Equiano's Hypocrisy In Tartuffe

In Moliére’s Tartuffe, the matriarch and patriarch are tricked by the titular character, Tartuffe, to abandon logic and reason due to his emotional religious displays. Tartuffe’s passionate presentations of supposedly pious acts would have been considered very improper during this time period, but he somehow manages to persuade Orgon and Madame Pernelle with his hypocrisy. This persuasion goes so far as to Orgon becoming obsessed with Tartuffe and forgoing the interests and well-being of his family. This is evidenced after the family tries to trick Tartuffe into revealing his inappropriate feelings towards Elmire, as after he is caught, he speaks in a contrived manner to Orgon, saying, “Though the world takes me for a man of worth, I’m truly

Unlike Tartuffe, Equiano’s narrative is not limited just to the ruling familial class, but to all those involved with the slave trade. Equiano points out many instances of hypocrisy in the European’s deeds, including their justification of slavery as saving the “savage” African people by introducing Christianity to them. In contrast to Equiano’s home village, where he describes his people as very clean, modest, and traditional, he paints the picture of European pirates, writing, “…I came among a people who did not circumcise, and ate without washing their hands” (423). In this, Equiano clearly shows that the appeal for saving the “savage” people of Africa is a thinly veiled justification for the European’s greed for more trade and commerce. Equiano’s vivid depictions of being torn from his family, vicious mistreatment on the slave ship, and fearful recollections of the unknown are meant to appeal to the everyday man and woman, the chief difference between his narrative and Tartuffe. Equiano uses logic in his argument against slavery, arguing that there is no justification for greed, saying, “Is it not enough that we are torn from our country and friends, to toil for your luxury and lust of gain?” (427). His presentation of the hypocrisy of slavery, justified by religious liberation and ulterior greed, is meant to point the finger at all those involved, from the pirates who transport slaves to those who consume the goods produced by the slave