Tartuffe character analysis - Book Report/Review Example

This essay will look at Orgon's three closest female relatives: Madame Pernelle, his mother; Elmire, his wife; and Mariane, his daughter – three characters about each of whom the audience is intended to feel differently. It will analyse these characters in reference to Tartuffe to show that in spite of certain events, this seventeenth-century portrayal of French women exposes the difference between what they should be and what they are. The scope of this essay, like the play itself, necessitates describing these women in relation to the men in their lives.

To begin with, Tartuffe's relationship with Orgon poses a different challenge for each woman: Madame Pernelle is forced to revise her first, glowing opinion of him, whereas Elmire must put up with him sexually pressuring her, and Mariane must navigate her father's wishes to avoid marrying him. The mostly passive reactions of these three characters to male imposition on their lives reveals the common expectations of contemporary French women. As a character, Madame Pernelle provides a frame for the play, as her only appearances are in its first and last few scenes.

In the opening scene, Madame Pernelle attacks the other characters in the play, with the notable exception of Cleante – her son's brother-in-law, whom she “Loves” (I.i) – and Tartuffe. The other characters react unfavorably to her mention of him, Damis calling the antagonist a “bigot criticaster” (I.i), to which Pernelle responds “My son should train you all to love him well” (I.i). Moliere portrays Orgon's mother as a formidable woman, who makes liberal use of the word 'love' and yet shows little compassion herself.

Women were expected to be religious, although Pernelle's piety already reflects Tartuffe's. Even when Orgon is convinced of Tartuffe's treachery, having seen him “wish to kiss [Orgon's] wife” (V.iii), Madame Pernelle cannot believe him – her own son – until the court-bailiff comes to eject the family and their possessions because “The house is now, as well you know, of course/Mr Tartuffe's” (V.iv). Madame Pernelle is a diluted version of Tartuffe, as we discover in the very first scene: she lauds his morals, believing “Things would go better/If all were governed by his pious orders” (I.i) but is incapable of seeing his true hypocritical nature.

Her exhortations that others should trust him are undermined by her vicious jibes at members of her own family. In the final scenes, she remains dedicated to Tartuffe's cause even when her own son reprimands her that “Your speech [about Tartuffe] has not a single grain of sense” (V.iii). Interestingly, Madame Pernelle's loquacity after this point is considerably dimmed: in the first scene, she has ninety-nine lines, whereas in the last five, she speaks only eleven words. When she reprimands, she has much to say, but fails to articulate her own mistakes.

This reflects one of her character failings, as well as her one purpose as a character: to highlight Tartuffe's power of persuasion by emulating his hypocrisy. Similarly, Elmire is a character with just one purpose, although she is more likeable than Madame Pernelle. Her main role is as the object of