Tartuffe is not only the most performed work of Molière. It has become the subject of so many discussions, studies, and controversies that not only its storyline and plot are well known, but also its text.

Besides the name of the central character, which has become an adjective synonymous with "hypocrite," there are phrases and verses from the work that have entered everyday language. In a true poetic text, form and content are inextricably linked, to the point that it is extremely unlikely for one to exist without the other.

However, in the case of Tartuffe, this is not the case. Molière did not write a poem; he wrote a play in verse as he could have written it in prose. His goal was to portray the hypocrite and the unbearable nature of the credulous and obstinate God-fearing. All of this, as well as the plot of the work, could very well exist without verse.