The story takes place in the home of wealthy Orgon, where Tartuffe – a con man and religious imposter – has insinuated himself. He succeeds magnificently in winning the respect and devotion of the head of the house and then tries to marry his daughter and seduce his wife and scrounge the deed to the property. He nearly gets away with it, but an emissary from the king arrives in time to recover the property, free Orgon, and haul Tartuffe off to jail by exposing his duplicity. All the while, Moliere mercilessly examines the hypocrisy that men can commit and the dangers that imperil those who would believe only what they choose to believe despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary.
