Main Themes Of The Play example essay topic

USC'S production of Tartuffe was successful in projecting the main themes of the play. The main themes that I believe the director was trying to show were that hypocrites are very obvious with their immorality and that only fools are duped by these swindlers. The actors effectively exhibited the traits of their particular character. The actors' accurate portrayals of the characters effectively established the themes of the work and also gave the production a very comedic mood. This mood was helped by the bright and colorful stage. At the start of the play, everyone except Madame Pernelle (and Orgon) was aware of Tartuffe's hypocrisy.

I believe that the director had the old, withered grandmother character in a wheelchair in an effort to support his theme that only fools are duped by hypocrites. Madame Pernelle's foolishness is probably due to senility, and the director's choice of a wheelchair makes this suggestion. Her character contributed to the comedy of the play because she was very funny screaming out instructions while being rolled around. It was understandable that this elderly lady was fooled by Tartuffe because this same situation is very common today with old people and televangelists.

The pace of the dialogue of the opening scene was fast, and the actors's wife movements around the stage were a little chaotic. The pace of the dialogue required my full concentration, and the movement on stage demanded my attention. I thought that the rhyming couplets often emphasized the particular thought much like the punch line of a joke. The rhyming was rewarding and made my concentration seem worthwhile. In my opinion, the director's choice to disregard the convention of speeding up the pace of the dialogue as the play progresses was an attempt to grab the audience's attention immediately.

This opening scene really got my ears and eyes open wide, and it was one of the most memorable scenes for me. The only character that did not see Tartuffe's hypocrisy was Orgon. The actor accurately portrayed Orgon as a middle-aged man acting on a whim. Since Orgon's second wife was much younger than he was, I assumed that the director was implying that Orgon was having some sort of mid-life crisis. This provided an excuse for his foolish dedication to the scoundrel, Tartuffe, and supported the theme that only foolish people are unable to recognize a hypocrite. I believe that the director intended for Cleante and Dorine to represent rational people that easily identify the blatant actions of a hypocrite.

The actress playing Dorine, the lady maid, effectively portrayed an outspoken young lady who, like Cleante, acts as a voice of reason. Dorine and Cleante serve the author's purpose of pointing out blatant hypocrisy. The director successfully personified hypocrisy by choosing an overweight, unappealing looking character for Tartuffe. The character's appearance and immoral actions were contrasted by the young and pretty ladies. I believe that the director was successful in projecting the themes that were just discussed. When considering whether the author's effort was worthwhile, I have to examine my entire experience of USC's production of Tartuffe.

Since a very large part of my experience was the comedy in the play, I realize that the director's intentions were not just to project certain themes but also to amuse the audience. This is truly a challenge, and I believe that the director did a terrific job with a comedy that projected themes that still exist today. The director's efforts were worthwhile because I left the theater amused and with images of the disgusting nature of hypocrisy (Jim Baker, etc) in my head. The introduction was great, but I was disappointed when the languages were switched...

Je dois returner en France si je veux entendre le Francais.