Comparing The Lovely Ladies Of Tartuffe And Candide

1756 Words4 Pages

Comparing the Lovely Ladies of Tartuffe and Candide
Who plays the victim and who among them are natural survivors? Who is deserving of our pity or our admiration? Does the pity go to the victim naturally? Or is there a character among them that can be so diverse as to be deserving of all four? Let us start by viewing the pitiful and move to the ones that should be admired.
Flipote was portrayed by Molière as being a meek servant that is worked to exhaustion by Madame Pernelle. No speaking part in the play, however one could assume that is how Madame runs her own house with the servants knowing their proper place. Flipote is a natural survivor for bearing the burden of being the lady maid to Mme. Pernelle. She is deserving of our pity for the …show more content…

She takes the insults thrown her way with a grain of salt. Not reacting to what her mother-in-law has to say, she does try and stand up for Mariane. Content to let Dorine and Cleante argue with Mme. Pernelle, Elmire does her duty and walks out Madame. Elmire is also portrayed as not having control over Damis. Tartuffe lusts after Elmire though she tries to use this advancement to her advantage. She tries to trap Tartuffe into backing out of the marriage with Mariane. Damis foils her plans with his hotheadedness. Elmire tries to spare Orgon’s mind from the unpleasantness of the previous situation. Believes herself to be the calm in the storm. Her virtue intact, she proposes to trick Tartuffe with Orgon hiding in the room to witness. Elmire doubts she would’ve went through such a ruse if she would’ve known what all could’ve been lost. She is quite happy at the ending. Elmire had to go to great lengths to have Orgon believe that what she was saying was true. Between that and having Tartuffe trying to paw her was victimizing. It is a pity that her husband wouldn’t listen to her. Comparing Elmire to another lady that would go to a great length to look after another. Voltaire first portrays the Old Lady as a kind and caring individual who takes care of Candide for three days before reuniting the young loves. The Old Lady is a very amusing character and very strong willed. She knew she was the daughter of a pope and a princess. Her fiancé was poisoned by an exgirlfriend of his. In getting away from that her mother’s ship was taken over by pirates. All on board were striped and private areas searched. The Old Lady was deflowered and had to watch as her ladies in waiting and mother were fought over and torn limb from limb. This is a small bit that she had to go through and still she lined her own fate with that of Cunegonde had taken some strength of character. The Old Lady is a natural survivor for continuing life in

Show More
Related

  • Tragic Heroes Bring Suffering Upon Themselves: Death of a Salesman

    518 Words  | 2 Pages

    Northrop Frye states in his book Anatomy of Criticism that the tragic hero is “on top of the wheel of fortune, halfway between human society on the ground and the something greater in the sky”. The book also declares that tragic heroes are “inevitable conductors of the power around them”, and conductors may be victims as well as instruments of destruction (website). Willy Loman, the epitome of a tragic hero, brings suffering upon not only himself, but others, including his wife and sons. Willy establishes Northrop Frye's definition of a tragic hero through the suffering of both himself and his friends and family, and this suffering contributes to the great tragic vision of the play as a whole.

    Read More

  • The Voice of Reason in Tartuffe by Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliere

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Comparison And Contrast The Representation Of Women In Tartuffe

    1967 Words  | 4 Pages

    TMA 3: Compare and contrast the representation of women and female sexuality in The Tartuffe by Molière and The Country Wife by William Wycherley.

    Read More

  • Candide Chapter 1 Summary

    1896 Words  | 4 Pages

    Voltaire uses the old lady’s elaborate story of suffering to show that sometimes suffering happens for reasons not necessarily within human control. After Pangloss’ death an old lady assists Candide in his quest to find the love of his life Cundegonde. Along the way she shares her story. She was the daughter of Pope Urban X and lived a life of luxury; anything she wanted was hers. As she matured, she grew into a beautiful woman and was betrothed to the ruling prince of Massa-Carrara.

    Read More

  • Criticism of Religious Hypocrites in Moliere's Tartuffe

    2058 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Women In Voltaire's Cunegonde

    988 Words  | 2 Pages

    Which is caused by the narrator having a male perspective. The narrator does not give the women and credit or redeeming qualities. All the women follow a general stereotype. If they tried to break away from the stereotype, they would me more important and influential characters. Paquette, a chambermaid in the Baron’s castle, is described as “a pretty and obedient brunette” (5). She is identified obedient not because of her job as a chambermaid, but because she is willing to exploit her soul and body to the men around the castle. In regards to the old woman, she doesn’t even have an actual name, which does not matter since is ugly and useless. The old woman has the mindset that she is; an object; a mistake; a disgrace. That her time has passed as a beautiful useful woman. All the rape and abuse has physically affected her and she is out of luck. In fact, she is lucky if men talk to her, or even look at her without

    Read More

  • Men Vs. Women In Voltaire's Candide

    1074 Words  | 3 Pages

    The experiences that we face in life vary from person to person and one of the greatest differences occur between men and women. In Voltaire 's novel Candide a great deal of the experiences that each of the characters face is unique to them, but the experiences of the women differ greatly to those of the men. The way the two sexes handled those experiences also varied and reflected a satirical view of the times in which Voltaire lived. The differences in events between the men and women can be seen in a few key points that are seen throughout the Novel.

    Read More

  • Greed In Candide Essay

    1145 Words  | 3 Pages

    And even though Candide is the main character, Voltaire uses more than him to show the faults of human beings by using Lady Cunegonde and other people to visualize the chaos of lust. Throughout the entire story, lust raises its disgusting head again and again, driven by man’s desire for woman. Lady Cunegonde is a symbol of beauty within this book who by the end, becomes ruined and twisted by man’s flaws. A “six-foot Bulgar” (Voltaire 34) rapes her, she is sought after by “the Inquisitor, who loves [her] dearly” (Voltaire 35) and “Don Issachar” (Voltaire 34). These men all see her as an object to appease their lust. Voltaire use of these scenes, especially Lady Cunegonde’s, show the lust of man and how it damages the people that come into contact with it. Unfortunately, lust brought about another trouble to the world, syphilis. Voltaire mentions this downfall to expand upon the point that lust is a terrible flaw of Humanity that causes suffering where ever it is. This suffering is shown in Pangloss, who gets the disease from the maid and “[loses] only an eye and an ear” (Voltaire 27). If Pangloss had not lusted after a woman, he would not have ended up another victim to syphilis, one of lust’s many hard consequences. Even Lady Cunegonde’s old maid is treated like an item and ruined by the lust of man. She was the “daughter of Pope Urban X and the Princess of Palestrina” (Voltaire 42), the most beautiful

    Read More

  • The Female Characters In Voltaire's Candide

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    Candide was written in 1759 by Voltaire and is a timeless classic illuminating the day to day life of three women that lived in that century. This story focuses on the struggles that the women of this time period faced. Every female character in this story has had a difficult life that consisted of lose-lose situations that had a major impact on their lives. But are they victims? Or, are they simply just natural survivors? These women are natural born survivors because they do what is needed to survive in the harsh circumstances they are forced into.

    Read More

  • Orgon's Obsession in Tartuffe by Moliere

    356 Words  | 1 Pages

    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. When Dorine tries to tell Orgon about Elmire's illness, all Orgon can say is,

    Read More

  • Tartuffe Character Analysis

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Meaning of Eldorado in Voltaire’s Candide

    2476 Words  | 5 Pages

    Shanley, Mary L., and Peter G. Stillman. "The Eldorado Episode in Voltaire's Candide." Eighteenth Century Life 6.2-3 (Jan.-May 1981): 79-92. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism 112. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center

    Read More

  • Analysis of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar

    2556 Words  | 6 Pages

    The second example is the character of Esther, she can be seen as the victim and as the heroine. The reason she can be seen as the victim is because of the many injustices she faces. For example when she is subjec...

    Read More

  • Comparing My Last Duchess, La Belle Dame Sans Merci and A Woman to Her Lover

    1934 Words  | 4 Pages

    over his wife as he refers to her as a belonging; it also shows that

    Read More

  • Elements of Tragedy in Hamlet

    1012 Words  | 3 Pages

    The second most important part of a tragedy is Character. Characters actually play a secondary role to the plot in the “perfect” tragedy. The actions of the characters make them responsible for their fate, not a higher power. There should be a protagonist and a tragic hero. Tragic heroes are also exceptional beings; Hamlet was very intellectual, giving him a brilliant mind and a quick wit. The tragic hero is the ma...

    Read More

More about Comparing The Lovely Ladies Of Tartuffe And Candide

Open Document