The Voice of Reason
Tartuffe is a 17th-century play written by Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, typically referenced by his stage name, Molière. Molière utilizes comedy in his work to prove the hypocrisy at times found within religion. During the 17th century, anyone believed righteous was viewed as a role model and it was common for people to believe the words and follow the rules of these leaders without questioning. Due to religion being a major focus of 17th-century society, Tartuffe was originally banned from public viewing as a result of objections by leaders of the Catholic Church, who felt the play was an attack on religion and people of faith. Molière uses Tartuffe, one of his main characters, to play the role of a man who manipulates others
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Even though several people believe Tartuffe is an attack on religion, it is Orgon’s brother-in-law, Cléante, that Molière employs to clarify he is not condemning religion but religious …show more content…
Molière also uses Cléante to teach how important moderation is. Cléante calls Orgon’s attention to the foolishness of his extreme actions by telling him to “Listen to yourself! You’re over the top, / Getting carried away again. Just stop. / “Moderation.” Is that a word you know? / I think you’ve learned it, but then off you go” (5.1.37-40). Orgon has not only gone to the extreme of believing in Tartuffe but after learning the truth, he flipped to the extreme of believing in no one. Cléante responds to Orgon’s reaction of religion being the cause of all his troubles by questioning, “ . . . Rather than change your ways, you turned / Like that. [Snaps fingers] Attacking holy men who’ve earned / the right to stand among the true believers. / So now all holy men are base deceivers?” (5.1.45-48). Molière demonstrates with these lines that one should recognize there are truly devout religious men in the world, even though there are men like Tartuffe who are religious impostors and take advantage of faith to deceive others. Tartuffe’s character represents how Satan deludes people into following him. In the Bible, Jesus tells his followers that Satan is out to deceive and turn people away from him. Consequently, Tartuffe’s purpose was to
In the plot, Cleante is Orgon’s brother-in-law and his main characteristic is being the person who plays the voice of reason in the chaotic situation. To prove this, the journal article titled “The Explicator,” describes Cleante as having the “‘ability to see things clearly is reflected in his ironic comments to Tartuffe’” (Saur 10). Because of this characteristic, Cleante can be viewed as the character who channels Moliere’s thoughts regarding religion. In the journal article, Saur discusses the extent to which Cleante is a “‘mouthpiece of the author’” (9). Saur’s comment can be proven true with relative ease. For example, Cleante discusses with Orgon about Tartuffe, stating “I’m talking about those sanctimonious fellows who use religious zeal to fatten their bank accounts, who attach themselves to the Court while preaching austerity, who adjust their piety to fit their vices. (Moliere 18). In this excerpt, Cleante refers to Tartuffe as a deceptive person who manipulate others by using religion as an excuse. As discussed previously, Moliere makes reference to the real life counterpart, the Cabale des Devots, who uses Christianity as an excuse to carry out their devious plans. In addition, The author inserts himself indirectly into the story by utilizing Cleante as a way to address his opponents’ criticism.
Moliere’s Tartuffe assumed set of social conventions were shaped by all the characters within the play, however the authoritative figure was established depicted by the father, Oregon. Oregon’s character assumed the role of king or lord of his household. He believed that as the head of household, he had the right to rule over his kingdom as he saw fit. His kingdom had to run smoothly in order for it to be effective. No matter how harsh, unfair and painful it was for his, wife daughter or servants.
Some of his musings involved disparaging remarks made about the church itself. He considered the church to be corrupt and exploitative...
By comparing and contrasting the two stories, "The Journey to the West" and "Tartuffe", this essay will attempt to compare and contrast the function of the endings in these two works. " The Journey to The West" is a story containing one hundred chapters. explaining how a Tripitaka, a monk, with three disciplines travels to India to retrieve the holy. sculptures and seek for enlightenment, while "Tartuffe" is a short play about Orgon, head of a. family, being manipulated by Tartuffe, a religious hypocrite, and Orgon was enlightened at the. end. Then the.
Madame Pernelle shows the family trait that she shares with her son when she states: "He's a fine man, and should be listened to. " (I, i, 44), while speaking of Tartuffe. Although they share this trait throughout the play, Orgon's eyes are finally opened at the end of the play while his mother is still held by the farce of Tartuffe. Although Tartuffe is portrayed as the main character of the play, Orgon is the character who should really be paid attention to the most. As suggested in an essay on "Tartuffe" audiences who concentrate on the character who titles the work may miss the author's point: ".vitriol and spleen vented on one man suggests that Moliere's satire of Orgon, nevermind Tartuffe, was steeped in truth.
For example, a protestant minister who was angry with the character Candide’s religious indifference refused to give him food after preaching charity right before. The protestant minister is hypocritical because he tells Candide everyone is welcome to his food, but when Candide does not reject the pope and confirm the protestant teachings he is no longer offered bread. “‘My friend,’ said the orator to him, ‘do you believe the Pope to be Anti-Christ?’ ‘I have not heard it,’ responded Candide; ‘but whether he be, or whether he be not, I want bread.’ ‘Thou dost not deserve to eat,’ said the other.” Candide repeatedly highlights the hypocrisy of the church in this manner. The way the protestant minister would refuse charity to someone who disagrees with him flies in the face of the Church's supposedly charitable mission. The book claims churches that preach love and charity, instead kill over slight differences in
Hypocrisy and religious persecution by the Roman Catholic Church is an important aspect of the Enlightenment that is discussed in the book. For instance, almost all of the religious figures repeatedly break canon law and disregard their virtuous duties. The Baron belonged to the Jesuits and his family is living better than the poor people they should have been aiding. James, the Anabaptis...
Tartuffe is nothing more than a traveling confidence man who veils his true wickedness with a mask of piety. Orgon and his mother Madame Pernelle are completely taken in by this charade. On the other hand, Cleante, Elmire, and Dorine see Tartuffe for the fake that he really is. Cleante is Orgon's wise brother who speaks elegantly about Tartuffe's hypocrisy. Through Cleante, Moliere most plainly reveals his theme.
In the book A Short and Easy Method of Prayer, Madame Guyon touches on how one can accept all things God through prayer. Through the simple steps of meditation and reading accompanied by meditation, Madame Guyon teaches the reader how to use those steps to have a relationship with God. As a person of the Quietism faith in the seventeenth century, Madam Guyon was going against the norm of the church structure. Not only was she advocating people did not need to go to weekly services, but she was also going against the male’s leaders of the church. One of the questions this book can help historians to answer is how religion shaped everyday life. However, the readers need to keep in mind the biases surrounding this book. This is just one of the many religious books of the seventeenth century and viewing the book from a 21nd mindset. Madame Guyon was one of the few female religious leaders in the seventeenth century France.
The book The Persian Letters by Montesquieu is a fictional novel that was written by the author so he could comment on the society in which he was living. This novel has served as a good example of the ideas that were present during the early Enlightenment. There are many ideas and themes that Montesquieu discusses by using the point of view of two Persian travelers in Europe that correspond with letters to each other and others back in Persia. By using a foreigner's perspective, Montesquieu was able to present things in a way that gave a much more lasting effect then if he had used two Frenchman commenting on their own country. Through the many themes in the book, one that is prevalent is Montesquieu's attitude and ideas towards religion. The use of a Muslim Persian is quite effective in commenting on Christianity because the religions are alike in that they are both monotheistic, which can be good for drawing comparisons. Montesquieu believes that God is just and obedience to his laws is crucial. He does not see anything wrong with having different religions because all of them have precepts that are useful to society. All the different religions promote obedience to the law and require their followers to be good and just. He believes that even if there was no God these ideas can still help society function correctly. Montesquieu also criticizes numerous aspects of established religion and shows that he sees it as useless and so he responds to it with indifference. He feels God's precepts are of the greatest importance and that is exactly what has been lost from the established church. Montesquieu's beliefs were also similar to many of the other philosophes. They criticized the established church and 'certainly opposed the ritual forms of both Catholic and Protestant worship'; (O'Brien et al 631).
This was the age of reason. People at this time began to apply rational thoughts to figure out and understand nature and to guide their human existence. In Moliere’s Tartuffe, this ideal is expressed through the character of the king. In the end, Tartuffe has brought an officer of the king back to take Orgon away. However, in Tartuffe’s attempt to get Orgon arrested, the king saw through him and reasoned that Tartuffe was the one to be accused and put to trial.
passing could likewise speak to the futility of Christian esteems. Consistently alluded to as "the Anabaptist," Jacques is an altruist who does not change society for the
Throughout the history of Rome, from the monarchy to the late empire, religion had played a great role in it's society and was involved in almost every aspect of the life of the Roman citizen. It was common for each house to have it's own patron god/gods and ,on special occasions, the head of the house would make a sacrifice to the personal gods of the family. Also, great festivals were usually held in honor of certain gods and would include spectacles like chariot races and Gladiatorial fights.
The play, set in the 1600’s during the witch hunt that sought to rid villages of presumed followers and bidders of the devil is a parallel story to the situation in the US in the 1950’s: McCarthyism, seeking the riddance of communist ideologists. Miller sets this story more particularly in a village called Salem, where the theocratic power governed by strict puritan rules require the people to be strong believers and forbid them to sin at risk of ending up in hell. However, the audience notices that despite this strong superficial belief in God, faith is not what truly motivates them, but it is rather money and reputation.
In Moliére’s Tartuffe (Moiré 1664), the reader is able to see a great contrast of Extreme and Moderate characters. Extreme characters being those who are seen as over the top, or very passionate people, and the moderate characters having a more calm and subtle approach to ideas. The extreme characters in this case would be Madam Pernelle, Orgon, Tartuffe, and Dorine. The moderate characters are seen as Cleante and Elmire.