2 h 2 minAudiobook5 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 50 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 50 pagesAbout this book
What if everyone in your house sees through a fraud—except the person who holds all the power?
In Molière’s Tartuffe; Or, The Hypocrite, a wealthy Parisian welcomes a supposedly holy man into his home. Orgon trusts Tartuffe more than his own family. His wife Elmire sees the danger, and the sharp-tongued maid Dorine refuses to stay quiet. Yet Orgon is ready to put his wealth, household and daughter’s future in this stranger’s hands.
Mariane loves Valère, but her father wants her to marry Tartuffe instead. Family quarrels turn urgent as a guest’s false virtue threatens to govern everyone’s life. This five-act comedy in rhyming verse asks how goodness differs from a convincing performance. Its laughter cuts both ways: at the man who deceives and at the man determined to believe him.
What you’ll discover
- A household at odds Enter the opening family quarrel, where anger reveals a home already divided over its guest.
- Dorine speaks her mind Meet a quick-witted maid who challenges folly and works to protect two lovers.
- A villain worth watching Watch Tartuffe turn a show of holiness into a claim on comfort, money and power.
- Faith without the show Hear Cléante argue for true faith while false piety wins Orgon’s trust.
- Verse with a sting Enjoy the fast, balanced rhythm of rhyming couplets as Molière exposes human folly.
Who will love it
For lovers of stage comedy, sharp dialogue and family quarrels, and for anyone who enjoys watching a smooth talker and a gullible host collide in a crowded Paris household.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A holy guest has taken over the house
- Orgon loves his guest more than his family
- True devotion differs from the showy kind
- A forced marriage unites the young lovers
- Tartuffe tries to win his host's wife
- The family needs more than an accusation
- What the play is really about
Who’s who
- TartuffeA seemingly poor and pious guest who wins Orgon's trust and pursues his wife.
- OrgonThe master of the house, deeply devoted to Tartuffe and blind to his faults, who wants him as a son-in-law.
- ElmireOrgon's younger wife, calm and clever, who tries to show her husband the truth.
- DorineMariane's quick-witted maid, who speaks her mind to everyone and helps the young lovers.
- CleanteOrgon's brother-in-law, the voice of reason, who separates true devotion from show.
- MarianeOrgon's gentle daughter, who loves Valere and is ordered to marry Tartuffe.
- DamisOrgon's hot-tempered son, who despises Tartuffe and wants to expose him.
- Madame PernelleOrgon's strict mother, who scolds everyone but Tartuffe, whom she trusts completely.
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- Audiobook
- 2 h 2 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 5 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 50 pages: 5,95 USD when you start free, 12,95 USD on its own.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in, 50 pages: 14,95 USD when you start free, 21,95 USD on its own.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in, 75 pages: 7,95 USD when you start free, 13,95 USD on its own.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in, 75 pages: 16,95 USD when you start free, 22,95 USD on its own.
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Tartuffe; Or, The Hypocrite
by Molière · 1669
A pious guest wins a Paris master's trust, while the rest of the household sees through his holy act.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
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In short
What happens when a man who looks like a saint moves into your home? In Tartuffe, the French playwright Molière shows a rich Paris family that welcomes a pious guest and slowly loses its peace, its freedom and its fortune.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A holy guest has taken over the house
The play opens in the Paris home of Orgon, a wealthy man, while he is away. His mother, Madame Pernelle, storms out, scolding everyone in sight. She finds the whole household sinful and the only good person among them is Tartuffe.
Her grandson Damis, her granddaughter Mariane and the maid Dorine answer back. They say Tartuffe came in poor, yet now he gives orders to all. He bans visitors and treats ordinary pleasures as sins.
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What is Tartuffe about?
It tells of a rich Paris family led astray by Tartuffe, a pious guest who wins its master's trust, then tries to take his daughter, his wife and his fortune. His maid, his brother-in-law and his children all oppose the guest, and his wife sees through him too.
Who is Tartuffe?
Tartuffe is a man who pretends to be deeply religious in order to gain wealth and comfort.
Is Tartuffe a comedy or a tragedy?
It is a comedy in five acts and rhymed verse. It uses farce, quick quarrels, hiding places and comic misunderstandings, while its subject is serious, namely how a family can be misled by false piety.
The author
Molière
1622–1673 · French playwright and actor
Molière was the stage name of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, a French playwright and actor born in Paris in 1622. He toured France with a theatre company before returning to Paris in 1658. He wrote comedies, including Tartuffe, The Miser, and The Imaginary Invalid. He died in Paris in 1673.
More by Molière
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