Scene 4 is a highly comic scene which leaves no doubt in anyone's mind that Orgon is completely duped and is also blinded in his devotion to Tartuffe. The comic technique of this relies basically upon the servant-master relationship in which we have the shrewd servant who ridicules the stupid master and the master who is never aware that he is being ridiculed. The other comic technique is simply the use of repetition. That is, when Orgon shows no interest in his wife's condition, she then tells him how content and well off Tartuffe is. That Orgon then feels sorry for Tartuffe and ignores his wife's condition indicates the extent of his folly. This lack of concern verifies Dorine's statement earlier that Orgon does not care for his wife or children and could easily dispose of them in his enthusiastic attention to Tartuffe. Dorine's closing remarks carry a sharp point of wit as she laughs in her master's face without his knowing it.
In Scene 5, Cléante tries to admonish Orgon for being so wrapped up in Tartuffe that he does not even realize that the servant is ridiculing him, but at the same time he admits that Orgon is deserving of the ridicule.
Orgon's first attempted defense of Tartuffe is highly revealing in that, when he tries to explain exactly what virtues Tartuffe possesses, he can only stutter, "He's a man . . . a man who . . . an excellent man." Obviously, Orgon is so influenced by this man that he has apparently lost all ability to evaluate anything rationally.
