Importance Of Religion In Tartuffe

“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 demonstrate the hypocrisy at times found within religion. During the 17th century, anyone believed to be 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

Molière also uses Cléante to teach the importance of moderation. Cléante calls to Orgon’s attention 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.” ( ) 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?” 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 is a representation of how Satan deludes people. 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 deceive Orgon and take everything from him, resulting in his turning against religion completely. There are people who pretend to be righteous, but this is not a reason to classify all righteous people as imposters since overreactions can lead to the wrong conclusion and disastrous results. Molière’s intent is to show that moderation is important in all areas of