How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Act.Scene.Line). Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue. We used Richard Wilbur's translation.
Quote #7
Cléante:
"Leave vengeance to the Lord, Sir; while we live,
Our duty's not to punish, but forgive;
And what the Lord commands, we should obey
Without regard to what the world may say." (4.1.3)
Cléante contradicts what Madame Pernelle says about Tartuffe earlier in the play. Only God, he says, has the authority to judge and decide what's right.
Quote #8
Tartuffe:
"Again, Sir, let me say that I've forgiven
Damis, and thus obeyed the laws of Heaven;
But I am not commanded by the Bible
To live with one who smears my name with libel."
Cléante:
"Were you commanded, Sir, to indulge the whim
Of poor Orgon, and to encourage him
In suddenly transferring to your name
A large estate to which you have no claim." (4.1.4-5)
Cléante has a pretty good point. Has Tartuffe really done right by the "laws of Heaven"?
Quote #9
Tartuffe:
":If you're still troubled, think of things this way:
No one shall know our joys, save us alone,
And there's no evil till the act is known;
It's scandal, Madam, which makes it an offense,
And it's no sin to sin in confidence." (4.5.19)
When you were little, did you ever think that, when you closed your eyes, people couldn't see you? Crazy, right? Well, Tartuffe's argument makes just about as much sense as that one, if not less.