Theme of Deception in Tartuffe

Throughout time, man has used many forms of deception to get what they want. Moliere’s play Tartuffe is a classical story about deception and how a “mask” is used to hide someone’s true intentions. Moliere applies the idea of a mask and a theme of deception to exploit the power struggles within a traditional household. The character Tartuffe employs deception so he can achieve social and economical standings while Elmire, Mariane, and Dorine use deception to defy the authority of Orgon over the entire household and to help bring back family harmony.
In the play Tartuffe, one of fundamental theme is deception. The biggest hypocrite in this play is the character named Tartuffe. He is able to create a …show more content…

As a result, he is able to validate the utilization of deception by means of a mask. This mask is a role of pecking orders inside the structure of the family. In this manner, characters in the story that have less power in the family social order will at times use deception and a mask in order to gain power. The women sometimes mainly employ deception and a mask as a means of gaining better power in the family circle. Even though Mariane does not want to marry Tartuffe, she is way too obedient to go against her father’s plan. Then Dorine appears and Orgon begins to accuse her of eavesdropping on his conversation with his daughter. It is possible that Dorine was really eavesdropping on them. This would be another form of deception. Even though Dorine is only a servant and has no actual power within the household, she is able to outsmart Orgon. With this, she is able to urge Mariane to stand firm against her father (Brent). When Valere and Marian try to conceal their true feelings toward each other behind a mask of apathy, they end up hurting one another. Mariane does thism “to preserve her sense of feminine modesty, whereas Valere does so in order to preserve his masculine pride” (Brent). Furthermore, they almost destroy their relationship. Dorine tells Valere of her father’s plan for her to marry Tartuffe. Since she does not know what to do, Valere tells her to marry