ORGON

Orgon Costume sketch by Kaye Voyce

Parisian gentleman, husband, and father of the house.  In his quest for religious piety, Orgon has allowed Tartuffe into his home.

                                                            Villain, be still!
I know your motives; I know you wish him ill:
Yes, all of you—wife, children, servants, all—
Conspire against him and desire his fall,
Employing every shameful trick you can
To alienate me from this saintly man.
Ah, but the more you seek to drive him away,
The more I’ll do to keep him.  Without delay,
I’ll spite this household and confound its pride
By giving him my daughter as his bride.  (III. vi.)

 

ELMIRE

Elmire Costume sketch by Kaye Voyce

Orgon’s wife.

                        …I’ll be content if he
Will study to deserve my leniency.
I’ve promised silence—don’t make me break my word;
To make a scandal would be too absurd.
Good wives laugh off such trifles, and forget them;
Why should they tell their husbands, and upset them?   (III. iv.)

 

DAMIS

Orgon’s son, Elmire’s stepson. 

You have reasons for taking such a course,
And I have reasons, too, of equal force.
To spare him now would be insanely wrong.
I’ve swallowed my just wrath for far too long
And watched this insolent bigot bringing strife
And bitterness into our family life.  (III. iv.)

MARIANE

Orgon’s daughter, Elmire’s stepdaughter. 

If I defied my father, as you suggest,
Would it not seem unmaidenly, at best?
Shall I defend my love at the expense
Of brazenness and disobedience?  (II. iii.)

VALÈRE

Valère Costume sketch by Kaye Voyce

Mariane’s love.

I’ll do my best to take it in my stride.
The pain I feel at being cast aside
Time and forgetfulness may put an end to.
Or if I can’t forget, I shall pretend to.
No self-respecting person is expected
To go on loving once he’s been rejected.  (II. iv.)

 

 

 

CLÉANTE

Elmire’s brother, Orgon’s friend and brother-in-law. 

Brother, I don’t pretend to be a sage,
Nor have I all the wisdom of the age.
There’s just one insight I would dare to claim:
I know that true and false are not the same… (I. v.)

TARTUFFE

A hypocrite and imposter posing as a holy man. 

Hand up my hair-shirt, put my scourge in place,
And pray, Laurent, for Heaven’s perpetual grace.
I’m going to the prison now, to share
My last few coins with the poor wretches there. (III. ii.)

DORINE

Dorine Costume sketch by Kaye Voyce

Mariane’s lady’s-maid. 

Dorine
Oh, he’s a man of destiny;
He’s made for horns, and what the stars demand
Your daughter’s virtue surely can’t withstand.

Orgon
Don’t interrupt me further.  Why can’t you learn
That certain things are not of your concern?

Dorine
It’s for your own sake that I interfere.

 

MADAME PERNELLE

Orgon’s mother. 

Orgon
You’re talking nonsense.  Can’t you realize
I saw it; saw it; saw it with my eyes?
Saw, do you understand me?  Must I shout it
Into your ears before you’ll cease to doubt it?

Madame Pernelle
Appearances can deceive, my son.  Dear me,
We cannot always judge by what we see.

Orgon
Drat! Drat!

Madame Pernelle
One often interprets things awry;
Good can seem evil to a suspicious eye. (V. iii.)