Irony and Humor

Irony and Humor

Two popular writing techniques used by many of the enlightenment’s great were irony and humor. Great writers such as Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliere and Francois-Marie Arouet De Voltaire made excellent use of these techniques. With humor, both writers wrote stories which kept their audience involved in funny situations, while with irony the writers were able to explain their underlying messages. Born seventy-two years apart, they are a superb example of how these techniques were carried out over time. Moliere’s Tartuffe and Voltaire’s Candide are classic texts, which unmask man and society through their clever dark comedy. After reading these two works, one will undoubtedly see how similar the two author’s perceptions were during this great awakening.

Moliere’s Tartuffe is a great ironic story centered on one man’s family and the trials and tribulations throughout their household. The protagonist in Tartuffe is Orgon. Orgon is portrayed as an over-trusting fool. He is over concerned with his beloved guest to such great extent that he becomes blind to the obvious fallacies that stand before him. As said in scene two by Dorine, “. . . but he’s quite lost his senses since he fell beneath Tartuffe’s infatuating spell. He calls him brother, and loves him as his life, preferring him to mother, child, or wife,” Orgon has put his family and the truth aside from him and has lost his reason (21-22). It is Orgon’s state of mind which this story actually thrives upon. Without the fool, there is no one to take advantage of.

Similarly, Voltaire’s Candide is an ironic story centered on one man’s trials and tribulations through life. The protagonist in the story is Candide. Candide is portrayed as a...

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...consists of noblemen, middle class, and peasants. Someone in each story was lifted a little too high in regard, also while someone from each story needed to regain his ability to reason. Both of these faults are the causes of many of the stories’ problems. The people of their time could see how the stories ran quite parallel to their reality. As well today’s reader can draw certain parallels to his world.

Someone once said, “Great minds think alike.” Moliere and Voltaire prove this statement. Works such as Tartuffe and Candide pushed forth the idea of reason and logic during the enlightenment. A reader from any time period will see how close these two authors’ stories are. The underlying themes and conflicts are universal and the characters easy to relate to. If the authors were not known, it could be possible to mistake both works for a single writer.