As a result, Orgon disinherits Damis and gives Tartuffe the rights to his whole estate. All the while, things get worse: Mariane can no longer bear the stress of her impending marriage. When Orgon appears, marriage contract in hand, Mariane, Dorine, and Elmire plead with him.
Though he has pangs of conscience, he stands firm. Elmire takes matters into her own hands, and promises to show him the truth about Tartuffe. She makes him hide under a table and tells Dorine to call in Tartuffe. When Tartuffe arrives, she does her best to "seduce" him.
He is skeptical of the whole situation, given the quick about-face, and demands that she give him some concrete sign of her affection. Elmire becomes increasingly antsy, and eventually asks Tartuffe to step outside the room and look to make sure her husband — Orgon — isn't around.
When he does, Orgon pops out from under the table, enraged. Elmire tries to get him to hide again, in order that he might watch more and really make sure he's satisfied, but Tartuffe comes in before he can hide. When Orgon confronts Tartuffe, Tartuffe reminds him that he has the rights to Orgon's property and promises to get his revenge.
As it turns out, not only does Tartuffe have the rights to Orgon's property, he also has a number of documents that, if they were to come to the attention of the King, could get Orgon in serious trouble. Damis returns, ready to fight Tartuffe — literally — but he's interrupted by Madame Pernelle. She can't believe the rumors she's heard about Tartuffe.
Among these works is Tartuffe. Study Questions and Essay Topics. Cummings Study Guide. Plot Summary By Michael J. The text is in the public domain. More Info. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy. Cummings Guides Home.. Plot Summary. Type of Work. Cleante and Dorine discuss Orgon's blind adoration of Tartuffe.
It is revealed that Orgon is trying to call off his daughter Mariane's wedding to Valere. Orgon returns from fishing and Dorine, the family maid, tries to tell Orgon that his wife has been sick.
Orgon can only talk about Tartuffe. Cleante expresses concerns about Orgon's devotion to Tartuffe and tries to convince Orgon that he should allow Mariane to marry Valere. Dorine criticizes Orgon for his decision. They argue, and Orgon begs Mariane to respect his wishes. Dorine tries to convince Mariane to fight for her marriage to Valere.
Mariane and Valere quarrel about a misunderstanding. Dorine helps them reconcile and declare their love for each other. Such a person is, then, purified. Now Tartuffe does these things. Therefore he is a good Christian and pure. Therefore here's the absurd non-sequitur he wouldn't have done the ugly thing that Damis says he did. Therefore Damis is lying. The key is: form has become an effective substitute for content.
When the evidentiary process is reduced to such a caricature of reasoning, it backfires: the criminal is acquitted as innocent, and his accuser convicted of a "deceitful" attempt to "stain his purity.
Orgon in effect takes this self-condemnation as a protestation that "I am not the sort of man who would do what I'm charged with doing. Orgon breaks in to upbraid Damis for telling shameful lies and, when Damis protests, tells him to shut up.
See the note on Damis' conduct in the previous scene. He begs Damis to revile him with the most shameful names, because "I've earned them all, and more. Orgon launches into a comic routine of switching rapidly back and forth between pleading with Tartuffe and upbraiding Damis. Damis is, of course, innocent of the charges Orgon is lodging. Yet, inasmuch as pardon is appropriate only when one has committed an offense, Tartuffe's intercession encourages Orgon's delusion that Damis is in the wrong.
Additionally, of course, Tartuffe's plea amounts to a projection of his own condition upon Damis, since it is he Tartuffe who is in need of pardon.
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