The episodic representations, although full of caricatures and farcical qualities, express serious disillusionment, becoming an indictment of the postcolonial Nigeria. Such a defence of comedy also chimes with the neoclassical ideals of much French drama, with its focus on order, and on keeping tragedy and comedy as separate genres – something John Dryden remarked upon in his ‘ Of Dramatick Poesie‘, where he contrasts such an approach with the English habit of mixing up tragedy and comedy (as in Hamlet or King Lear), rather than keeping them separate, along classical lines.The Nigerian comedy series, “The New Masquerade” or “Masquerade”, remains “one of the Nigeria’s longest running and most watched television show as transmitted by Nigerian Television Authority in the 80s and 90s. Such an interpretation chimes with Molière’s own defence of Tartuffe, in his 1667 Lettre sur la comédie de l’Imposteur, in which he argued that comedy is a physical, external embodiment of ‘the unreasonable’, and so the play of reason against the irrational is the right – indeed, necessary – stuff of comedy. The real theme of the play, then, is not so much hypocrisy as fervent religious belief that is unchecked by facts or reason. How should we analyse and interpret Tartuffe, and what are the play’s key themes? Both Michael Billington and Eric Bentley have argued that the real centre of the play is not the titular Tartuffe but rather the credulous Orgon. Everything ends happily, as you’d expect from a comedy. The plan almost works, but thankfully the King shows up, and, being a better judge of character than Orgon, recognises Tartuffe for the hypocritical cad that he is and has him arrested. He throws Tartuffe out of his house Tartuffe tries to get his revenge by compiling a list of trumped-up charges against Orgon, in the hopes that Orgon will lose his house and Tartuffe will be given it instead. It is only when Tartuffe finally turns up on stage (not until Act 3) and Orgon, concealed under the table, observes Tartuffe’s attempted seduction of Elmire with his own eyes that he realises he’s been had by a rogue. His own son, Damis, even points out to Orgon that Tartuffe is trying to seduce Orgon’s own wife, Elmire.īut Orgon will hear nothing against the sainted Tartuffe. Although Orgon’s family try to make him see sense, he refuses to acknowledge that he has fallen under the spell of the roguish Tartuffe. Orgon is prepared to marry his own daughter, Mariane, to Tartuffe, even though Mariane is in love with (and betrothed to) someone already.
Orgon has allowed himself to be duped by a fraud, Tartuffe, who hypocritically pretends to be pious and holier-than-thou, but is really a scoundrel who wishes to take advantage of the gullible Orgon.
The plot of Tartuffe is easy enough to summarise.
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