This book is the second part of an important experimental trilogy in text archaeology of all the various ideas about the 1664 and later versions. Tartuffe ou L'Imposteur, (Tartuffe or the Hypocrite), is Moliere's most famous play and was first performed at Versailles in 1664. It attacked religious hypocrisy and as a result caused much scandal and was then banned. Tartuffe means 'hypocrite' especially one who shows affected religious piety and exaggeratedly feigns virtue. Revised versions of Tartuffe were performed at various times between 1667 and 1669. McBride provides a reconstruction of...

Moliere et son premier Tartuffe sheds light on one of the most enduring mysteries in world theatre: the nature, structure and purpose of the first and no longer extant version of his most controversial play, Le Tartuffe. The study provides a succinct overview of the problem and a close analysis of events leading up to the original performance at Versailles. A careful reading of Moliere's own defence of this version situates its overriding inspiration in his wish to satirise specific religious groupings, whilst hoping vainly to avoid censure from the religious establishment of his day. There...

The Lettre sur la comedie de l'Imposteur is the only work of any length which does full justice to comedy in the 17th century as a serious dramatic form. It is an important document in its own right and because it is inseparable from the historical context of Moliere's Le Tartuffe ou l'Imposteur and the circumstances which influenced its development.