Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, Le Tartuffe [Tartuffe]

Julia Prest (University of St Andrews)

Ed. by Julia Prest, University of St Andrews
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.03: French Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century: Classical and Baroque, 1600-1700.
Vol. editors: Heather Kirk (University of Western Ontario), Kathrina LaPorta (New York University), Polly Mangerson (DePaul University), Julia Prest (University of St Andrews), Allison Stedman (University of North Carolina, Charlotte), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1664

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Comedy
Play

Resources

The first version of the play that we have come to know as Tartuffe (some scholars prefer Le Tartuffe) was premiered on 12 May 1664 before Louis XIV and his court at Versailles at the end of a fête called Les Plaisirs de l’île enchantée (The Pleasures of the Enchanted Island). The evidence suggests that this version of the play was in only three acts and that it comprised a relatively simple scenario, typical of French farce, involving a threat of cuckoldry and a lascivious cleric. The finer details of this version are, however, lost to us, as the text is no longer extant. While it would appear that Louis XIV personally appreciated the play, pressure was brought to bear on him by the dévots…

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2620 words

Citation: Prest, Julia. "Le Tartuffe". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 February 2015 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4060, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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