How Does Tartuffe Fit Into The Enlightenment Era

Contrasting Moliere 's "Tartuffe" and Voltaire 's "Candide" , each author took a different approach in expressing their true opinions of institutional religion. In "Tartuffe", the main idea of the poem comes from hypocrisy of moderation and religion. In the beginning, we find Madame Pernelle criticizing Orgon 's family and fellow associates about their way of thinking and living. She talks about how they are not living as Tartuffe is and how they are fools to do other wise. In reality, Tartuffe is an ungodly hypocrite who uses his priest identity to mask his crimes and true identity.

During the late 17th and 18th centuries, Europe was going through a cultural and intellectual change and movement, known as the Enlightenment. During this time, writers, philosophers, and politicians heavily defended newer and modern ways of thinking. These ideas and people would eventually set the standards for today’s world and way of thought. The writers, philosophers, and politicians of this age went above and beyond to champion modern ways of thinking.

From the late 1500’s to the late 1700’s, the Enlightenment period occurred. Thinkers and philosophers across Europe created ideas that changed the way people thought. For example, John Locke thought of the idea that everyone had natural rights. These rights consisted of the right to life, liberty, and property. Voltaire had the idea that the power lies in the hands of the people and their elected government.

Moliere states to the King: “ it is a piece of great temerity on my part to come and importune a great monarch in the midst of his glorious conquest” (Moliere, Second Petition). Moliere is captivated by the King and believes that he is not worthy of his time, but seeks assistance regardless. Orgon, in contrast, believes that

The Intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment occupies an important position in the growth of Western civilization. How it totally affected society, especially French society is a subject of debate, from the beginning of the Revolution to today. In fact, two schools of interpretation are involved. The first school is the conservative school, Edmund Burke is the best example.

The Enlightenment was a period of time that stressed the importance of reason and individual ideas. Many philosophers published works criticizing a country’s monarch or divulging the flaws they saw in a system within the government, such as the justice system. The Enlightenment also stressed the importance of education, and as a result of this, literacy rates experienced a major upward trend. Now able to read the philosopher’s works, a larger sum of people now were educated on the corruptions within their government. This caused a questioning of traditional practices, and people began to believe they could revise their government.

Voltaire’s Candide: Commentary on the French Enlightenment Established as the “greatest of the French satirists”, François-Marie Arouet, later to be known as Voltaire, has been praised throughout history for his reconfiguration of freedom of thought during France’s Enlightenment. This Enlightenment was a movement that supported and explored the application of using rational thought to explain natural occurrences. Voltaire uses his novel Candide to bring the hypocrisy of the world around him to the attention of the public while challenging those at the helm of this movement. Candide criticizes the societal aspects of the French Enlightenment, such as organized religion and class systems, while still staying connected to its original biases.

The Era of Enlightenment was a cultural movement in Europe that favored reason in place of belief. It challenged the accepted views of the time which, in turn, endangered the power of absolute rulers and their system of government. This era influenced a majority of the European population, however, the monarchs of the time did not exemplify those same ideals. Catherine II of Russia’s views on serfs and peasants are a great example of a ruler defying the enlightenment movement. In her “Decree on Serfs” she states that “serfs and peasants...owe their landlords proper submission and absolute obedience in all matters” , essentially saying that serfs of the time should be completely obedient to their masters (Doc. 6).

As well as, this recognition of Tartuffe's false nature reveals the severity of Orgon’s arrogance. Moliere highlights within the second half of the play, the extremes of pride and how mankind struggles to face it. The theme of pride is accentuated by Orgon’s nature, especially, during

This statement describes how corrupt and cruel men are, and how these terrible actions are also greatly reflected upon royalty. During the 15th century, royalty believed they were all that mattered which when mixed in with Machiavelli caused a lot of controversy with the people during the Enlightenment. An example of this would be King James I in Document 2 who describes all the good things about the monarchy and how it is the best thing in the world. He calls the monarchy the, “supremest thing on earth,” trying to convince people of how great this form of government

The Power of Deception and Reason in Tartuffe Tartuffe was written during the enlightenment era, which was around the 17th century by Jean-Baptiste Molière. The Enlightenment era was considered the age of reason. Political and social issues were being questioned. People started to move away from religious views.

Jean- Baptiste Molière’s play “Tartuffe” is an unquestionably humorous comedy. The play defines the hypocritical acclaimed “Christians” we have in society. Daily, many people are blinded by admiration of religious figures who they believe are Gods disciples and can lead them to the gates of heaven. In “Tartuffe”, the author uses irony, satire, and tone to uncover a man follies of unreligious faith, the lust of women, money, and power.

In fact, the text before the actual story explains that Molière uses satire and humor to “comment on his own immediate social scene, imagining how universal patterns play themselves out in a specific historical context” (Molière). Because of this, the king of France was made by the Catholic Church to have Tartuffe banned. He is seen, at first, by some of the household members, specifically Orgon and his mother, Madame Pernelle, as this pure, kind-hearted man. As the story progresses, it slowly becomes apparent that Tartuffe is not the person some characters have made him out to be. For example, the first time we get a feel for the idea is in scene 1.4 where Dorine begins to list off Tartuffe’s action as Orgon asks, “Ah, and Tartuffe?”

Molière shows the negative and adverse consequences that can arise when Tartuffe, an imposter, enters a household and ruins the family dynamic present in it before his arrival. From the very moment Tartuffe appears he interfers with the concept of the family as as a stable unit, thus undermining the family structure. Orgon, the household of the family, puts him before his family, “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

While unique characters are very valuable in various forms of literature, authors can successfully utilize stereotyped characters to achieve author’s purpose. The character of Mariane in Tartuffe by Molière is a stereotypical “damsel in distress”, as the other characters must help her while they combat the hypocrisy of Tartuffe. When Orgon, blinded by his reverence for Tartuffe, announces that Mariane is to marry Tartuffe, it causes conflict between characters. Mariane has to express her opinion and defy her father, so that she will not marry a hypocrite and liar, despite being a generally submissive person. In Molière’s Tartuffe, the author successfully employs a conventional character through Mariane, to demonstrate the strife that fanaticism and