How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Act.Scene.Line). Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue. We used Richard Wilbur's translation.
Quote #7
Mariane:
"He's welcome to my money; take it, do,
But don't, I pray, include my person too.
Spare me, I beg you; and let me end the tale
Of my sad days behind a convent veil."
Orgon:
"A convent! Hah! When crossed their amours,
All lovesick girls have the same thought as yours." (4.3.4-5)
Orgon writes off Mariane's real concerns as the idiotic fantasies of "lovesick girls" everywhere. He has no interest in actually listening to her.
Quote #8
Elmire:
"My taste is for good-natured rectitude,
And I dislike the savage sort of prude
Who guards her virtue with her teeth and claws
And tears men's eyes out for the slightest cause;" (4.3.12)
Elmire advocates what you might call a relaxed – but certainly not lax – attitude toward virtue.
Quote #9
Elmire:
"Ah, Sir, if that refusal made you smart,
It's little that you know of woman's heart,
Or what that heart is trying to convey
When it resists in such a feeble way!
Always, at first our modesty prevents
The frank avowal of tender sentiments;" (4.5.4)
Elmire uses undesirable stereotypes about women in order to manipulate Tartuffe.