# Cléante — Tartuffe character guide

> Cléante in Tartuffe by Molière.

**Role:** supporting

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

**First appearance:** 0002-tartuffe

## Snapshot

Orgon's brother-in-law, whose urbane reason keeps colliding with a household drunk on piety, and who dares to say what everyone else swallows.

## Who they are

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.

## Relationships

### [Orgon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tartuffe_se/characters/orgon)

_family_

Cléante is Orgon's brother-in-law, who repeatedly tries to reason with him about Tartuffe's manipulation.

### [Dorine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tartuffe_se/characters/dorine)

_friendship_

Cléante and Dorine share a pragmatic alliance, both trying to restore reason to Orgon's household.

### [Madame Pernelle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tartuffe_se/characters/madame_pernelle)

_family_

Cléante is Madame Pernelle's son-in-law, and he attempts to moderate her extreme views with calm logic.

### [Madame Pernelle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tartuffe_se/characters/madame_pernelle)

_family_

Cléante is Madame Pernelle's son-in-law, and he attempts to moderate her extreme views with calm logic.

### [Orgon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tartuffe_se/characters/orgon)

_family_

Cléante is Orgon's brother-in-law, who repeatedly tries to reason with him about Tartuffe's manipulation.

### [Dorine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tartuffe_se/characters/dorine)

_friendship_

Cléante and Dorine share a pragmatic alliance, both trying to restore reason to Orgon's household.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tartuffe_se/characters/cleante
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tartuffe_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tartuffe_se/characters