Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The good and bads of absolutism in france
The age of absolutism of the french revolution
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The good and bads of absolutism in france
Warren Wolf
Dr. Stoff
Honors 203: Foundations of Modern Civilization
31 March 2014
Tartuffe, a comedic play written by the French playwright Molière, is about a seemingly pious man named Tartuffe and his dealings with Orgon and Orgon's household. Molière wrote the play for the purpose of revealing what people with absolute power and “divine power” can do with their power and in the play he both endorsed and critiqued absolutism and the "divine right" of "kings".
Tartuffe follows the interactions between Tartuffe, Orgon, and Orgon's family. Orgon believes Tartuffe is pious and truly a man of God, however most of the family does not like Tartuffe. They believe Tartuffe is faking his piety and using it for his own gain. As a result of his high regard for Tartuffe, Orgon decides to offer Tartuffe a chance to marry his daughter, Mariane. Orgon had already agreed to let Mariane marry Valère, who she loved and wanted to marry; but she would be forced to do what her father said. Damis, Orgon’s son, overhears Tartuffe express desire for and try to seduce Orgon's wife, Elmire. When Damis goes to his father and accuses Tartuffe of expressing desire for Elmire, Orgon does not believe him and kicks him out of the house. Knowing that Tartuffe is not what he claims to be, Elmire gets Orgon to hide under a table while she and Tartuffe meet. When Orgon hears Tartuffe's clear advancements on his wife he is outraged and kicks Tartuffe out of the house. However, before these events had occurred, Tartuffe had gotten the deed to Orgon's house through manipulation. Since Tartuffe has the deed to Orgon's house, he legally can have Orgon and his family evicted and decides to do so. When Tartuffe came to the King to try to have Orgon evicted, the king use...
... middle of paper ...
...ummarize, through this idea of the king is to the people as the father is to the family we can see that in the play Molière does indeed critique absolutism and shows that it indeed can have major flaws.
In conclusion, Molière's play Tartuffe was written to have a plot line that involves hypocrisy. Molière's purpose behind the play was to expose the hypocrisy he saw happening in the world at the time. He also expresses his opinion on absolutism and the "divine right" of the king. He might seem to endorse absolutism based on the king portrayed in the play, but if you look in the context of the father being "king" of his household it can seen that Molière also critiques absolutism and the "divine right" of the king in the play. Overall, the play covers hypocrisy as the main topic and shows both a positive and negative light on absolutism and the divine right of kings.
Tartuffe is the embodiment of the seven sins masquerading as the exact opposite. His gluttony is on display in scene four when Dorine informs Orgon of his overconsumption. Tartuffe has blinded Orgon to his nature and made him disregard his wife’s wellbeing. Lust and Envy are most likely his greatest follies, leading to his ultimate downfall. Tartuffe accepts Orgon’s daughter as his bride and lust after his wife. Tartuffe makes no attempt to deny the engagement which was conscripted because of his position to Orgon. Tartuffe under the guise of making sure Elaine stay pure reporting her every movement to Odom uses the opportunity to confesses she is his “peace, my solace, my salvation on you depends my bliss-or desolation.” (3.3.79-80) He demonstrates his pride when attempting to seduce Elmire comforting her concerns by telling her “if Heavens is all that holds you back, don’t worry. I can remove that hindrance in a hurry.” (4.7.95-96) Tartuffe so entranced with getting what he wants, he makes the same mistake as Lucifer, calling for action against Heaven. Tartuffe is the embodiment of sloth, acting indifferent towards others in his pursuits; from Elaine being ill to feigning defense of Damis. Tartuffes’s final stop on the “how damned are you” show culminates with wrath and greed. When he is confronted by Orgon after lusting for his wife, Tartuffe divulges his intentions to acquire all Orgon’s
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliere wrote Tartuffe during the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment. One of the main characteristics of the Age of Enlightenment was a push towards using reason over emotions to make decisions. The leaders of the enlightenment truly believed that the world could be made a better place if people did this. In Tartuffe, when the characters use their emotions to make their decisions they find themselves in undesirable situations. While those who let their emotions rule them find their lives spinning out of control, there are other characters in the play who try to approach them with reason and logic. Out of these characters the lady’s maid Dorine stands out as the voice of reason.
A man will only see what he wants to see. In "Tartuffe", by Moliere, we are introduced to Orgon, a man so blinded by his obsession with Tartuffe that he falls subject to his deception. Tartuffe pretends to be a devout, pious, and humble man, while in reality is a religious hypocrite. Throughout the play we are presented with many characters who try in vain to "open" Orgon's eyes to Tartuffe's lies. He refuses to accept the fact that Tartuffe is an imposter and is more of a hypocrite than a reverent man. "My mother, children, brother and wife could die, And I'd not feel a single moments pain...oh, had you'd seen Tartuffe as I first know him, your heart, like mine, would have surrendered to him". Orgon makes this completely irrational declaration regarding Tartuffe. This nonsensical statement proves just how deeply fixated he was with believing that Tartuffe was a righteous and honest individual. Only in the end does Orgon come to the realization that he's been fooled all along, and finally comes to accept the fact that Tartuffe is a lying, scheming fraud.
...hat she was nothing more than a doll for Torvald, she decides to leave the house. She sees no hope in Torvald, who until the end was concerned about his reputation and could not understand his wife. This could have been prevented if they ever had serious talks and understood each other. They needed to get into a relationship where nothing was covered up, and deal with the ugly unwanted sides of another by communication.
When a character in the play Tartuffe talks about seeing, they aren't talking about actually seeing, but understanding or believing. The problem in the story concerned with not seeing, which is what starts this sequence of events.
"Ah. And Tartuffe?"(21). When she tells him of Tartuffe's unconcern and zealous consumption in spite of Elmire's condition, he says, "Poor fellow!" Poor Orgon is so caught up in his own
Literature is often used to convey messages to their audience, through art, play or poetry. Whether it is intentional or not, an author can not help to include some aspect of the political events that happened during that time period. Two movements discussed in this essay are Enlightenment (17th – 18th Century) and Romanticism (18th – 19th Century) and through literature, we come to acknowledge the presence and representation of evil and how they shape society. Enlightenment thinkers value reason, rationality and moderation, whereas Romanticism encouraged imagination, emotion and individual sensibility. Tartuffe by Moliere demonstrates all of the Enlightenment values in his play, whereas Frankenstein by Mary Shelley emphasizes emotion, passion and the natural world. This essay will explore ways in which human reason and society can be evil and deceiving; although some individuals may think that evil is instilled in us from the day we were born.
Elmire understands that she is a woman and that men see her as a sexual object. She actually uses this to her favor. She uses Tartuffe’s affection for her against him. She makes him look like a fool after she seduces him. This woman understands that gender roles for men and women are very different and that she can use men to get her way. This gives Elmire a type of freedom. Elmire is an independent woman that knows how to get what she wants. In the play Elmire wants Tartuffe out of her husband’s house. She does not understand why everyone likes him so much. Elmire has an idea; she decides she will seduce Tartuffe. When...
Tartuffe is a comedy, but it still follows these characteristics. Firstly the appearance of a tragic hero. In this play, our tragic hero is not Tartuffe for whom the play is named, but is instead Orgon, the head of the household where the play takes place. Orgon is our tragic hero because he really isn’t a bad person. He isn’t seeking to ruin anyone with hidden plans or deception, he is just very unaware of what’s happening right under his nose. The tragic flaw that Orgon shows is just taking everything that tartuffe says as absolute truth and not questioning it at all. This is what ultimately leads to his error in judgement which is telling his daughter that she is to marry tartuffe and not Valere who she’s already proposed to. Of course, this doesn’t
Moliere rocked the 17th century French world with his comedy "Tartuffe" in 1664. Although, religious factions kept the play banned from theatres from 1664-1669, "Tartuffe" emerged from the controversy as one of the all-time great comedies. Tartuffe is a convincing religious hypocrite. He is a parasite who is sucking Orgon, the rich trusting father, for all he is worth. Orgon does not realize that Tartuffe is a phony, and caters to his every whim. For instance, he reneges on his promise to let his daughter Mariane, marry Valere. Instead he demands that she wed Tartuffe, whom she despises. He also banishes his own son, Damis, from his house for speaking out against Tartuffe and all of his son's inheritance is promised to Tartuffe.
aims in writing the play was to show his support for the king and that
Molière’s play “Tartuffe and Oscar Wilde’s play “The Importance of Being Earnest” both demonstrate a comical portrait of hypocrisy. In “Tartuffe”, the main character Tartuffe is seen as a religious hypocrite who takes advantage of Orgon’s wealth and agrees to marry his daughter, Mariane against her wishes. In “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Jack and Algernon both lie about their identity to get the woman of their dreams. The authors use the concept of double personalities in the play to reveal the deceit and lies to represent the theme of hypocrisy. In fact, hypocrisy is not only displayed in the characters but in the play as a whole. Additionally, the plays are both hypocrital in ways that they do not follow the structure of comedy.
Imagine the Paris home of Orgon, who meets Tartuffe at church and is completely taken in by him...so much so, that he foolishly not only invites this relative stranger, Tartuffe, to live in his home, but also promises his daughter (Mariane) in marriage to the man, though she has promised her heart to Valère.
Tartuffe is a satirical comedic play written by Molière in 1664. It is focused around the family of Orgon and the character of Tartuffe, who has become Orgon’s personal holy man. Before being brought into Orgon’s home, Tartuffe was nothing more than a common beggar who learned how to act pious. Throughout this play, we see Orgon give everything he owns to Tartuffe: his love, his money, his daughter, and even the deed to his house. While everyone else in the household sees Tartuffe for who he really is, Orgon remains blind to it throughout most of the play. Orgon is warned many times by different members of the household, including his own son, yet he only chooses to lash out against those speaking. From early on in the play we as readers are able to recognize that Tartuffe is no more than a hypocrite and Orgon is a blind fool. In the play Tartuffe by Molière there are several different important themes that impact this work,
In conclusion, Shakespeare has been accused of inconsistency with Hamlet only because he has kept up the distinction which there is in nature, between the understandings and the moral habits of men, between the absurdity of their ideas and the absurdity of their motives. Hamlet is not a fool, but he makes himself so. His folly, whether in his actions or speeches, comes under the category of impropriety of intention.