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Mariane
Unlike many other characters in the play, Madame Pernelle, the grating, scolding mother of Orgon, holds Tartuffe in the highest esteem. At the beginning of the play, she berates her husband’s family for their supposed faults, all while singing the praises of Tartuffe. Like Orgon, she too is shocked when Tartuffe’s true hypocrisy is revealed.
Madame Pernelle Quotes in Tartuffe
The Tartuffe quotes below are all either spoken by Madame Pernelle or refer to Madame Pernelle. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1, Scene 1 Quotes
Damis: Your man Tartuffe is full of holy speeches…
Madame Pernelle: And practices precisely what he preaches.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Madame Pernelle Character Timeline in Tartuffe
The timeline below shows where the character Madame Pernelle appears in Tartuffe. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 1
...away on a two-day business trip to the country. As the play opens his mother, Madame Pernelle , is finishing a visit with the rest of his family: his son and daughter,...
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Madame Pernelle scolds each member of the family for what she perceives as their sinful ways. She...
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The discussion turns to Tartuffe, a holy man whom Orgon and Madame Pernelle revere. The other characters believe him to be deceitful and hypocritical. They attempt to tell...
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...pious people they know, particularly citing a supposedly pious neighbor who often gossips about Elmire; Madame Pernelle believes such ostentatiously moral people to be truly virtuous, while Cléante and Dorine assert that...
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Frustrated by her relatives (particularly Cléante, who is laughing at her), Madame Pernelle takes her leave—though not before slapping the long-suffering Flipote.
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Act 1, Scene 2
Dorine and Cléante stay behind in order to avoid Madame Pernelle . They discuss their frustrations with her, as well as Tartuffe’s increasing power over Orgon....
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Act 1, Scene 3
Elmire, Mariane, and Damis reenter, glad to be rid of Madame Pernelle , and anticipating the arrival of Orgon. They discuss Mariane’s impending wedding to the man...
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Act 5, Scene 3
The women enter: Madame Pernelle , Mariane, Elmire, and Dorine. Orgon’s mother says that she has heard “strange tales of...
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Act 5, Scene 5
Madame Pernelle now believes Tartuffe’s treachery and, as Orgon was before, is “thunderstruck.” Dorine reacts sarcastically. Orgon...
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