Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliere's Tartuffe is an epic play of hypocrisy, betrayal, and the tale of a foolish mind. Moliere's choice of protagonist in this play happens to be the most blatantly ignorant character in the play. Orgon is naive to the villain Tartuffe's hypocritical ways, makes a complete dunce of himself by uplifting Tartuffe as holy, and failing to pick up the abundance of clues of Tartuffe being fake. Analyzing this character is rather interesting and at the same time frustrating to read of someone so ignorant that they fail to see the wolf hiding under the sheep clothing. A fool is a fool unless they open their eyes to see the truth, and it took Orgon the majority of the play to realize the truth.
Orgon's ignorance began to show when he arrived home to ask about his family "Dorine, Your wife two days ago had a bad fever, and a fierce headache which refused to leave her. Orgon Ah. And Tartuffe?"( Moliere (24). He didn't not care that his wife was sick but only worried about the holy Tartuffe and his well being. There was one character who wasn't even a main part of the play, but the Prince being "A prince who sees into our inmost hearts, and can't be fooled by any tricksters arts" (Moliere 66), persevered and came through for Orgon's mistakes and granted his property back to him and let him learn from his stupidity. Orgon was naive enough to think that Tartuffe was holy enough to see sins that no one could expect. Cleante was amazed at his brothers ignorance and ecided to try to state the obvious to try to take the shutters off of Organs eyes saying "There's a vast difference, so it seems to me, Between true piety and hypocrisy: How do you fail to see it, may I ask? Is not a face quite different from ...
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...ons weak traits were revealed and Tartuffe's haughtiness showed "You needn't try to provoke me; it's no use. Those who serve heaven must expect abuse"( Moliere 65). At this mere moment Orgon had nothing, and was going to jail. Orgon's character was directly portrayed as an dynamic character that had to learn through his ignorant mistakes. Orgon's naive views taught him a lesson about hypocrites, and believing in one person to view all of mankind's every worldly move to be a downfall in God's eyes. In the end he goes back and keeps his promise to his friend to marry his daughter, and thanks the Prince for seeing through the faced of the terrible Tartuffe.
Works Cited
Moliere, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. " Tartuffe." The Norton Anthology of Western Literature: The Enlightenment Through the Twentieth Century. Vol. 2, 8th ed. Gen. Ed. Sarah Lawall. 1664
Tartuffe A man will only see what he wants to see. In "Tartuffe", by Moliere, we are introduced to Orgon, a man so blinded by his obsession with Tartuffe that he falls subject to his deception. Tartuffe pretends to be a devout, pious, and humble man, while in reality he is a religious hypocrite. Throughout the play we are presented with many characters who try in vain to "open" Orgon's eyes to Tartuffe's lies.
... for them but all of this challenged as both embark on journeys that will challenge everything they have come to know. Okonkwo is exiled from his village for seven years sent to his motherland, reputation lost, and land taken over by missionaries. Odysseus originally a man of pride and glory spends twenty years trying to find his way home after fighting in the Trojan War. At first he lets his love of fame, power, and impulse get to him causing the lost of his men with. After years away from home Odysseus patience is taken from his their experiences. Unfortunately Okonkwo’s pride gets the best of him and he chooses death rather then to conform to the ways of the white men, while Odysseus adapts to his experiences and takes man of patients and intelligences over being a man of action. It is because of time and experience that these two men meet two different faiths.
Tartuffe is nothing more than a traveling confidence man who veils his true wickedness with a mask of piety. Orgon and his mother Madame Pernelle are completely taken in by this charade. On the other hand, Cleante, Elmire, and Dorine see Tartuffe for the fake that he really is. Cleante is Orgon's wise brother who speaks elegantly about Tartuffe's hypocrisy. Through Cleante, Moliere most plainly reveals his theme.
...could not see anything else but that.The citizens of Thebes were also shocked that Oedipus killed his father just because he would not let him pass the intersection. The citizens were very upset and they thought that Oedipus should be punished. Dr.Tassone shows hubris by stealing and spending the parents money. Dr.Tassone took so much money that could of been used on the children education and the board. they did not have enough for a senior party. Dr.Tassone only could see himself and nothing else. Dr.Tassone did not care about the children. Dr.Tassone was blind for money. Oedipus also showed hubris when he killed his father and married his mother. Bernie Madoff was also filled with hubris and blind for money, similar to Oedipus in the Oedipus the King by Sophocles.
Edmond Rostand’s 1897 masterpiece titled Cyrano de Bergerac is full of twists and turns, action, and drama. Rostand’s play also exhibits fantastic character development, boasting several incredible characters, such as Madeleine Robin (Roxane), Christian, and, Cyrano de Bergerac. The latter is the perfect role model and Renaissance man. He is the most admirable character because of his praiseworthy qualities including, but not limited to wit and eloquence, courage, and loyalty.
From the opening dialogue we sense the character of Oedipus. When confronted by his subjects praying for relief of the plague he reacts kingly and graciously, saying, “I am king, I had to come....How can I help?...Ask me anything. Anything at all.” He obviously cares for the people in his kingdom, but he goes on to say how he pities “these poor shattered people of [his].” The pity he feels is rooted not only in his love and sympathy, but his arrogance as well. Perhaps this attitude is duly deserved, for Oedipus had solved the Sphinx’s riddle, an apparently heroic feat, and was seen to be “greater than any man”, but the leader that he had become still possessed the hubristic tendencies which doomed him from the time he fled Corinth.
Jean-Baptiste Molière wrote Tartuffe during the Enlightenment, which was around the 17th century. The Enlightenment was considered the age of reason. Political and social issues were being questioned, and people focused less on religious views. The Enlightenment thinkers believed that people should think for themselves and not believe everything bases on religious teachings. The citizens started to reveal and challenge the abuse of the clergy. This is evident in Tartuffe. The power of deception is seen throughout the play. Some characters used the theme of deception and reason to uncover Tartuffe’s charade. The characters Dorine, Elmire, Damis, and Cleante are able to see through Tartuffe’s hypocrisy;
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.
Like the world in which we live in today each character in Moliere’s Tartuffe are blind to their own faults but easily see the faults in others. So much of what the world is about today, I think this is good inside Moliere puts in his drama just so we could see how we act too. Thankfully despite the weaknesses of the people he rescues, the omnipresent King figure, sees all, knows all, and carries out justice. The kind reveals their blindness, allowing each of the characters to grow through the experience. When a character in the play “Tartuffe” talks about seeing, they aren't talking about actually seeing, but understanding or believing. The problem in the story concerned with not seeing, which is what starts this sequence of events. Orgon refuses to see the fact that Tartuffe is a hypocrite and won't believe it until he sees it with his own eyes near the end of the play. To see how loyal Orgon is to Tartuffe, just look
Okonkwo is “a man of action, a man of war” (7) and a member of high status in the Igbo village. He holds the prominent position of village clansman due to the fact that he had “shown incredible prowess in two intertribal wars” (5). Okonkwo’s hard work had made him a “wealthy farmer” (5) and a recognized individual amongst the nine villages of Umuofia and beyond. Okonkwo’s tragic flaw isn’t that he was afraid of work, but rather his fear of weakness and failure which stems from his father’s, Unoka, unproductive life and disgraceful death. “Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness….It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father.” Okonkwo’s father was a lazy, carefree man whom had a reputation of being “poor and his wife and children had just barely enough to eat... they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back.” (5) Unoka had never taught Okonkwo what was right and wrong, and as a result Okonkwo had to interpret how to be a “good man”. Okonkwo’s self-interpretation leads him to conclude that a “good man” was someone who was the exact opposite of his father and therefore anything that his father did was weak and unnecessary.
Tartuffe is a satirical comedic play written by Molière in 1664. It is focused around the family of Orgon and the character of Tartuffe, who has become Orgon’s personal holy man. Before being brought into Orgon’s home, Tartuffe was nothing more than a common beggar who learned how to act pious. Throughout this play, we see Orgon give everything he owns to Tartuffe: his love, his money, his daughter, and even the deed to his house. While everyone else in the household sees Tartuffe for who he really is, Orgon remains blind to it throughout most of the play. Orgon is warned many times by different members of the household, including his own son, yet he only chooses to lash out against those speaking. From early on in the play we as readers are able to recognize that Tartuffe is no more than a hypocrite and Orgon is a blind fool. In the play Tartuffe by Molière there are several different important themes that impact this work,
Orgon is deceived because he cannot or refuses to see Tartuffe for the con artist he is. Tartuffe is hugely successful for most of the play because he is so good at wearing a mask of piety to cover his deception. Orgon regards Tartuffe as his religious guide and is blind to the fact that Tartuffe is deceiving him.
In Moliére’s Tartuffe (Moiré 1664), the reader is able to see a great contrast of Extreme and Moderate characters. Extreme characters being those who are seen as over the top, or very passionate people, and the moderate characters having a more calm and subtle approach to ideas. The extreme characters in this case would be Madam Pernelle, Orgon, Tartuffe, and Dorine. The moderate characters are seen as Cleante and Elmire.
There is much injustice in the play Tartuffe. This injustice as well as the justice that triumphs often comes through the use of language for the purpose of establishing either law or love. Sometimes a character takes on this language by association with other characters, and other times in reaction to the use of this language by other characters. Regardless of the source, language is a common medium for the expression of justice or its opposite. This language is used by characters as a result of the conflict that a male feels as described by Lacan, which more often that not, results in the expression of injustice. The expression of injustice is language-based because the male, by being exposed to language, is thrust into a world of alienation, and has experienced injustice from his first experience with language.
Tartuffe is a comedy, but it still follows these characteristics. Firstly the appearance of a tragic hero. In this play, our tragic hero is not Tartuffe for whom the play is named, but is instead Orgon, the head of the household where the play takes place. Orgon is our tragic hero because he really isn’t a bad person. He isn’t seeking to ruin anyone with hidden plans or deception, he is just very unaware of what’s happening right under his nose. The tragic flaw that Orgon shows is just taking everything that tartuffe says as absolute truth and not questioning it at all. This is what ultimately leads to his error in judgement which is telling his daughter that she is to marry tartuffe and not Valere who she’s already proposed to. Of course, this doesn’t