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Hypocrisy of religion
Hypocrisy of religion
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The two topics of religion and hypocrisy in the play go hand in hand. The overall play is intended to ultimately bring to light religious hypocrisy, but not to necessarily demoralize it. The play aims to make fun of religious hypocrisy, while hinting that it’s problem or flaw is the way it slanders and makes one question the grandeur of pure religion. Tartuffe’s character portrayal is made up solely by his outspoken and unapologetic displays of religious devotion. Through his actions and displays of religious devotion he gains Orgon’s trust and manipulates him into overlooking his family's wellbeing and overall safety. He used Orgon's want and need to feel close to God himself against him, which left Orgon blinded by ignorance and own self …show more content…
Moliere saw religion as a personal and private matter, he believed it should not be forced upon others but be a natural state of being. He ultimately believed religion should not be placed on a higher level of value in the world, more so meaning it should not be used to justify the pursuit of personal wealth and power. All of this can be implicitly seen in the play when Orgon endangers his family by trying to mix his social status with his religious beliefs by inviting Tartuffe in. Moliere was undoubtedly a Christian, but it shown in Cleante's words that there may be room to question what this identity meant to him. For example, when Cleante’s said “They cloak their spite in fair religion's name, Their private spleen and malice being made, To seem a high and virtuous crusade. Until, to mankind's reverent applause, They crucify their foe in Heaven's cause." (1.5.11), he is judging those who sin and go against their religion but still praising religion itself and claiming its …show more content…
The characters Madame Pernelle, and Mariane, follow the roles as stereotypical women in that time, whereas Dorine and Elmire push the boundaries and start to show an edgier depiction of women. Madame Pernelle is depicted as an obnoxious old woman, she is very stubborn and stuck in her ways. She believes what she says is always right which kind of gives her a hint of ignorance. For example, this stubbornness and ignorance is brought to light when Orgon tells her of what he has learned about Tartuffe and ultimately tries to convince her that he is a fake she replies with “No, no, a man of such surpassing piety could not do such a thing. You cannot shake me. I don’t believe it and you shall not make me.” (5.3.24). Mariane is an overly obedient and hide in the shadows type of girl, she obeys to her father Orgon’s every command. That is until he asks her to end her engagement with her fiancé Valere who she is madly in love with, which even then does not cause her to develop a voice of her own it is Dorine who speaks up for her. Dorine comes off as a very opinionated, sassy, and outspoken woman. Due to her position as a maid, and overall upbringing she has no problem speaking up when she feels something is wrong, no matter whether it is to a man or a woman, which was very rare in the 17th century to hear of a woman speaking out against a man. For example, when Organ is
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.
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
Shortly before Orgon saw his true nature, Tartuffe began to make statements condemning people and offering his personal ideas of what God’s will should be as if they were the genuine judgements of God. Insinuating that anybody that opposed him opposed God, Tartuffe told Cleante, “Heaven’s best interests will have been served, / When wrongdoers have got what they deserved” (Moliere 49). Tartuffe had just manipulated Orgon into disowning Damis and then claimed to have had no part, because it was the will of God. After Cleante called him out on it, he responded by saying of Damis, “Heavens does not ordain that he live here” (Moliere 49). When he later tried to seduce Elmire and she told him she feared the punishment the sin would bring, he said he “knew how to exorcise those fears” and that heaven would approve because he had “pure intention” (Moliere 55). He said, “To sin in private is not to sin at all,” and that he could take her sins and punishment upon himself (Moliere 56). It is well established in the Christian beliefs that France followed that only God could forgive sins and that it did not matter where they were committed; everything he had just said was blasphemous (Mark 2:7). By claiming that he could accept the punishment for her sin, he claimed the ability to perform a feat only Jesus himself had done (1 Peter 2:24). Tartuffe praised and elevated himself to a godlike
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.
...traight from the tavern world – survival is more important to him, unlike those of the court world who live by honour, and care not if it leads to their death, but only that they one day may come to be ‘honourable’, whether dead or alive. He closes with the comment that what he has told us is his ‘catechism’. This suggests an idea that his religion is to avoid honour, and ever to question its value.
Lastly, the women of the early 17th century to late 17th century differ greatly as it is seen in Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest, and Moliere’s Tartuffe; Miranda is characterized as an individual who is dutiful to her father, yet has the strength to revolt against him at any time, meanwhile, Dorine, Mariane, and Elmire are presented as intelligent and blunt as to any other man in the late 17th century.
While this sounds good in theory, the Grandmother once again is simply trying to save herself by any means, and appealing to a possible religious background would seriously aid her chances. The Misfit, on the other hand, is not religious at all, as he says “Jesus thrown everything off balance. It was the same case with Him as with me…” The Misfit has a more serious view of religion that gives off an existential vibe; there is no purpose to life and without divine consequence there is no clear right and wrong. O’Connor is making a statement on not just the character of the Misfit and Grandmother, but rather the society she was living in as a whole. Religion throughout history has always been a contentious subject, and the idea of “real” religious people is still debated today. By making the Misfit seem to have actually considered religion in a more meaningful way than the church-going Grandmother, O’Connor is taking a definitive stance in saying that sometimes the less religious have put more thought into their stance than the religious
Moliere’s Tartuffe is said to depict the true hypocrite because it’s main character Tartuffe, acts like a pious man while his intentions are in fact, very cruel. True to the definition of hypocrisy, Tartuffe’s actions are in complete disagreement with his thoughts. However, contrary to Gilde’s complete description of the word, Tartuffe has not ceased ‘to perceive his deception’. Tartuffe is cognizant of the difference between his thoughts and actions. When the audience is first introduced to Tartuffe, he gives himself away as a pseudo or a man who is not truly pious; “[Observing DORINE, and calling to his manser...
It is in the duality of Orgon, the believing subject, and Tartuffe, the manipulating hypocrite (or impostor), that Moliere takes his digs at the extremes of enthusiastic belief. Tartuffe plays the role of a man whose greedy actions are cloaked by a mask of overwhelming piety, modesty and religious fervor. Orgon is the head of a household who has taken Tartuffe in. We laugh at Orgon because everyone else (except his mother) knows that Tartuffe is a fake. All of Orgon's relatives warn him of Tartuffe's gluttony and of the false nature of his pious proclamations.
...d characters to point out the flaws of the Church, and now for him to praise this obviously crooked member of the Church, shows how low the respect he holds for the Church is.
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.
A theme of the play Tartuffe is justice. Justice, or the lack of justice, can be seen in the relationship between father and son, father and daughter, and guest and host. Lacanian philosophy, which focuses on language and the conflict that the male feels due to a disintegration of oneness, can be used to look at injustice as it manifests itself in the male conflict within the play.
Oxford Dictionaries defines religion as the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. Religion is important in life because it not only gives humanity order, but it also gives people a reason for life. Without religion, perhaps society would be one big pile of corrupt, evil, and selfish human beings. This is something that Meursault struggles with the concept of religion the entire novel because he has a strong belief in the truth, which opens up a wide spread of issues. Some of his beliefs about life include that it is absurd because he thinks it’s just a game, and that it is mankind’s responsibility to look over oneself because death is a traveling burden. Even during his trial he is at a disadvantage because of his inability to connect with the conventions of society. In Albert Camus’ The Stranger, Meursault loses his faith in life, God, and society because of his lack of understanding and comprehending his feelings and emotions. If the purpose of religion is to bring people together in unity and also give them a sense of hope, then why is Meursault so uninterested and unaffected by any of the events that took place during the novel such as his mother’s funeral, his relationship with Marie, or even his trial? The real purpose Meursault acts the way he does is because he loses is faith in himself and humanity. This feeling of nothingness inside Meursault is most evident in the first line of the novel, “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know,” showing no sign of grief or mourning for the loss of his mother (1). The death of his mother serves as a disruption of the status quo in his life, it is the beginning of his emotional journey of deterioration and separation from...
"I cannot improve on it, and assuredly never shall," said Molière of his satire The Misanthrope, {1} and the critic Nicholas Boileau-Despréaux concurred by accounting it one of Molière's best plays.{2} But the French public did not like it much, preferring the dramatist's more farcical The Doctor in Spite of Himself--a play that, according to tradition, was written two months after The Misanthrope's premiere to make up for the latter's lack of success.{3} In fact, The Misanthrope horrified Rousseau, who thought that its aim was, in Donald Frame's words, "to make virtue ridiculous by pandering to the shallow and vicious tastes of the man of the world."{4} Both he and Goethe after him regarded Alceste, the protagonist, as a tragic figure rather than a comic one.{5}
The Parson is an extremely humble, generous, and overall astounding person. He is not greedy in the slightest and gives to the poor as much as possible. Also, his conduct is impeccable and he is a role model for all parishioners. This description of the Parson is the complete opposite of the Friar’s true disposition and moral character. The Friar believes “Nothing good can come of commerce with such slum-and-gutter dwellers,/But only with the rich and victual-sellers” (250). The Friar only worked with the upper-class and believed “it was not fitting with the dignity of his position/[to deal] with a scum of wretched leper.” (248). One can assume from this statement that he must not be a man of God if he is so degrading of others. The Friar continually displays a particularly greedy and judgmental persona throughout the poem. As mentioned before, the Friar taking money from the poor also says a lot about his character. If he was sincerely a man of the church, he would not take from people who already live in poverty. He certainly does not follow God’s devout way of life. While the Parson gives to the poor, the Friar takes from them. Though the Friar’s behavior is looked down upon in the eyes of the church, the Parson “truly knew Christ’s gospel and would preach it/Devoutly to parishioners, and teach it,” which verifies that he truly is a religious and righteous man (491). This validates the theory that the Parson has a fine grasp on his morality while the Friar does not due to his dishonorable