Compare And Contrast Candide And Tartuffe

Europe saw a time of literature works of great and broadly inclusive significance. The period, commonly known as the Age of Enlightenment, saw intellectual movements incite the rise of the French Revolution through philosophical ideas. These group of intellectuals included Moliere and Voltaire, two professional writers who used satirical approaches in their works to express their idea for challenging the absolute right to rule and promote ideas for the annulment of the social class system. The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis into the life and works of the two writers.

Moliere and Voltaire were influential thinkers of the Enlightenment. They tried to assail all the defects in the French society. Their actions were influenced by Christianity and the Catholic Church. In their time, the Catholic Church was still very powerful, but there seemed to emerge an alternative to faith and religion. The writers, through critical and rational thinking, wrote their works exposing and criticizing social vices in the form of contemporary politics and other important issues.

Tartuffe, a play composed by Moriele, and Candide, a philosophical tale by Voltaire, were both meant to address the question of religion in society. Tartuffe talks about the views of the bourgeois class toward religion in France in the 17th century. Though the play is satirized, its main focus was on hypocrisy in religion. As portrayed in the play, Moliere advocates for the belief in religious moderation and criticizes fanatical conduct and religious hypocrisy. On the other hand, Candide ridiculed Europe in the 18th century by condemning the clergy’s hypocritical behaviors. As evident from the tale, Voltaire recommended the relevance of free thinking and scientific