Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

Hypocrisy as a Means to Power

An alternate title to the play Tartuffe is The Hypocrite, which is a label that applies to many of the characters. Tartuffe is a hypocrite because he’s pretending to be pious when he’s not. Orgon is an even worse hypocrite because he has actually convinced himself of his own moral superiority. Orgon’s mother, Madame Pernelle, also firmly and hypocritically believes in her own righteousness.

All three characters use hypocrisy to increase their own power. Tartuffe’s extravagantly pious acts make Orgon feel holier by association, which adds to Orgon’s assurance that he knows what’s right for his son, Damis, and daughter, Mariane. Madame Pernelle believes in Tartuffe because her son Orgon does, and allying herself with Orgon helps her maintain her power within the family. Elmire’s mildly hypocritical front as a patient, dutiful, and demure wife gives her more power to persuade her husband, Orgon.

Tartuffe plays on Orgon’s thirst for power. In Act Three, Damis accuses Tartuffe of trying to seduce Elmire. Tartuffe admits his guilt in such exaggerated terms, expressing mortification over all the vile actions of his life, that Orgon believes that Tartuffe could not possibly be anything but a saint. To reinforce this belief, Orgon denounces Damis and calls him a liar. Through hypocrisy, Tartuffe has made himself a symbol of Orgon’s authority. This tactic allows Tartuffe to grab even more power. In the end, however, Tartuffe’s power plays fail because the King, a genuinely superior being infinitely more powerful than Tartuffe, cannot tolerate the scoundrel’s hypocrisy.

Credulity as a Tool of Duplicity

Tartuffe is a con artist and liar, but his schemes cannot succeed without a mark foolish enough to believe his lies. Enter Orgon, who literally buys Tartuffe’s whole act. Every bit of hocus-pocus that Orgon swallows transfers more benefits to Tartuffe. Orgon believes it’s Tartuffe’s holy duty to keep an eye on his wife, Elmire. That belief ironically gives Tartuffe freedom to ogle Elmire. Orgon thinks Tartuffe is recovering from years of saintly suffering, so Tartuffe gets to sleep in a fine bed and consume as much food and wine as he wants. Orgon believes that his family plans to spend his fortune on sinful pursuits, so, of course, Tartuffe has to have the fortune to make sure the money goes to good causes. No lie is too blatant for Tartuffe to tell or for Orgon to believe.

The source of credulity is self-delusion. Orgon believes himself to be guided by Heaven’s will—so, of course, he’s sure Tartuffe tells nothing but the truth. However, Dorine and Elmire, two worldly women, know the real Tartuffe, who deludes himself that women find him attractive. In their plan to expose Tartuffe, the women count on that self-delusion. Elmire practices duplicity by attempting a fake seduction of Tartuffe. Though he’s not as gullible as she assumes, Tartuffe believes her reasons for resisting an immediate love affair and easily buys her claim to sexual interest in him. After all, in his mind, he’s irresistible.

Family as the Source of Social Order

In the opening scene of the play, Orgon and Tartuffe, the protagonist and antagonist, are not present, but the stage is crowded with Orgon’s family, those whose lives depend on the outcome of the story. Orgon’s family functions as a collective character in the play’s central conflict. The future of this family is what Orgon’s household is fighting for.

Tartuffe’s strategy is to tear Orgon’s family apart, making individual members more vulnerable. Because of Tartuffe’s machinations, the family becomes dysfunctional. When Orgon breaks off Mariane’s engagement to Valère, promises Mariane to Tartuffe instead, and disinherits Damis, Orgon rejects the social conventions that govern family property, marriage, and inheritance. Public opinion turns against Tartuffe because he destroys harmony in society as well as in Orgon’s family.

Orgon’s abandonment of his wife, Elmire, and children in favor of Tartuffe creates deep discord within Orgon’s marriage. Elmire confronts Tartuffe directly in her effort to resolve this discord. She arranges for Orgon to witness her seductive trap for Tartuffe. Elmire’s plot succeeds in ending Orgon’s infatuation with Tartuffe, but not in saving the family. By believing Tartuffe and keeping secrets from Elmire, Orgon has impoverished his family and failed in his marital and paternal responsibilities.

The family, now including Orgon, assembles once again in the last scene. The household witnesses the arrest of Tartuffe and learns that Orgon’s fortune has been restored. In the last lines of the play, Orgon calls for the marriage of Mariane and Valère. The conventional happy ending restores the conventional social order, but it will take more than a royal declaration to restore true trust and harmony in Orgon’s household.

Moderation as the Path to Virtue

Orgon loses his mind and follows Tartuffe into extreme religious zeal, cutting off all natural ties to society and family. Tartuffe unthinkingly allows his passions to dissolve his mask of piety. Mariane and Valère play mind games with each other, acting out their adolescent emotions. Damis loses his own inheritance by charging in to confront Tartuffe without first considering the possible consequences. All of these characters demonstrate the evil or painful consequences of excessive behavior and rash decisions.

The wisest characters use reason, not emotions, to solve their problems. Dorine, the clearest thinker in the household, tells the truth exactly as she sees it, which is with skepticism and common sense. Like Dorine, Elmire is wise to how society operates. Elmire proceeds cautiously, aware that she must reveal Tartuffe’s true nature without also causing scandal. A true emergency—Orgon’s decree that Mariane must marry Tartuffe that very night—leads Elmire to act too impulsively, to stop reasoning with Tartuffe and try seducing him. Since Tartuffe has already tried to attack Elmire, this seduction plan is not well thought out. Naturally, it backfires.

Cléante preaches moderation and reason to Orgon throughout the play. At the very end of the play, Cléante’s pleas succeed in deflecting Orgon from seeking revenge against Tartuffe, a sign that moderation and virtue have triumphed.