliciting his wife? How happens it
You have not thought to go inform against him
Until his honour forces him to drive you
Out of his house? And though I need not mention
That he’d just given you his whole estate,
Still, if you meant to treat him now as guilty,
How could you then consent to take his gift?
To
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