Week 3 Analysis: Close Reading of Moliere's "Tartuffe"

I chose a passage from page 158 that I thought was intriguing and kind of sets up what Tartuffe's real self and character is like.
"Dorine: Oh sir, don't frown.
A smile is just a frown turned upside down.
Be happy, sir, because you've shared you scheme,
Even though it's just a crazy dream.
Because, dear sir, your daughter is not meant
For this zealot - she's too innocent.
She'd be alarmed by his robust desire
And question heaven's sanction of this fire
And then the gossip! Your friends will talk a lot,
Because you're a man of wealth and he is not.
Could it be your reasoning has a flaw -
Choosing a beggar for a son-in-law?"

What's obvious about this passage is that Dorine doesn't agree with this arranged marriage and she knows that Mariane doesn't agree with it either. Dorine also thinks that Tartuffe's character and demeanor is too strong for Mariane, that he might take advantage of her - even in the bedroom, with his "robust desire," and that Mariane is "too innocent" for that kind of indecency. It's also obvious that Orgon took in Tartuffe, off the streets or whatever horrible place he used to live in, and gave him shelter, food, clothes, everything! Tartuffe was a poor beggar and Orgon wants to marry him off to his beautiful daughter who is too good for a "man" like Tartuffe. Dorine is worried what the other towns people will "gossip" about, and gossip for their family doesn't seem like a good thing.

Zealot - definition according to dictionary.com:
"1. a person who shows zeal
2. an excessively zealous person; fanatic
3. (initial capital letter) a member of radical, warlike, ardently patriotic group of Jews in Judea, particularly prominent from a.d. 69 - 81, advocating the violent overthrow of Roman rule and vigorously resisting the efforts of the Romans and their supporters to heathenize the Jews."
 - I'm still not quite 100% sure what zealot means; except maybe someone who is a patriotic, warlike fanatic.

I think Dorine is just reiterating to Orgon what a hypocrite and bad person Tartuffe really is. But Orgon is very jaded, and only seems to see what he wants to see, which is that Tartuffe is a good person and that he is loyal and not deceitful like everyone else is saying. Until, however, the end, when Tartuffe not only tries confessing his love for Elmire, but he also ends up taking their house, too, because Orgon was too trusting of Tartuffe.

This passage, in relation to the rest of the story, really shows what kinds of character Dorine, Orgon and Tartuffe are. Dorine, who is just a lady maid to Mariane, can see Tartuffe's real character, and she's just a maid! She can tell that Tartuffe takes advantage of others by being a deceitful, lying hypocrite. Dorine wants nothing but the best for Mariane, who is said to be married to Tartuffe, and obviously wants the best for the rest of the family, seeing as she said she doesn't want the town to "gossip" about Tartuffe going from a beggar to someone of wealth and importance. Tartuffe's character, like I've said, is downright awful. He's lying to everyone and trying to play them, even getting them to turn on each other. Why would you want someone like that in your family? Much less a "man" like that married to your daughter? Orgon is oblivious to Tartuffe and his real intentions. Orgon thinks so highly of Tartuffe that everyone else is struggling to get Orgon to see and hear the true ways of Tartuffe.

- "Be happy, sir, because you've shared you scheme,
Even though it's just a crazy dream."
I liked this because even though Orgon has shared his scheme, I think deep down, Dorine knows that Orgon will soon see Tartuffe's true character. Either way, she thinks it's a crazy idea, or "crazy dream" that Orgon thinks he can try to force Mariane to marry Tartuffe.

- "Because, dear sir, your daughter is not meant
For this zealot - she's too innocent.
She'd be alarmed by his robust desire"
Dorine seems to nicely say that his daughter is too good and too innocent for an incompetent idiot beggar like Tartuffe, and she can do so much better. I think her wording is the way it is because saying it this way to Orgon might change his mind and soften up about his precious daughter and really try to make her happy.

- "And then the gossip! Your friends will talk a lot,
Because you're a man of wealth and he is not.
Could it be your reasoning has a flaw -
Choosing a beggar for a son-in-law?"

When I first read this part, I laughed out loud and even wrote on my book near this passage which read, "Why does wealth matter so much?" Why does wealth matter so much to some people? Like wealth makes them a better person? Or that because they are rich, they get more and deserve more than others. But after reading it a few times and thinking about Tartuffe's character, I have a feeling Dorine also wants to look out for the family's feelings of what other people might say about them having married in a beggar into their wealthy family. Perhaps the other people might think that they brought him in because they felt sorry for Tartuffe or that Tartuffe talked them into it, in a deceitful way. 

Tartuffe's character is very deceitful and robust for a girl like Mariane; even the family is too good to have such an ungrateful person whom Orgon calls "brother."