USQ Artsworx
Tartuffe By Moliere
Teacher’s Notes Prepared by C. Tickell-‐Devey
Table of Contents Content Moliere Comedy of Manners Tartuffe-‐ a run down Characters Themes Modern Interpretations and Activities Curriculum Links List of References
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Moliere Moliere began his career as an actor in 1643, performing in tragedies, comedies and Commedia dell’arte. It was the latter that would have a huge influence on Moliere’s writing and character development. Moliere gravitated toward comedy as writer as it allowed more flexibility and innovation than the Neoclassical tragedy that followed the strict rules of unity of time, space and action of Classical Greek writing. He used his plays as a mirror to French society and while criticising the middle and upper classes, he remained in favour with King Louis XVI. Moliere was, in turn, he became an influence on Comedy of Manners and Restoration Comedy in England after Charles II was restored to the throne and theatre returned as a form of entertainment. Helpful Website on the Life and Times of Moliere This site gives a helpful run down of France in the 17th Century as well as the life and times of Moliere. This site helps contextualise the world Moliere was writing about. https://www.theatrefolk.com/spotlights/moliere-‐and-‐17th-‐century-‐french-‐theatre
Comedy of Manners The work of Moliere generally comes under the banner of Comedy of Manners. Manners are defined as conditions of society; method that everyday duties are carried out, or a way of speaking. Generally the idea of manners are applied to well bred, well-‐educated and polite members of society Comedy of Manners therefore relies on heavy dialogue to communicate sophisticated wit and intelligence to use satire and farce to send up a particular group in society-‐ quite often the very group of middle and upper classes sitting in the audience. The plays would send up the daily routines of those in the audience and satirise their hypocritical and gossip hungry natures. A revival in the Comedy of Manners came about in the time of the Restoration of Charles II, extending to 1700. For obvious reasons, Restoration Comedy and Comedy of Manners have many similarities with Moliere seen as a huge influence on Restoration Comedy. Moliere wrote Tartuffe in 1664, satirising many aspects of French society. Comedy of Manners become popular again in different times, including the writing of Oscar Wilde in the 1890s. Characteristics/Traits of Comedy of Manners • Comedy built on a satire of a specific time and place. • Must have an understanding of a specific society or place being satirized. • Wit and dialogue was valued over physical comedy. • Dominantly verbal-‐based comedy. • Often built around a love story. • Characters can be shown to be immoral. • Dialogue is short and precise. The language depicts the values of the people in the play Characters are defined by one single trait and are driven by a single emotion. • Sexual innuendos are used and rakish behavior is shown • Faithfulness in love was boring. • Sex should be tempting. • Genuine sexual feelings had no place on stage. • Country life was also considered boring. • Characters often fought with each other in situations of conflicting love triangles and intrigue Found here: https://theatrelitwiki.wikispaces.com/Comedy+of+Manners
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Tartuffe-‐ a run down Set in Paris, Tartuffe tells the story of one man’s trickery to win his way into the favour of a prosperous family in order to gain wealth, power and sexual gratification. Although the character of Tartuffe is not seen until Act Three, his influence on the family is keenly felt. The play begins with Madame Pernelle visiting her son, Orgon’s, family home. Here she promotes the virtues of Tartuffe, a houseguest, praising his holiness and zeal that she feels contrasts with the family’s dissention into greed and depravity. It is however, only her son Orgon who has been deceived by Tartuffe’s trickery. Orgon’s young wife Elmire, his son Damis, daughter Mariane, brother in law Cleante, and maid Dorine all see Tartuffe as the hypocrite that he is. They also are able to see how Tartuffe has beguiled Orgon completely. Orgon’s obsession with Tartuffe is revealed when he returns home and while Dorine tries to fill him in on the events of the family, Orgon’s only concern is with the welfare of Tartuffe. As Dorine tells him of Tartuffe’s gluttony and excessive sleep, Orgon’s response is one of pity and concern. The extent of Orgon’s obsession is revealed when he, delays his daughter’s marriage to Valere for reasons later discovered-‐ he has promised his daughter in marriage to Tartuffe. This prompts Dorine to concoct a plan to expose Tartuffe’s true colours. She convinces Mariane to delay her marriage to Tartuffe and has Valere spreading rumours about Tartuffe all over town. She then brings Tartuffe and Elmire into the same room where Tartuffe makes an awkward attempt at seducing Elmire. Elmire then makes a deal with Tartuffe to call off his wedding with Mariane and in exchange Elmire will not tell Orgon what happened. This is agreed upon until Damis exits the wardrobe he had been hiding in and spying on the interaction between Tartuffe and Elmire. Damis tries to tell Orgon the truth of Tartuffe’s actions, Orgon, however, does not believe him and in turn disinherits Damis in favour of Tartuffe. This means the Tartuffe now controls the estate. As the play proceeds, any attempts to have Orgon see the truth behind Tartuffe’s actions fail. He insists on the marriage between Tartuffe and Mariane and when Elmire tries to reveal Tartuffe’s seductive ways the plan backfires terribly and Tartuffe uses his newly acquired power over the estate to promise revenge. It appears that Tartuffe’s plan is working, as he also possesses documents incriminating Orgon. To add insult, Orgon then receives an eviction notice with news he must flee as Tartuffe has denounced him to the King. On the morning of the eviction, Tartuffe and a policeman arrives and while Orgon promises to leave, the police officer arrests Tartuffe, revealing that he is a wanted criminal. The King had seen through Tartuffe’s plan and comments about Orgon and had sent for his arrest. Instead of cursing Tartuffe, Cleante convinces Orgon to pay his respects to the King and once all issues have been smoothed over, Mariane and Valere are to be married. Helpful Visual Resource A fantastic resource is this Prezi presentation that neatly explores the play, characters and times the play was written! https://prezi.com/12h2tzncugxb/tartuffe-‐and-‐sterotypical-‐characters/
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Characters
Themes Hypocrisy: Tartuffe’s hypocrisy is obvious to some from the beginning. While he was not all that good at deceiving others in the play, he did well enough to put everything off balance and bring all things into question. Foolishness and Folly: In the play it is people’s foolishness that is their undoing. Whether it be foolishness for believing lies or foolishness for love and lust, many of the characters are side tracked by their folly. Religion: Tartuffe does not poke fun at religion but rather at those who manipulate religion to get what they want or use it as a cover. Religion was a very contentious issue at the time Moliere was writing and any discussion was potentially dangerous. The play examines the extremes of religious zeal and the damage done in the nae of religion. Women: While expected to be quiet and demure, many of the women, especially Elmire and Dorine are forthright, forceful and quick witted to match their male counterparts. This doesn’t mean Moliere was a revolutionary when it came to writing about women-‐ rather it heightened his criticism of the male characters.
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Modern interpretations and Activities: Exploring Characters and Acting Styles Using Commedia dell’arte Characters to explore Tartuffe This link leads to a series of simple flashcards that list the characteristics of key Commedia dell’arte stock characters: http://www.tesaustralia.com/ResourceDetail.aspx?storyCode=3012204 Activities with stock characters: -‐ -‐ -‐
Have students create each character following the direction on each card Discuss which stock characters are reflected in the characters of Tartuffe Using excerpts for the script of Tartuffe, apply the exaggerated acting styles of the appropriate stock character to the Tartuffe character in performance
Exaggeration in Gesture-‐ Capturing the Acting Style Look at a scene of Tartuffe -‐ -‐
Identify the characters and include gestures that indicate social standing Exaggerate the gestures to the point that the mock the character and allow the audience to criticise the character and their actions
An alternative to using the script is to look at a fairy tale such as Cinderella -‐ -‐
Identify the social status of characters as well as the hoped for social standing of the characters-‐ for examples the stepmother and stepsisters are middle class but upper class hopefuls! Retell the story via freeze frames that include exaggerated gestures to highlight mockery of pretensions and class structure
Stock Characters of Restoration Comedy While not strictly adhered to in Moliere’s work, the stock characters of Restoration Comedy allow students to build an understanding of the focus and humour of comedies, the preoccupations of the characters as well as the acting styles. Warm Up-‐ Bowing-‐ Males-‐ take hats/hands from heart down to side in a dramatic sweep, keeping palms facing up, as you step back on one leg extending the other in front and lowering upper body Ladies-‐ Feet in, extend leg as lowering body Fans and Handkerchiefs-‐ Ladies-‐ hold fans Flirty: Hold under eyes and flutter Love: Hold next to lips and fan in direction of person Angry: Flick it Nervous: Women look up and fan Boys have tissues for hankies
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Embarrassed: mop brow Disgusted: flick it/waft smell away Flirty: drop hanky and servant picks up note for lover -‐Teacher calls out some to practice and everyone does it together Who are the stock characters? MEN -‐ Rake – posh, charming, liked by the ladies Cuckold – old rich man, married to coquette, jealous but ignorant of wife’s affairs Fop – effeminate but not gay, vain but attractive to women Country father – bumbling old man WOMEN-‐ Coquette – married to cuckold but younger and attractive and very flirty, has affairs Old Crone – older lady thinks she is attractive but not really successful, gossip Country daughter – happy go lucky, nice young lady, Rake is after her -‐Students of appropriate gender in the circle stand up and freeze as each character as they see fit – try swapping over to get an idea of what the other gender characters are like Modern Relevance: A 17th Century play that mocks French society may not seem to have a great deal of relevance to 21st Century Australia. An interview with the dramaturgical team from Hobart and William Smith’s Colleges for their 2014 production of Tartuffe, reveals their focus on themes of religious extremism and the oppression of women that became the key focus of their production. These themes as well as issues of oppression of various groups through the zealous fear mongering from seen in the current election campaigns in the United States of America and Australia reveal a fertile area for exploration of Tartuffe in a modern world. Interview Link-‐ http://www.playingtheother.com/productions/tartuffe-‐hobart-‐and-‐william-‐smith-‐colleges/tartuffe-‐program-‐notes/
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Year 9 and 10 Curriculum Links Improvise with the elements of drama and narrative structure to develop ideas, and explore subtext to shape devised and scripted drama (ACADRM047) Manipulate combinations of the elements of drama to develop and convey the physical and psychological aspects of roles and characters consistent with intentions in dramatic forms and performance styles (ACADRM048) Perform devised and scripted drama making deliberate artistic choices and shaping design elements to unify dramatic meaning for an audience(ACADRM051) Evaluate how the elements of drama, forms and performance styles in devised and scripted drama convey meaning and aesthetic effect (ACADRR052) Senior Drama Curriculum Links Category 1 Examples of forms and styles characterised by inherited traditions, defined conventions and structures • Comedy of Manners Live performance for Responding assessment
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List of References hhttp://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/staffhome/trsanders/units/comedy/comedyofmanners.html http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/eng252/tartuffestudy.htm http://www.playingtheother.com/productions/tartuffe-‐hobart-‐and-‐william-‐smith-‐colleges/tartuffe-‐program-‐notes/ https://prezi.com/12h2tzncugxb/tartuffe-‐and-‐sterotypical-‐characters/ http://www.shmoop.com/tartuffe/summary.html http://www.thedramateacher.com/comedy-‐of-‐manners/ https://www.theatrefolk.com/spotlights/moliere-‐and-‐17th-‐century-‐french-‐theatre http://www.theatrelinks.com/comedy-‐of-‐manners/ https://theatrelitwiki.wikispaces.com/Comedy+of+Manners http://theatrestyles.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/the-‐comedy-‐of-‐manners.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGeZ83rncnA
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