Tartuffe Stage Setting
Place and setting are not as expressive and symbolic in Moliere's work of Tartuffe. Other playwrights at the time, Racine for example, used many aspects for his stage. He would use altars, temples, sea and seaport, labyrinth and a palace as deeply expressive settings to get the theme of his play across (Hope, Quentin M. “Place and Setting in Tartuffe.” PMLA, vol. 89, no. 1, Modern Language Association, 1974, pp. 42–49). Although the nature of his plays weren't symbolic they did play an important role in the overall grand scheme of the production. In Tartuffe's production the characters inhabit the concentric circles; props, set, house, city, province, universe (Hope, Quentin M. “Place and Setting in Tartuffe.” PMLA, vol. 89, no. 1, Modern Language Association, 1974, pp. 42–49). A sequence of entrance and exit scenes defines the broader aspect of the place in the play(Hope, Quentin M. “Place and Setting in Tartuffe.” PMLA, vol. 89, no. 1, Modern Language Association, 1974, pp. 42–49) Madame Pernelle's exit scene situates Orgon's family, as a disputatious and gossipy household. Orgon's entrance reveals a person who has lost his sense of place (Hope, Quentin M. “Place and Setting in Tartuffe.” PMLA, vol. 89, no. 1, Modern Language Association, 1974, pp. 42–49). The play itself takes place in Orgon's house. The house shows all the splendors of a upper income family in Paris during the 17th century. We get a glimpse of what their life is like from Madame Pernell's description during one of her monologues. Carriages rolling up to the door, lackeys laughing and joking, visits, dances, gatherings and other inventions of the devil (as she states it)(Hope, Quentin M. “Place and Setting in Tartuffe.” PMLA, vol. 89, no. 1, Modern Language Association, 1974, pp. 42–49) . Their house shows the extravagance of that lifestyle even in concept sketches. Tartuffe is produced to be set inside. Some of the more slapstick type of movements made more sense in a more confined space. If it were to be performed in a theatre space in 17th century France then it would potentially be in the Hotel de Bourgogne for its unique features and wide space (Gianni).
Tartuffe Costuming
Tartuffe's costuming was based on 17th century French Aesthetics. The foundation of any woman’s outfit remained her linen chemise or shift, on top of which she would either wear a boned bodice or a separate pair of stays. Stays were a sort of stiff corset that originally sought to create a smooth surface to prevent the wrinkling of expensive dress textiles, but came to be appreciated for their ability to shape the woman’s body to the desired silhouette of the period (Young). Although this was the foundation of most women's outfits you would be able to tell if a woman was from a higher status based on what type of fabrics and embellishments she would wear. The first excerpt explains the overall fashion during the 1660’s as expressed by the Victoria and Albert Museum. “Typical of 1660s fashion are the long waist, off-the-shoulder neckline and short, full, cartridge-pleated sleeves. The bodice fastening took the form of a lacing through the eyelets at the back. It has a complex understructure of boned channels and layers of linen, with a channel for a separate busk at the front. A petticoat of matching satin, with a padded roll underneath, would have been worn with the bodice, as part of a formal ensemble. The bodice is decorated with a two-colored silk cord in mushroom and cream, and a silk bobbin lace with silk-wrapped parchment, in green, pink, yellow, black, cream and tan.” (Young).
Gianni, Dottore. “The Theatre in 17th Century France III: French Theatre Spaces and Spectacle; French Actors and Theatrical Troupes.” The Theatre in 17th Century France III: French Theatre Spaces and Spectacle; French Actors and Theatrical Troupes, 1 Jan. 1970, http://heironimohrkach.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-theatre-in-17th-century-france-iii.html.
Hope, Quentin M. “Place and Setting in Tartuffe.” PMLA, vol. 89, no. 1, Modern Language Association, 1974, pp. 42–49, https://doi.org/10.2307/461666.
Young, Justine De. “1660-1669.” Fashion History Timeline, 7 July 2020, https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1660-1669/.
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