Part Two: Detailed Quotation Analysis 1. “Yes, my dear son, say on, and call me traitor, Abandoned scoundrel, thief, and murderer; Heap on me names yet more detestable, Each moment of my life is stained with soilures; And all is but a mass of crime and filth; Heaven, for my punishment, I see it plainly, Would mortify me now. Whatever wrong They find to charge me with, I’ll not deny it But guard against the pride of self-defence. Believe their stories, arm your wrath against me, And drive me like a villain from your house; I cannot have so great a share of shame But what I have deserved a greater still.” (Tartuffe – Act III, scene VI) This passage shows that Tartuffe is being extremely hypocritical in his pretense to seem guilty. He uses his speech as a tool to divert Orgon’s attention from Damis’s claim that Tartuffe tried to seduce Elmire. His eloquence allows him to avoid directly addressing the issue by neither denying nor confirming anything. Instead, he just simply accuses himself of being a sinner, which anybody can be. He even admits his sins and invites everyone to judge him. Feigning to be sincerely sorry for what he has done wrong, …show more content…
Tartuffe sounds pretty sincere here, and this might be very convincing for Elmire to believe that Tartuffe actually loves her. This is a typical lie among many others that Tartuffe tells people to make them believe him. Tartuffe says that, if no one knows about it, then their secret relationship is not actually a sin. This whole scene is an example of dramatic irony. Tartuffe and Elmire think their meeting is in secret; in fact, Orgon is hiding under the table and is listening to their conversation. Therefore, only the audience knows that Tartuffe’s attempts to tell a lie are failing at the moment. This passage as a whole thus gives a message that we have to be careful of what we believe in