Hypocrisy In Molière's Tartuffe

People blindly follow the king, similarly to how Orgon and others blindly follow Tartuffe. King Louis XIV ruled the country for seventy-two years, during which time people grew to trust that he was doing what was best for the country, without ever knowing what he was doing. Moliere states to the King: “ it is a piece of great temerity on my part to come and importune a great monarch in the midst of his glorious conquest” (Moliere, Second Petition). Moliere is captivated by the King and believes that he is not worthy of his time, but seeks assistance regardless. Orgon, in contrast, believes that

Established within Act Three are Tartuffe’s true motives, which reveals his disgraceful nature and his desires of lust towards Elmire.(Wilbur) Such as, Tartuffe states during scene three, “I thereupon surrendered to your beauty...Love without scandal and, pleasure without fear.”(Wilbur) This scene holds a significant impact in the play, by confirming that the family’s complaints against Tartuffe have been justified and that Orgon is certainly being manipulated. As well as, this recognition of Tartuffe's false nature reveals the severity of Orgon’s arrogance. Moliere highlights within the second half of the play, the extremes of pride and how mankind struggles to face it.

John Proctor’s act of tearing up his confession, in “The Crucible”, was in fact believable. His dynamic character is shown throughout the play as he transitions from that of an adulterous spouse to a caring husband and friend. His final act of defiance shows how virtuous and righteous his character is. He proves not only to his friends and family, but God too, that he is a principled puritan.

William Shakespeare’s “Othello” was a great example to showcase sacrifices made by characters to accomplish revenge or obtain power. Shakespeare told the story of Othello, a tragic hero, who was manipulated by Iago, which motivated him to kill his own wife. From this story, Shakespeare’s main goal was to portray characters making sacrifices for their ambitions. From this play, Shakespeare puts forth the idea of sacrifice through pointing out the importance of reputation and how sacrifices must be made to silence the truth.

French classicism was the age in which Tartuffe by Moliere was written in. Technically, Tartuffe, a satire, was created during French Neoclassicism; However, for this research, I will be focusing on French Classicism. Moliere (a.k.a Jean- Baptiste Poquelin) is known for his comedies that follow the style of Commedia Dell'arte. Moliere also became a friend to King Louis XIV, who

Cleante and Dorine represent the ideas of Enlightenment thinkers. Cleante was not fooled by the Tartuffe, and recognized him for who he was, right off the bat. He politely and carefully tries to warn Orgon of who is messing with. But Orgon does not listen to him. Orgon says to Cleante, when Cleante is trying to talk some sense into him, “If only you could know him as I do, you would be his true disciple, too. The universe, your ecstasy would span. This is a man… who… ha!... well such a man. Behold him. Let him teach you profound peace. When we first met, I felt my troubles cease. Yes, I was changed after I talked with him. I saw my wants and needs as just a whim! Everything that's written, all that’s sung, The world and you and me, it's all dung! Yes, its crap! And isn’t that a wonder! The real world- it’s just some spell we’re under! Hes taught me to love nothing and no one! Mother, father, wife, daughter son- They could die right now, I’d feel no pain.”(Moliere 152). Cleante simply replies, with sarcasm, “What feelings you’ve developed, how humane.”(Moliere 152) Cleante uses such sarcasm responding to Orgon, because, he sounds ridiculous, and Cleante knows it. Cleante is able to think for himself, rather than looking to someone else for answer, and he tried to solve the problem by talking to Orgon about his admiration for Tartuffe. Dorine seems to be the most

In a setting of Salem, Massachusetts 1692, religion is the direct reflection of one's social standing. Reputation is extremely important for the town, as it is your only way to get a fair hearing and respect from the people. The protectiveness of reputation is necessary in The Crucible to justify yourself when presented with fallacious arguments. In this play the importance of reputation is revealed though the uses of ethos, logos and pathos.

During the time when Othello was first performed, society functioned in a hierarchical order, with God being placed at the top. In this way, it was believed that beings were ranked in a pyramidal fashion, all falling under the influence of the divine rule. Shakespeare was well aware of the prevalence of the societal mindset and took advantage of his audience 's beliefs by incorporating religious references, especially the usage of the word “heaven”, in order to not only make his works relatable to his audience but to enforce the underlying ideas he wanted to convey. The characters are often seen making religious exclamations in times of despair and begging to heaven and God for guidance and safety. In Othello, Shakespeare emphasizes the inability of religion to protect from harm in order to bring attention to the dangers of placing trust in a false security. The failure of God’s protection forces the audience to contemplate if religion is a legitimate form of protection or rather fuel for a false reality.

Olson, Rebecca. “€Too Gentle: Jealousy and Class in Othello.” Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies, vol. 15, no. 1, 2015, pp. 3–25. MLA International Bibliography EBSCOhost, doi:10.1353/jem.2015.0006. Accessed 14 Mar. 2017.

A different significant characteristic of the enlightenment is the desire for equivalence and self-respect for all, the thought that all have a set of basic human rights. The Enlightenment questioned many of the former philosophies, one of which was ignorance. Tartuffe exemplifies these characteristics through the character Dorine. Dorine is Orgon’s lady-maid, in other words, someone with a low social standing because she is a member of the working class, and presumably ignorant because of this low social status. As first seen in the first few line of (Act 1, scene 1)

While unique characters are very valuable in various forms of literature, authors can successfully utilize stereotyped characters to achieve author’s purpose. The character of Mariane in Tartuffe by Molière is a stereotypical “damsel in distress”, as the other characters must help her while they combat the hypocrisy of Tartuffe. When Orgon, blinded by his reverence for Tartuffe, announces that Mariane is to marry Tartuffe, it causes conflict between characters. Mariane has to express her opinion and defy her father, so that she will not marry a hypocrite and liar, despite being a generally submissive person. In Molière’s Tartuffe, the author successfully employs a conventional character through Mariane, to demonstrate the strife that fanaticism and

Being a maid doesn’t detain her from saying what she thinks. This gets her in trouble most of the time throughout the play, however she is one of the central characters that can see through Tartuffe’s mask. Dorine uses her ability to reason to demonstrate Tartuffe’s hypocrisy. When Orgon and Dorine are discussing Tartuffe’s supposedly holiness she is able to demonstrate how in the wrong Orgon is to believe that. She states, “It seems to me a holy man of merit / Wouldn’t brag of what he might inherit / Even gifts in heaven, he won’t mention. / To live a humble life is his intention. / Yet he wants something back? / That’s just ambition” (2.2.55-59). This makes Orgon really upset. He cannot seem to reason. Dorine also uses deception for good. Ruth Grant states, “Doing the right thing also may require deception, or ethical posturing, or both; some forms of hypocrisy may be perfectly acceptable or even laudable” (p. 2). Dorine uses deception to protect Marianne. When Orgon is telling Marianne that she must marry Orgon, Dorine hides to be able to hear everything they are discussing. According to Liz Brent “One can surmise that Dorine has intentionally hidden herself from view in order to overhear this conversation. Thus, Dorine has employed a means of deception--hiding and eavesdropping--in order to protect the interests of Marianne” (n. pag). Dorine advises Marianne to use deception to buy some time, to avoid having to be

This is an analysis of the lines 260-279 of the third scene of the third act of Shakespeare’s Othello.

Jean- Baptiste Molière’s play “Tartuffe” is an unquestionably humorous comedy. The play defines the hypocritical acclaimed “Christians” we have in society. Daily, many people are blinded by admiration of religious figures who they believe are Gods disciples and can lead them to the gates of heaven. In “Tartuffe”, the author uses irony, satire, and tone to uncover a man follies of unreligious faith, the lust of women, money, and power.

Comedy plays an important role in the majority of Molière’s writing. It sets the tone for the play, entertains the audience and most importantly helps the playwright to achieve their theatrical objectives. In Le Tartuffe the nature of the comedy used is satirical. This essay will examine why Molière was inclined to use this style of comedy and how the comedic techniques accentuate the main theme of the play.