Laura Smith 
Is Molière’s ‘Tartuffe’ undermining the Family? [PDF ebook] 

Essay from the year 2012 in the subject Didactics – French – Literature, Works, , language: English, abstract: “Comedy is, as I have said, an imitation of lower types…” Aristotle believed that, in order for a comedy to be truly believable and enjoyable, it had to involve characters to whom the audience could easily relate, i.e. people below the upper classes. Consequently, many comedies revolve around family dramas and Molière’s ‘Le Tartuffe’ is no exception. The entertaining family drama in this case concerns the man Tartuffe’s attempt to manipulate and undermine Orgon and his family.
It cannot be denied, therefore, that there exists an attempt to undermine the family, and that the schemer is Tartuffe himself. Mikhail Bulgakov condemns the character to be “…the most complete and consummate swindler, liar, scoundrel, informer and spy – a hypocrite, lecher, and seducer of other men’s wives.” It is clear that Tartuffe is an immoral man and at the very least partly, if not quite completely, responsible for the family’s misfortunes.