Act III: Scene VI
ORGON.Just Heaven! Can what I hear be credited?
TARTUFFE.Yes, brother, I am wicked, I am guilty,A miserable sinner, steeped in evil,The greatest criminal that ever lived.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 wrongThey find to charge me with, I'll not deny itBut 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 shameBut what I have deserved a greater still.
ORGON (to his son)You miscreant, can you dare, with such a falsehood,To try to stain the whiteness of his virtue?
DAMIS.What! The feigned meekness of this hypocriteMakes you discredit ...
ORGON.Silence, cursed plague!
TARTUFFE.Ah! Let him speak; you chide him wrongfully;You'd do far better to believe his tales.Why favour me so much in such a matter?How can you know of what I'm capable?And should you trust my outward semblance, brother,Or judge therefrom that I'm the better man?No, no; you let appearances deceive you;I'm anything but what I'm thought to be,Alas! and though all men believe me godly,The simple truth is, I'm a worthless creature.
(To Damis)Yes, my dear son, say on, and call me traitor,Abandoned scoundrel, thief, and murderer;Heap on me names yet more detestable,And I shall not gainsay you; I've deserved them;I'll bear this ignominy on my knees,To expiate in shame the crimes I've done.
ORGON (to Tartuffe)Ah, brother, 'tis too much!
(To his son)You'll not relent,You blackguard?
DAMIS.What! His talk can so deceive you ...
ORGON.Silence, you scoundrel!
(To Tartuffe)Brother, rise, I beg you.
(To his son)Infamous villain!
DAMIS.Can he ...
ORGON.Silence!
DAMIS.What ...
ORGON.Another word, I'll break your every bone.
TARTUFFE.Brother, in God's name, don't be angry with him!I'd rather bear myself the bitterest tortureThan have him get a scratch on my account.
ORGON (to his son)Ungrateful monster!
TARTUFFE.Stop. Upon my kneesI beg you pardon him ...
ORGON (throwing himself on his knees too, and embracing Tartuffe)Alas! How can you?
(To his son)Villain! Behold his goodness!
DAMIS.So ...
ORGON.Be still.
DAMIS.What! I ...
ORGON.Be still, I say. I know your motivesFor this attack. You hate him, all of you;Wife, children, servants, all let loose upon him,You have recourse to every shameful trickTo drive this godly man out of my house;The more you strive to rid yourselves of him,The more I'll strive to make him stay with me;I'll have him straightway married to my daughter,Just to confound the pride of all of you.
DAMIS.What! Will you force her to accept his hand?
ORGON.Yes, and this very evening, to enrage you,Young rascal! Ah! I'll brave you all, and show youThat I'm the master, and must be obeyed.Now, down upon your knees this instant, rogue,And take back what you said, and ask his pardon.
DAMIS.Who? I? Ask pardon of that cheating scoundrel ... ?
ORGON.Do you resist, you beggar, and insult him?A cudgel, here! a cudgel!
(To Tartuffe)Don't restrain me.
(To his son)Off with you! Leave my house this instant, sirrah,And never dare set foot in it again.
DAMIS.Yes, I will leave your house, but ...
ORGON.Leave it quickly.You reprobate, I disinherit you,And give you, too, my curse into the bargain.
Words in this poem
- tartuffe n.
- A hypocritical devotee. See the Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction. [F. tartufe.]
- sinner n.
- One who has sinned; especially, one who has sinned without repenting; hence, a persistent and incorrigible transgressor; one condemned by the law of God.
- defence n.
- The act of defending, or the state of being defended; protection, as from violence or danger. [F. défense, OF. defense, fem., defens, masc., fr. L. defensa (cf. Fence.]
- miscreant n.
- One who holds a false religious faith; a misbeliever. [OF. mescreant, F. mécréant; pref. mes- (L. minus less) + p. pr. fr. L. credere to believe. See Creed.]
- meekness n.
- The quality or state of being meek.
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- relent v. i.
- To become less rigid or hard; to yield; to dissolve; to melt; to deliquesce. [F. ralentir, fr. L. pref. re- re- + ad to + lentus pliant, flexible, slow. See Lithe.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- ungrateful a.
- Not grateful; not thankful for favors; making no returns, or making ill return for kindness, attention, etc.; ingrateful. South.
- recourse n.
- A coursing back, or coursing again, along the line of a previous coursing; renewed course; return; retreat; recurence. [F. recours, L. recursus a running back, return, fr. recurrere, recursum, to run back. See Recur.]
- straightway adv.
- Immediately; without loss of time; without delay.
- reprobate a.
- Not enduring proof or trial; not of standard purity or fineness; disallowed; rejected. [L. reprobatus, p. p. of reprobare to disapprove, condemn. See Reprieve, Reprove.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act III: Scene VI 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 III: Scene VI, in Tartuffe; Or, The Hypocrite (1908), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2027, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/moliere-tartuffe/act-iii-scene-vi.html, id L26936.
Form and metre
Act III: Scene VI is 116 lines in 34 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.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 4 -AA damis · hypocriteA · discreditA
- 13 AA sonA · villainA
- 26 --AB--B--A orgon · motives · youA · himB · trick · house · himB · me · daughter · youA
- 28 -AA--- orgon · youA · youA · obeyed · rogue · pardon
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 | ·· |
| Just Heaven! Can what I hear be credited? | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘˘ |
| TARTUFFE. | 2 | ·· |
| Yes, brother, I am wicked, I am guilty, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| A miserable sinner, steeped in evil, | 11 | ·/˘˘˘/˘··/˘ |
| The greatest criminal that ever lived. | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| Each moment of my life is stained with soilures; | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| And all is but a mass of crime and filth; | 10 | ·········· |
| Heaven, for my punishment, I see it plainly, | 11 | /··/˘˘···/˘ |
| Would mortify me now. Whatever wrong | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| They find to charge me with, I'll not deny it | 11 | ········˘/· |
| But guard against the pride of self-defence. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Believe their stories, arm your wrath against me, | 11 | ˘/·/˘······ |
| And drive me like a villain from your house; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I cannot have so great a share of shame | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| But what I have deserved a greater still. | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| ORGON (to his son) | 5 | ····· |
| You miscreant, can you dare, with such a falsehood, | 11 | ·/˘······/· |
| To try to stain the whiteness of his virtue? | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| DAMIS. | 2 | ·· |
| What! The feigned meekness of this hypocrite | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Makes you discredit ... | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Silence, cursed plague! | 4 | /˘·· |
| TARTUFFE. | 2 | ·· |
| Ah! Let him speak; you chide him wrongfully; | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| You'd do far better to believe his tales. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Why favour me so much in such a matter? | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| How can you know of what I'm capable? | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| And should you trust my outward semblance, brother, | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| Or judge therefrom that I'm the better man? | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| No, no; you let appearances deceive you; | 10 | ····˘/˘˘/· |
| I'm anything but what I'm thought to be, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Alas! and though all men believe me godly, | 11 | ˘/····˘/·/˘ |
| The simple truth is, I'm a worthless creature. | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| (To Damis) | 3 | ··· |
| Yes, my dear son, say on, and call me traitor, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Abandoned scoundrel, thief, and murderer; | 10 | ˘/˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| Heap on me names yet more detestable, | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| And I shall not gainsay you; I've deserved them; | 11 | ····/···˘/· |
| I'll bear this ignominy on my knees, | 10 | ···/˘·˘··· |
| To expiate in shame the crimes I've done. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| ORGON (to Tartuffe) | 5 | ····· |
| Ah, brother, 'tis too much! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| (To his son) | 3 | ··· |
| You'll not relent, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| You blackguard? | 3 | ·/˘ |
| DAMIS. | 2 | ·· |
| What! His talk can so deceive you ... | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Silence, you scoundrel! | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| (To Tartuffe) | 3 | ··· |
| Brother, rise, I beg you. | 6 | /˘···· |
| (To his son) | 3 | ··· |
| Infamous villain! | 5 | /˘˘/˘ |
| DAMIS. | 2 | ·· |
| Can he ... | 2 | ·· |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Silence! | 2 | /˘ |
| DAMIS. | 2 | ·· |
| What ... | 1 | · |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Another word, I'll break your every bone. | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| TARTUFFE. | 2 | ·· |
| Brother, in God's name, don't be angry with him! | 11 | /˘·····/˘·· |
| I'd rather bear myself the bitterest torture | 11 | ·/˘··/·/˘/˘ |
| Than have him get a scratch on my account. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| ORGON (to his son) | 5 | ····· |
| Ungrateful monster! | 5 | ˘/˘/˘ |
| TARTUFFE. | 2 | ·· |
| Stop. Upon my knees | 5 | ····· |
| I beg you pardon him ... | 6 | ···/˘· |
| ORGON (throwing himself on his knees too, and embracing Tartuffe) | 16 | ··/˘˘/·····˘/˘·· |
| Alas! How can you? | 5 | ˘/··· |
| (To his son) | 3 | ··· |
| Villain! Behold his goodness! | 7 | /˘˘/·/˘ |
| DAMIS. | 2 | ·· |
| So ... | 1 | · |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Be still. | 2 | ·· |
| DAMIS. | 2 | ·· |
| What! I ... | 2 | ·· |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Be still, I say. I know your motives | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| For this attack. You hate him, all of you; | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Wife, children, servants, all let loose upon him, | 11 | ·/˘/˘······ |
| You have recourse to every shameful trick | 10 | ··/˘·/˘/˘· |
| To drive this godly man out of my house; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The more you strive to rid yourselves of him, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| The more I'll strive to make him stay with me; | 10 | ·········· |
| I'll have him straightway married to my daughter, | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Just to confound the pride of all of you. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| DAMIS. | 2 | ·· |
| What! Will you force her to accept his hand? | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Yes, and this very evening, to enrage you, | 11 | ···/˘/˘·˘/· |
| Young rascal! Ah! I'll brave you all, and show you | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| That I'm the master, and must be obeyed. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Now, down upon your knees this instant, rogue, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And take back what you said, and ask his pardon. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| DAMIS. | 2 | ·· |
| Who? I? Ask pardon of that cheating scoundrel ... ? | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Do you resist, you beggar, and insult him? | 11 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/· |
| A cudgel, here! a cudgel! | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| (To Tartuffe) | 3 | ··· |
| Don't restrain me. | 4 | ·˘/· |
| (To his son) | 3 | ··· |
| Off with you! Leave my house this instant, sirrah, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| And never dare set foot in it again. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| DAMIS. | 2 | ·· |
| Yes, I will leave your house, but ... | 7 | ······· |
| ORGON. | 2 | ·· |
| Leave it quickly. | 4 | ··/˘ |
| You reprobate, I disinherit you, | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| And give you, too, my curse into the bargain. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
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