The prompt I intend to respond to for this project is: What does the work reveal about the cultural behavior contemporary to it?
Deus Ex Machina is the main literary device I will be using to address this prompt. Because of this, I will also be addressing the play's plot and dialogue. From one of my sources I received further confirmation of what my former drama teacher at LMC, Professor Jack Nicolaus, had told me about the ending of Tartuffe: "Molière had to remain in the good graces of the king if he wanted to stage the play in public," "What better way to do so than to make the king a hero?" More specifically as I have learned, "The audience for which Molière wrote Tartuffe was a worldly sector of the social elite in Paris in the latter third of the Seventeenth Century. Indeed, its original audience was the royal court at Louis XIV's great palace Versailles." Molière had written this play with an ending that would satisfy King Louis XIV because that would be the only way this play would be allowed to debut and have a chance at becoming a success. I'll be exploring the overall plot of "Tartuffe" in order to show that the ending to the play was nothing more than fan service to please King Louis XIV since the plot didn't allow for any other ending since the characters had been written into a corner as reflected by the panic in the dialogue they exchange. Tartuffe had all the evidence he needed to have Orgon placed in prison and he had the deed to his house. There was absolutely nothing the characters in the story could have realistically done to fix the situation other than pray for a miracle, which was lazily provided by The Exempt arriving to inform everyone that The King might as well be omnipotent with how conveniently aware of everything he is despite not being involved in all of the events prior to the deus ex machina and how kind and down to Earth he is to save everyone from their dilemma. In my project, I will point out multiple directions the play could have taken to avoid this ending, and why this ending was the only ending that could have worked given how the plot unfolded.
Molière. "Tartuffe." The Norton Anthology World Literature, edited by Martin Puchner, third Edition, vol. D, W. W. Norton, 2012, pp. 144-197.
Sabian, I really like that you thought outside the box and how you already did some research. I also like how you stated the reason for Moliere's ending of the story- Interesting! You stated that Tartuffe had all the evidence he needed to have Orgon placed in prison and he had the deed to his house. Do you believe there was no other way possible in this era that Orgon could have proven that Tartuffe was a con? Do you think that the King had other complaints or heard talk around town about Orgon, since in the beginning, we see that gossip is not a stranger to this story, and maybe that's how the King knew to look into Tartuffe accusations towards Orgon. Maybe he was already suspicious of him and not to mention his absurd story. I can't wait to read your project. I know it's going to be a great read.
ReplyDeleteHi Sabian! Your project planning on Ending of Tartuffe is excellent and very well thought out. I really liked that you will be discussing fully upon how "convenient" the ending was. I especially like that you will be bringing in outside sources to fully express this ending in your project. I really like that you're going to point out that The King somehow was aware of all of what was going on despite not being there. This project you have planned will really help create an understanding of the story a lot better, especially the ending. What about the rest of the story do you think contributed to this exact ending and was there a specific character that if portrayed differently, would have changed the ending(like Orgon finding out about Tartuffe's con)? I am looking forward to reading your project. Great Job on the project planning! By the way you have it described, you definitely will have a great project.
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