Tartuffe, a hypocritical man confided in false devotion, monopolizes the confidence of Orgon, a wealthy bourgeois and undertakes to seduce his wife Elmire. Having been unmasked by the latter, he strives to precipitate the ruin of his benefactor.

M. Jourdain is a cloth merchant who wants to become a gentleman, learning dance, music, fencing and philosophy. Mme Jourdain is worried about Dorante's expenses and prefers her daughter Lucile to marry Cléonte. The two young men's servants use subterfuge to get M. Jourdain to accept Cléonte as son-in-law. They fake the arrival of the Grand Turk's son in Paris, and, in an Oriental ballet, confer upon M. Jourdain the title of Mammamouchi, his daughter marrying the son of the Grand Turk, who is none other than Cléonte in disguise.

Mammy has a grandson she adores even though he is a good for nothing. One day Maurice disappears and Mammy becomes blind. When Maurice finally announces his return the fond old lady is overjoyed. Unfortunately, Maurice's plane crashes and catches fire. The young man is reported missing, presumably dead. Pierre, Mammy's husband, can't bring himself to announce such a shocking news. Desperate, he finds no other solution than subterfuge : he will ask a young couple to pass themselves off as Maurice and his girlfriend.

Felix is a middle-aged bourgeois husband. Much to his discomfort, he learns that his wife Gabrielle is carrying on with a young man--a very young man. Rather than express outrage, Felix decides that there's something lacking in him. He spends the rest of the picture trying to keep his wife by altering his own personality and outlook.

Sophie de Réan, an unruly mischievous little girl grows up under the thumb of Mademoiselle, her strict governess. Following her mother's death, she is entrusted to Mme de Fleurville, her aunt, who at the same time hires Mademoiselle to further Sophie's education. A few years later, the little girl has blossomed into a lovely young lady. She is now in love with Paul, her cousin, who, unlike her, used to be a model child. Unfortunately Mademoiselle will not hear of a union between them. Instead she wants Sophie to marry Armand, the conceited son of Prefect Hugon. To make matters worse, Paul, the good boy, unexpectedly turns into a revolutionary, who defends the Republic on the barricades against Louis Napoléon's coup. Not being one of the victors, Paul is forced into exile. Will Sophie finally yield and accept the established order or will she react in her usual rebellious way and follow the one she loves ?

Madame Millois, an ambitious mother, thinks she has found the perfect match for her daughter Arlette, Count de Tremblay-Matour. Alas, the ideal husband happens to be a crook. On the night of the wedding, the fake nobleman robs his wife and abandons her. While the outraged Madame Millois looks for the real Count de Tremblay, Arlette seeks consolation with Maxime, a childhood friend. At last, the real count is found. Unsurprisingly, he is furious to learn that, legally, he is Arlette's husband. After a while though, he mellows and accepts to "remain" Arlette's husband.