Previous Next

Act Four

Summary: Scene I

Cléante reports that the whole town is scandalized by Orgon’s rupture with Damis and by Tartuffe’s part in it. He asks Tartuffe to help mend the quarrel. Tartuffe insists that Damis’s conduct has been so extreme and vicious that to forgive Damis would make it look as if Tartuffe had been bribed to remain silent. Cléante points out the fallacies in this reasoning and appeals to Tartuffe to “leave vengeance to the Lord[.]” Tartuffe replies that he has forgiven Damis but doesn’t have to live with someone who is libeling him. Cléante then challenges Tartuffe on the morality of transferring Orgon’s estate. Tartuffe argues that his only motive is to keep the wealth out of wicked hands and make sure the money is used for the benefit of mankind. Cléante continues to plead the cause of Orgon and Damis until Tartuffe remembers he has an appointment and leaves.

Summary: Scene II

Dorine enters with Mariane and Elmire to detain Cléante for an emergency conference. Dorine explains that Orgon is insisting that Mariane be married to Tartuffe that very night. She urges them all to stand together to prevent the match.

Summary: Scene III

The group confronts Orgon. After Orgon produces the marriage contract, Mariane falls to her knees and begs him not to force her into the marriage. She tells Orgon that Tartuffe is welcome to her money but begs Orgon to spare her person and allow her to enter a convent. Orgon shuts her up. He also cuts off Dorine’s and Cléante’s protests. When Elmire reminds him of Tartuffe’s attempt to seduce her, Orgon accuses her of lying. Then Elmire offers to show Orgon that her accusations are true. She invites Orgon to hide and hear the truth for himself.

Summary: Scene IV

Elmire instructs Orgon on where and how to hide so that he can witness everything that happens between herself and Tartuffe. Elmire also warns Orgon that to make the ruse work she will have to use deceit, including sweet speeches and encouragement of Tartuffe’s desires. She asks Orgon to intervene only if she needs rescue from Tartuffe’s “odious lust.”

Summary: Scene V

Elmire pretends to seduce Tartuffe. Because of Elmire’s previous rejection of him, Tartuffe suspects a trap. He demands some “palpable assurance” of Elmire’s favor. Elmire resists him by appealing to morality. Tartuffe argues that a wrongful act isn’t sin if there is purity of intention and no threat of scandal. Elmire coughs three times, trying to prompt Orgon to come out of hiding. To put off Tartuffe more, Elmire expresses worry about Orgon. Tartuffe scoffs that Orgon grows more gullible each day, but Tartuffe leaves the room per Elmire’s instructions to search for Orgon. 

Summary: Scene VI

Orgon emerges from the closet, enraged at Tartuffe’s mockery. Orgon ignores Elmire’s warning not to act too hastily.

Summary: Scene VII

Tartuffe reenters the room. Orgon immediately attacks Tartuffe and orders him out of the house. Then Tartuffe reminds Orgon that the house no longer belongs to the family. 

Summary: Scene VIII

Orgon must confess to Elmire that he has deeded the house to Tartuffe, but Orgon seems more concerned about “a certain strong-box in his room upstairs.”

Analysis: Act Four

Act Four resolves the conflicts between Orgon and his family. However, because of his previous foolishness, Orgon’s troubles are far from over. Tartuffe keeps the upper hand throughout the act, even after Elmire’s plot succeeds in changing Orgon’s mind and turning Orgon against Tartuffe. In Scene I, Cléante appeals directly to Tartuffe’s fear of scandal, Christian faith, sense of decency, and morality, trying to persuade Tartuffe to help Damis. Cléante’s appeals go nowhere because Tartuffe possesses none of those qualities. Although Tartuffe has a pious answer for Cléante’s every moral question, it’s as clear to the audience as it is to Cléante that Tartuffe’s answers are totally hypocritical. When Tartuffe dismisses him at the end of the encounter, all Cléante can do is curse.

Dorine’s short appearance in Scene II signals the start of an emergency and propels the characters into direct confrontation and action. The emergency is Orgon’s decision that Mariane must marry Tartuffe that very night. In Scene III, Mariane, Dorine, Elmire, and Cléante pull out all the emotional stops. Mariane begs Orgon for mercy, asks to be sent to a convent, and threatens suicide. Elmire accuses Orgon of being blind and bewitched. The more the others oppose him, the more obstinate Orgon becomes. A sign of hope appears in the plot when Orgon agrees to Elmire’s plan to show him that her story of Tartuffe’s seduction is true.

The next three scenes are predictable episodes in the story of a fake seduction, a staple plot device since the era of Samson and Delilah. First, there are bumbling attempts to hide the eavesdropper, Orgon, and instructions for coming to the rescue (Scene IV). Next comes the fake seduction itself (Scene V), which proves more difficult than expected for the seducer, Elmire. She must convince Tartuffe that their desire is mutual while talking her way out of having to meet Tartuffe’s physical demands. Suspense rises because of the audience’s awareness that Elmire is nowhere near as experienced at deception as Tartuffe. Elmire struggles to act and sound convincing, while Tartuffe just plays along with her for his own amusement. Elmire has to make strategic retreats into virtue while pretending desire for vice. Because he’s caught up in his eavesdropping or perhaps because he’s just clueless, Orgon misses all of Elmire’s signals to come to her rescue. Elmire has to send Tartuffe out of the room before her husband comes out of hiding. What finally brings him to Elmire’s side is not Elmire’s suffering but Tartuffe’s bragging that he can “lead [Orgon] by the nose.”

In Scenes VII and VIII, Orgon finally turns on Tartuffe, but it’s too late. Tartuffe, it would seem, holds all of the cards and can’t be removed from his position of power. At the end of Act Four, Tartuffe asserts his control and vows to ruin Orgon. The act ends with suspense. The audience wonders how Orgon and his family can possibly emerge from their disaster. Orgon’s last-minute reference to a strong-box is a clue that there will be important revelations to come.

Previous section Act Three Next section Act Five

Take a Study Break