IndexThe use of Deus Ex Machina in the story of TartuffeThe hypocritical and deceitful behavior of Tartuffe towards Orgon and Madame PernelleConclusionTartuffe, written in France in 1664 by Moliere, speaks ultimately of hypocrisy and deception. Tartuffe, a deceitful man aims to extort money from the wealthy people around him. He goes to great lengths by pretending to be Catholic to have a connection with the wealthy members of the community and the play opens with Tartuffe already having a hold on Orgon by trying to marry his daughter Mariane and at the same time seducing Orgon's wife Elmire. Orgon is a middle-class man who served in the recent war and won honor by serving the king. Throughout the story, Tartuffe tries to trick him into getting what he wants, but Orgon is the only one who falls for it, his family sees through Tartuffe and recognizes that he is just a scammer. The narrative device this play follows is called deus ex machina since it ends with a great resolution. According to the TDF Theater Dictionary, deus ex machina, translated to god by the machine in Latin, was originally when a tragic playwright created these dramatic situations and then wrote sudden endings in which a hero was carried onto the stage by some sort of crane. to resolve a crisis, but ultimately evolved into something a little different. Instead of a God saving the day, it just needed a new element of some kind to solve the problem. Deus ex machina may seem like a lazy way to end a story, but it has survived all this time and is ultimately very effective. The use of deus ex machina seems to make the use of hypocrisy even more effective for the audience when Orgon finally realizes who Tartuffe really is and realizes that he has been scammed. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The Use of Deus Ex Machina in Tartuffe's Story Tartuffe's game follows as Tartuffe is brought into Orgon's family home and is respected by Orgon and Mrs. Pernelle. Madame Pernelle is extremely critical of everyone in the house, especially Elmire, Orgon's wife. Madame Pernelle wishes the house to follow Tartuffe as she sees him as a man of the church, but the rest of the family, as well as Orgon, see through his deception and recognize him as an impostor and that he is more interested in wealth than the church. . She is not happy about it and ultimately leaves frustrated. Cleante and Dorine recognize that Tartuffe has almost put Orgon under a spell and seems to be obsessed with him and sees no flaws in him. Damis wonders if his father Orgon will still want Mariane to marry Valere, so Cleante tries to talk to Orgon about it. It is clear that he only cares about Tartuffe because he just wants to know how he is and doesn't care that his wife is sick. When asked if his daughter is marrying Valere, he avoids it until she arrives, to which he announces that he wants her to marry Tartuffe and that he thinks they would make a better couple. Dorine is shocked by her failure to refuse and criticizes her when Valere also arrives and is not happy since he thinks that she has agreed to marry Tartuffe. They talk about it and once they reconcile, Dorine and they decide that they must make Orgon aware of Tartuffe's deception. Damis is on the same page, but Dorine says Elmire will handle it herself. Damis hides in the closet of the room they are talking in and sees Tartuffe flirting with her and suggests they meet up, which Damis reveals he was listening to the whole time and tells Orgon. However, he is still so blind to Tartuffe's deception that he thinks Damis is evil and disowns him as his son. Orgon decides that he wants Tartuffe to be his only oneheir and his son-in-law. It's not until Elmire begs Orgon to hide and watch Tartuffe while he talks to her. Truffle arrives and approaches Elmire, telling her of his love for her and speaking ill of Orgon to which Orgon is finally convinced of his deception. He orders him to leave the house to which he replies that he legally owns the house as Orgon had signed away all his properties. Madame Pernelle returns and believes no one until news spreads that Tartuffe is having the family evicted. It is not until the court announces that the king has seen through Tartuffe's actions, whereby he imprisons him and returns the property of Orgon to him. Tartuffe's hypocritical and deceitful behavior towards Orgon and Madame PernelleA hypocrite at the time Tartuffe was written is something different than it is today. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word hypocrite and its use in theater comes from the Greek word Hypokrites which literally translates as "a performer from below," but over time came to mean anyone who wore a figurative mask and pretended to be someone who did not they are, especially in French theatre. Hypocrisy is extremely evident in Tartuffe as he exactly fits the definition of a hypocrite. He takes advantage of the church to present himself as a holy and righteous man and Orgon and Madame Pernelle fall for it. His goal ultimately was to get money from a richer person who would accept charity on Tartuffe. Orgon did exactly that and the scam went even further. It wasn't enough that Tartuffe was accepted by Orgon, the man of the house, and was invited to live there with them. He had to go further to get more. He intended to use other members of Orgon's family to get what he wanted, including Orgon's wife and daughter. With Orgon's support, Tartuffe wanted to marry Mariane and prove to Orgon that Damis should not be the heir to his properties and money. Eventually, Orgon falls for this and even gives up his property to Tartuffe before realizing it was just a big scam. While he was planning to marry Mariane to get money and property, he was also seducing Elmire, Orgon's wife for his own selfish desire, which was ultimately where it went wrong and how Orgon came to find out what was going on. His actions demonstrate very clearly how much of a hypocrite he was and how he almost got away with stealing Orgon's money and property, but because Orgon is a good man and a man of honor, the king was able to save the day and imprisons Tartuffe. The king arriving at the end of the play and saving Orgon and his family from the deceitful Truffle is an example of the use of a plot device called Deus Ex Machina which, as I stated before, occurs when a new element arrives to save the situation. The king, having his court, announced that he saw through Tartuffe's actions and that he deceived and took advantage of Orgon and his family so that the public can breathe a sigh of relief and know that everything will be okay. Using hypocrisy seems to make using a deus ex machina much more appealing to follow. Rather than having an obvious villain who obviously isn't going to win in the end, as that's not how plots generally work, so it's not as much of a relief when a villain is eliminated in the end. However, when you have a hypocrite deceiving two of the characters while the rest of the characters spend the entire time trying to convince them that they were deceived, it's a huge relief to see the villain defeated in the end. You can see this through Orgon's family with him and Madame Pernelle. Since he is not present throughout the entire play, he is most noticeable with Orgon. Orgon is seen by readers as a good man, someone who simply wanted to welcome Tartuffe because he believed Tartuffe.