Dorine, the lady's maid to Mariane, daughter of Orgon, is
the most reasonable of all the characters in Moliere's
Tartuffe. When the foolish zealot, Orgon, wishes to insure his path
to heaven by having his daughter marry the hypocrite Tartuffe, it is Dorine who objects
vociferously, telling him that Mariane will be miserable and may cheat on her husband.
She forces Damis to hide in a closet rather than confront him and cause an argument in
Act III when Tartuffe makes advances upon his mother,
Elmire.
Dorine, the servant, is possessed of much common
sense and practicality as she reunites Mariane and Valere. As is often the case,
Moliere portrays the aristocracy as absurb and the servants as much more efficient.
Dorine is a raisonneur, speaking for Moliere, mocking the hypocrisy
of Tartuffe and providing commentary and correcting the mistaken ideas of others. But,
Dorine is also a character in her own right.
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