For most of the play Tartuffe by Moliere, Cleante's rhetoric and reasoning are ignored and even ridiculed by Orgon and his mother, Madame Pernelle; only the drastic wiles of Elmire, who gets Tartuffe to try to seduce her while her husband, Orgon, h ides under the table, are effective in persuading Orgon of the truth. Even then, Madame Pernelle stubbornly supports Tartuffe until faced with the fact that he is trying to evict the family from their home. For all its wisdom, Cleante's eloquent advice is of little consequence in moving the plot forward or toppling Tartuffe from his seat of power in the household. (Moliere 19) The character of Tartuffe represents those members of society who preach religious piety but do not themselves live by the morals they try to force upon others. Because the play focuses on the issue of religious hypocrisy, it was highly controversial at the time it was written and was banned from public performance for five years.
When a confidence man deceives Orgon, taking advantage of his excessive religious piety, relatives and friends try to point out the error of Orgon's befuddled judgment. Orgon mistakenly thinks his brother-in-law is attacking religion or piety. (Moliere 98)
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