Character guide

Tartuffe

major

Also known as Mr. Tartuffe, Mister Tartuffe

Tartuffe enters the household as a beggar turned spiritual adviser, and by Act I his influence over Orgon has already reshaped the family's plans and affections. His genius is a kind of double speech: to Orgon he is all humility and self-abasement, but alone with Elmire he presses her hand, strokes her lace, and murmurs that Heaven's charms shine in her face. That gap between the kneeling penitent and the scheming guest is the engine of the play's early and middle acts.

Orgon

major

Also known as Orgon Brother, Scene VII Orgon, Scene V Orgon, Scene IV Orgon, Orgon Argas, Orgon Damis, Orgon Mother

Orgon is a wealthy bourgeois whose devotion to Tartuffe has become the organizing principle of his household, overriding his wife's judgment, his son's protests, and his daughter's wishes. His flaw is not stupidity so much as a craving for pious certainty: he wants a spiritual authority he can obey without question, and Tartuffe supplies it. When the play finally forces him to witness the truth, his rage at being duped is as excessive as his former credulity, and the box he entrusted to Tartuffe becomes the measure of how much he has risked.

Elmire

major

Also known as Scene IV Elmire, Scene III Elmire, Elmire Coughing, Elmire The hypocrite, Elmire Damis

Elmire moves through the household with the ease of someone who sees clearly and speaks carefully, whether deflecting Tartuffe's advances or managing her husband's temper. Her famous tactic of hiding Orgon under the table to let Tartuffe convict himself shows a strategist's patience: she would rather stage a demonstration than argue with a man who cannot be argued with. Her composure under Tartuffe's wandering hands is both a social performance and a form of self-defense, and it makes her the play's most reliable judge of character.

Dorine

major

Also known as Dorine Do, Dorine Withdrawing, Dorine Gently, Dorine Madam, Dorine To Orgon, Dorine Tartuffe

Dorine is the household's sharpest tongue and clearest eye, a servant whose loyalty licenses her to mock her betters to their faces. When Mariane despairs over being married to Tartuffe, Dorine's response is not comfort but provocation: she threatens to let the marriage go through until Mariane stops sulking and starts resisting. Her running commentary on the courtship of Mariane and Valère exposes how much of the family's trouble comes from pride and stubbornness rather than genuine obstacles.

Mariane

supporting

Also known as Mariane Please, Mariane Oh, Mariane To Dorine

Mariane is a dutiful daughter whose father's sudden plan to marry her to Tartuffe throws her into a paralysis of grief and indecision. Her scene with Valère is a comedy of mutual wounded pride: each offers the other permission to walk away, and neither will say plainly what they want. She matters because her predicament makes the household's stakes concrete, and because her passivity is exactly what Dorine and Elmire must work around to save her.

Damis

supporting

Also known as Damis What, Damis Father, Damis No, Damis To Mr. Loyal

Damis is the household's impatient conscience, convinced that if he can just catch Tartuffe in the act and tell his father plainly, the scales will fall from Orgon's eyes. He hides in a closet, bursts out with the news of Tartuffe's advances to Elmire, and expects gratitude; instead he watches his father embrace the hypocrite and turn on him. His failure is the play's sharpest lesson in how little good plain truth does against a man determined to believe a flattering lie.

Cléante

supporting

Also known as Cléante But, Cléante To Mr. Loyal, Cléante To Orgon, Cléante Spoke

Cléante moves through Orgon's house as the one man unimpressed by Tartuffe's rolling eyes and torn kerchiefs, greeting his brother-in-law with level-headed questions while everyone else either fawns or fumes. His calm is both his strength and his frustration: he argues for moderation and honest speech, yet watches Orgon dote on a guest who eats two partridges while the mistress lies feverish upstairs. He matters because he gives the audience its clearest voice of sanity, and because his failure to shake Orgon's devotion shows just how deep the delusion runs.

Madame Pernelle

supporting

Also known as Madame Pernelle Sir, Madame Pernelle Eh, Madame Pernelle Daughter

Madame Pernelle sweeps through her son's household like a one-woman inquisition, scolding Elmire's gatherings, Dorine's tongue, and her grandchildren's very existence before flouncing off with her maid. Her devotion to Tartuffe is absolute and theatrical, and her tirades reveal a woman who mistakes austerity for virtue and control for love. She matters because she doubles Orgon's blindness, making the family's isolation complete and showing that Tartuffe's grip extends across two generations.

Valère

supporting

Also known as young Valère, Valère What, Valère Good Lord, Valère Giving Dorine, Mister Valère

Valère enters the play already promised to Mariane, only to hear that Orgon has pledged her to Tartuffe instead. Rather than fight for her, he tests her with a bitter, self-wounding suggestion that she simply marry the hypocrite, and the two lovers spiral into a quarrel of mutual hurt disguised as indifference. He matters because his wounded pride and Mariane's silence turn a family crisis into a lovers' standoff, giving Dorine something to untangle and the audience a reason to root for the young couple's survival.

Mr. Loyal

minor

Also known as Mr. Loyal To Dorine, Mr. Loyal To Damis, This Mr. Loyal

A bailiff who serves an eviction notice on Orgon.

The Officer

minor

Also known as The Officer

A royal officer who arrests Tartuffe at the end.

Flipotte

minor

Also known as Cuffing Flipotte

Madame Pernelle's maid, briefly mentioned.

Molière

minor

The playwright, referenced in introductory material.

Louis XIV

minor

The King of France, mentioned as the ultimate authority.