Journal of Human Environmental studies
Online ISSN : 2433-6408
Print ISSN : 2185-8365
About the use of the personal pronoun “on” in the lines of Elmire in the Tartuffe of Moliere
Masahiko HIBINO
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2017 Volume 8 Pages 1-17

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Abstract

The theater of Moliere has few feminine characters who assume an important role in the piece. Le Tartuffe, one of the most famous piece, has Elmire, wife of Orgon, Mariane, his daughter, Mme Pernelle, his mother, and Dorine, his servant. Elmire represent a sympathic house wife at a glance, but in the fifth scene of forth acte, she has a dynamic role revealing the imposture of Tartuffe in using the personal pronoun “on” representing not only the indefinite third person, but also the second person and the first person. We analyze her lines in this scene and reveal how she use different significations in these lines. The frequent use of “on” instead of “I”, “we”, “you”, and “they”, produce the distance between Elmire and Tartuffe, and it attribute comical effects to the stage. Elmire is a secondary character at first glance, but, in fact, she has a very important function in the piece.

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© 2017 The University of Human environments
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