The Religious Hypocrite Vs. the Gullible Nobleman

The Religious Hypocrite vs. the Gullible Nobleman

Tartuffe was written by Molière in 1664. The 17th century is known as the neoclassic era for literature. The expectation for writers during this time was to uphold Aristotle’s unities. This means that authors of this time channeled their work to focus on reason, moderation, order, and restraint. Neoclassical authors ensured the works of literature maintained an equilibrium between extremes and moderation. This was implied through the characters’ actions, which demonstrated a moderate, social standard that everyone at this time was expected to have. Molière sought to “bend” these rules by creating a humorous satire, also known as a farce, when he wrote Tartuffe. This French drama is written in Alexandrian verse with rhyming couplets. Molière’s main themes, hypocrisy and gullibility, are represented by Orgon’s unwariness in trust for Tartuffe, even though his religious insincerity is satirically demonstrated throughout the entire drama. The voice of reason in this play, Cléante, tries to bring this to Orgon’s attention while reminding the reader what sincere religion truly looks like, an element that the Catholic Church could not grasp.

Tartuffe is a religious hypocrite that shows his false devotion to the Catholic Church throughout the play. He is a very extravagant man that brags upon all of his endeavors as a Christian. Tartuffe is an expert of manipulation and uses the weaknesses of the surrounding characters to his advantage. Molière demonstrates dramatic irony because Tartuffe’s intentions do not come across to some characters, including Orgon and Madame Pernelle, but the audience is well-aware of his insincerity. Tartuffe stands as a symbol for lust and greed, two things that are against the Christin faith, but characteristics that many members of the church had. He is an arrogant character that preys on the weaknesses of the people around him in order to make himself look superior. His obsession with greed, led him to black mail Orgon into gifting him his strongbox containing secret information that could bring serious trouble among him and his friend. Orgon is blinded by the character flaws that show up in Tartuffe, and treats him like a saint. Not only does he consider him a hero, Orgon prompts his daughter, Mariane to marry him even though she can easily see through Tartuffe’s trickery. In Act 1, the audience can see his obsession with Tartuffe based on his reaction to his knowledge of his wife being ill. He is more concerned about Tartuffe’s well-being instead of his wife’s health. The surrounding characters try to convince Orgon that Tartuffe is not the holy man he claims to be, but he continues to dismiss their opinions. Throughout the drama, Cléante continues to remind the audience of what sincere religion is by calling out Tartuffe on his pretentious actions as a Christian. In Act 1, Cléante gives many examples of how a religious man is supposed to behave. “They don’t exhibit zeal that’s more intense, Than heaven shows us in its own defense. They’d never claim a knowledge that’s divine, And yet they live in virtue’s own design” (155). He tries to point out these instances of religious hypocrisy displayed in Tartuffe to Orgon, but instead, he is entirely detached from reality and refuses to see his undeniable disregard for faith as it should be.

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