“Good God! Do you expect me to submit
To the tyranny of that carping hypocrite?
Must we forgo all joys and satisfactions
Because that bigot censures all our actions?.“
“You see him as a saint. I’m far less awed;
In fact, I see right through him. He’s a fraud..“
“Those who have greatest cause for guilt and shame
Are quickest to besmirch a neighbor’s name.“
“There’s a vast difference, so it seems to me,
Between true piety and hypocrisy:
How do you fail to see it, may I ask?
Is not a face quite different from a mask?.“
“Hang up my hair-shirt, put my scourge in place,
And pray, Laurent, for Heaven’s perpetual grace.
I’m going to the prison now, to share
My last few coins with the poor wretches there.”
Dorine (Aside):
“Dear God, what affectation! What a fake!.“
“But soon, fair being, I became aware
That my deep passion could be made to square
With rectitude, and with my bounden duty.“
“Yes, brother, I’m a wicked man, I fear:
A wretched sinner, all depraved and twisted,
The greatest villain that has ever existed.
[…]
Believe what you are told, and drive Tartuffe
Like some base criminal from beneath your roof;
Yes, drive me hence, and with a parting curse:
I shan’t protest, for I deserve far worse.”
Orgon (To Damis):
“Ah, you deceitful boy, how dare you try
To stain his purity with so foul a lie?.“
“How can you know what I might do, or be?
Is it on my good actions that you base
Your favor? Do you trust my pious face?
Ah, no, don’t be deceived by hollow shows;
I’m far, alas, from being what men suppose;.“
“God knows what people would think! Why they’d describe
My goodness to him as a sort of bribe;
They’d say that out of guilt I made pretense
of loving-kindness and benevolence..“
“Ah, you deceitful boy, how dare you try
To stain his purity with so foul a lie?.“
“My taste is for good-natured rectitude,
And I dislike the savage sort of prude
Who guards her virtue with her teeth and claws
And tears men’s eyes out for the slightest cause;.“
“Ah, Sir, if that refusal made you smart,
It’s little that you know of woman’s heart,
Or what that heart is trying to convey
When it resists in such a feeble way!
Always, at first our modesty prevents
The frank avowal of tender sentiments
.“
“Madame Pernelle:
“What he reproves deserves reproof,
He’s out to save your souls, and all of you
Must love him, as my son would have you do..“
“Madame Pernelle:
“What he reproves deserves reproof,
He’s out to save your souls, and all of you
Must love him, as my son would have you do..“
“Leave vengeance to the Lord, Sir; while we live,
Our duty’s not to punish, but forgive;
And what the Lord commands, we should obey
Without regard to what the world may say..“
“Tartuffe:
“Again, Sir, let me say that I’ve forgiven
Damis, and thus obeyed the laws of Heaven;
But I am not commanded by the Bible
To live with one who smears my name with libel.”
Cléante:
“Were you commanded, Sir, to indulge the whim
Of poor Orgon, and to encourage him
In suddenly transferring to your name
A large estate to which you have no claim.“
“Dorine:
“He [Tartuffe] ate his meal with relish,
And zealously devoured in her presence
A leg of mutton and a brace of pheasants.“
“And how austere he [Tartuffe] is! Why, he can detect
A mortal sin where you would least suspect;
In smallest trifles, he’s extremely strict..“
“I know such words sound strangely, coming from me,
But I’m no angel, nor was meant to be,
And if you blame my passion, you must needs
Reproach as well the charms on which it feeds..“
“Orgon:
“These papers vexed my conscience, and it seemed best
To ask the counsel of my pious guest.
The cunning scoundrel got me to agree
To leave the strong-box in his custody,
So that, in case of an investigation,
I could employ a slight equivocation
And swear I didn’t have it, and thereby,
At no expense to conscience tell a lie.“
“Damis:
“Sound him [Orgon] about my sister’s wedding, pleas.
I think Tartuffe’s against it, and that he’s
Been urging Father to withdraw his blessing.
As you well know, I’d find that most distressing.
Unless my sister and Valère can marry,
My hopes to wed his sister will miscarry,
And I’m determined….“