Act II: Scene I
ORGON.Now, Mariane.
MARIANE.Yes, father?
ORGON.Come; I'll tell youA secret.
MARIANE.Yes ... What are you looking for?
ORGON (looking into a small closet-room)To see there's no one there to spy upon us;That little closet's mighty fit to hide in.There! We're all right now. Mariane, in youI've always found a daughter dutifulAnd gentle. So I've always love you dearly.
MARIANE.I'm grateful for your fatherly affection.
ORGON.Well spoken, daughter. Now, prove you deserve itBy doing as I wish in all respects.
MARIANE.To do so is the height of my ambition.
ORGON.Excellent well. What say you of--Tartuffe?
MARIANE.Who? I?
ORGON.Yes, you. Look to it how you answer.
MARIANE.Why! I'll say of him--anything you please.
Words in this poem
- fatherly a.
- Like a father in affection and care; paternal; tender; protecting; careful.
- tartuffe n.
- A hypocritical devotee. See the Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction. [F. tartufe.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act II: Scene I is in the public domain. This text is taken from Tartuffe; Or, The Hypocrite, Project Gutenberg ebook #2027, the Curtis Hidden Page translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Molière, Act II: Scene I, in Tartuffe; Or, The Hypocrite (1908), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2027, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/moliere-tartuffe/act-ii-scene-i.html, id L26927.
Form and metre
Act II: Scene I is 30 lines in 12 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Now, Mariane. | 3 | ··· |
| MARIANE. | 2 | ·· |
| Yes, father? | 3 | ·/˘ |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Come; I'll tell you | 4 | ···· |
| A secret. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| MARIANE. | 2 | ·· |
| Yes ... What are you looking for? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| ORGON (looking into a small closet-room) | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| To see there's no one there to spy upon us; | 11 | ··········· |
| That little closet's mighty fit to hide in. | 11 | ·/˘/˘/˘···· |
| There! We're all right now. Mariane, in you | 9 | ········· |
| I've always found a daughter dutiful | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| And gentle. So I've always love you dearly. | 11 | ·/˘··/···/˘ |
| MARIANE. | 2 | ·· |
| I'm grateful for your fatherly affection. | 11 | ·/˘··/˘˘˘/˘ |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Well spoken, daughter. Now, prove you deserve it | 11 | ·/˘/˘···˘/· |
| By doing as I wish in all respects. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| MARIANE. | 2 | ·· |
| To do so is the height of my ambition. | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Excellent well. What say you of--Tartuffe? | 10 | /˘˘······· |
| MARIANE. | 2 | ·· |
| Who? I? | 2 | ·· |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Yes, you. Look to it how you answer. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| MARIANE. | 2 | ·· |
| Why! I'll say of him--anything you please. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.