– Gjon Bruçi –
Tartuffe, the main character of the comedy by the same title by Molière, goes to the house of the wealthy Orgon and asks for work. He tells Orgon that he is a cleric who has had bad luck practising his faith, so he is seeking work as a servant in his house.
From their first meeting, Orgon sees a person full of culture and humility toward the master of the house, which leads him to take Tartuffe on as a servant in his family and his private business. Thanks to his humble behaviour and impressive speeches, Orgon comes to believe that Tartuffe is an angelic and wonderful servant, unmatched in all of Paris.
Almost every day, as soon as he returned home, Orgon would ask the head servant about the work, about the family members and about the house servants. During this conversation with the head servant, Orgon never forgot to ask, “What about Tartuffe?” and without waiting for a full response, he would add, “the poor thing!”
The head servant and the others thought that Tartuffe was a vagabond, but they never dared to tell Orgon, who repeated every day, “What about Tartuffe?… The poor thing!” Orgon’s absolute trust in Tartuffe reached the point where he made Tartuffe the head servant and even, after driving away his only son, transferred his property to him. As if this were not enough, he pushed his daughter Mariana to get engaged and marry Tartuffe.
The story would have ended with Orgon’s ruin, both as a wealthy man and as the master of his house, but his son, with some of the servants, prepared a trap for Tartuffe, who was exposed before Orgon through a staged scene. Finally, Orgon learned who the real Tartuffe was, who had already seized his property, was about to take his daughter and was ready to throw the rightful owner out on the street.
The scene ends implying that the matter would go to court, which might restore Orgon to his legal and natural position as the master of the house and his inherited wealth.
* * *
The plot of this comedy, which I would call a “tragi-comedy,” could be performed by our political actors. Especially by those from political parties, if their party has been taken over by a Tartuffe, like the one in Molière’s France.
(Translated from the Albanian original)
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