In Tartuffe, Dorine is revealed through what she says, what she does, and what the other characters’ reaction towards her. Dorine is shown to be the wisest character with the most common sense out of all the others in the play and reveals important information. She expresses what the audience might feel towards the events taken place throughout the play.
One way Moliere reveals Dorine is through what she says. Dorine first appears in the first act of the play attempting to interrupt Madame Pernelle’s outburst of criticism towards the family. She later reveals that Madame Pernelle’s son, Orgon, is even more stubborn than she is. “Yes, but her son is even worse deceived; His folly must be seen to be believed. In the late troubles, he played an able part And served his king with wise and loyal heart. But he quite lost his senses since he fell Beneath Tartuffe’s infatuating spell… Unholy vanities and holy prose” (18). Dorine foreshadows what the conflict may be later on in the story. This immediately tells the audience what kind of person Dorine is and what she might provide throughout the story.
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Dorine helps Mariane come to her senses and fight against/oppose her father’s ridiculous/absurd orders to wed Tartuffe. After Dorine argues with Orgon about the wedding, she incredulously questions Mariane’s silence and lack of objection. “Well, have you lost your tongue girl? Must I play your part, and say the lines you ought to say? Faced with a fate so hideous and absurd, Can you not utter one dissenting word?” (37). When Dorine realizes that her warnings did no avail, she resolves to teasing Mariane instead, sarcastically/wryly gushing on how wonderful Mariane’s marriage with Tartuffe will be, since she seems to not mind marrying him/refuses to stop wedding Dorine stands up against Orgon when Mariane did
There are several stock characters in Tartuffe, but Dorine is not one of them. Servants are expected to be submissive and silent, but Dorine is stubborn and outspoken. She often uses sarcasm and satire to make her point. She is repeatedly chastised by Orgon and Madame Pernelle for her loose tongue. In Critical Essay on Tartuffe author David Partikian describes her character by writing, “… Dorine, has a saucy tongue, she is constantly told to shut up, and on one occasion, Orgon even tries to slap her.”(David Partikian 1)
In Tartuffe, Moliere creates a play that is interesting in so many ways. His comedy reflects a lot on the role of men and women within a family. During this time, it was common for the man to be the head of the household and women to be submissive to the men. Men held the power in the family and made all the decisions. In this play, a man's point of view is the only view that matters. All else do not serve an importance. His lack of trust and awareness for other people's feelings and needs has caused great conflict in his family. The actions taken by Orgon and his family members express how this play views marriage and relations between men and women. It is a extremely different view (in some cases) of marriage today in average American family.
Her drawn-out confession is worded in a way that the “someone” that she loves “who loves [her] too” seems to be Cyrano because every description matches him (73). However, she calls him “beautiful” (74) and concludes that the man is “Baron Christian de Neuvillette” (75) Not only does this contradict the audience’s expectations, but it also weaves in her instinctive disregard for a consideration of inner beauty. Despite her claims about knowing his true character, her response exhibits her falling into the trap of superficiality. For fifteen years, Roxane remains unaware of her true love and only discovers the truth with his death; from “the letters” to “the voice…in the dark,” everything was Cyrano and not Christian (220). As the spark of truth ignited her love, the life of her lover was extinguished. She did not doubt her lover’s identity until it is too late, communicating that she did not question his perfection. This comes to show that even those who should know do not realize the potential falsity of a person; in this case, Roxane, who was Christian’s lover and Cyrano’s family and friend, did not connect the two together. Thus, there should not be assumptions made about reality, as demonstrated by Roxane interactions with
Pontellier does not doubt nor desire for something beyond society’s standard for women. Leonce Pontellier, Edna’s husband, is about fifteen years older than Edna; this age divide causes a drift in what principles Leonce feels that Edna must adhere to. He maintains his belief that Edna should follow a pattern of behavior that is in conformity with what society expects of a mother-woman. A mother-woman, was defined to be one “who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals…” (Chopin 16). This principle definition of a ‘mother-woman’ was expected to be followed by the women of the late 18th century; and was viewed as an ‘unwritten law’, or simply a regulation known to obey but not question. At first, Edna does not object to this expected behavior as Leonce’s wife. She fulfills her domestic duties without complaining and she stays loyal to her husband. Mrs. Pontellier never protests or confronts any inward doubt or apprehensions she may have imagined. Instead, Edna conforms by being quiet, reserved and calm; she suppresses her own feelings to try and please society and its strict standards. Yet, all this external conformity and compliance forces Edna to question her role in the society. Is this all she can expect in
Although Tartuffe is portrayed as the main character of the play, Orgon is the character who should really be paid attention to the most. As suggested in an essay on "Tartuffe" audiences who concentrate on the character who titles the work may miss the author's point: "...vitriol and spleen vented on one man suggests that Moliere's satire of Orgon, nevermind Tartuffe, was steeped in truth." (Smaje). Orgon is the character who represents the weakness in human nature. This weakness is shown throughout the play. Orgon is so willing to entrust everything he has into the care of Tartuffe. He places Tartuffe above the well being of his family. When he returns from his trip and asks Cleante how the household was while he was gone, Cleante tells him that his wife had been very sick. Orgon's odd response is, "Ah.
Moliere rocked the 17th century French world with his comedy "Tartuffe" in 1664. Although, religious factions kept the play banned from theatres from 1664-1669, "Tartuffe" emerged from the controversy as one of the all-time great comedies. Tartuffe is a convincing religious hypocrite. He is a parasite who is sucking Orgon, the rich trusting father, for all he is worth. Orgon does not realize that Tartuffe is a phony, and caters to his every whim. For instance, he reneges on his promise to let his daughter Mariane, marry Valere. Instead he demands that she wed Tartuffe, whom she despises. He also banishes his own son, Damis, from his house for speaking out against Tartuffe and all of his son's inheritance is promised to Tartuffe.
Orgon and candide were two major characters from different books that were devoted to Tartuffe and pangloss respectively. Orgon was a man that followed Tartuffe blindly and candide was a devoted student of pangloss. Orgon and Tartuffe both depended on Tartuffe and pangloss to the point of folly.
Another defining characteristic is the desire for equality and dignity for all, the thought that all have a set of basic human rights. The Enlightenment also challenged many of the former ideologies, one of which was ignorance. Tartuffe exemplifies these characteristics through the character Dorine. Dorine is Mariane’s lady-maid, in other words, someone with a low social standing because she is a member of the working class, and presumably ignorant because of this low social status. However, in the story, she is much smarter than Orgon and also a lot more reasonable. This shows that it does not matter what social class one comes from to determine their level of intelligence. Her closeness and acceptance by the family, with the exception of Orgon, shows that people can be viewed for their own worth and value. Dorine is someone from a lower social standing than the family, but yet, is able to socialize and befriend the family she works for.
Ophelia believes that her brother is too concerned about her sexuality. The play portrays the intellection that Laertes was a little bit closer to his sister than the average brother. Also, Laertes’s reaction to Ophelia death was the reaction of a husband losing a wife. While at the funeral, Laertes jumped into Ophelia’s grave to hold her. Although a loving and caring mood was being set, it was not the type brother/sister that was being displayed.
The answer has to go to the Knight. The knight gave Dorigen secret equality in marriage. He also respected her and followed the rule that “truth is the highest thing in a man’s keeping.” The book also discusses how the Knight treated his lady like a queen. Both respecting a woman and being honest are true characteristics of a gentleman. Even after the knight finds out about the scandal with the squire he says that she should keep her word. The moral and themes of this story between the three characters is equality, true love, and that keeping promises is the most important part of a
Adèle Ratignolle uses art to beautify her home. Madame Ratignolle represents the ideal mother-woman (Bloom 119). Her chief concerns and interests are for her husband and children. She was society’s model of a woman’s role. Madame Ratignolle’s purpose for playing the pia...
Moliere sets up the exposition of the play in Act I by the apothecary bills Argon is reading aloud. After Toinette, the maid, then enters the scene she sarcastically makes a comment about all of the bills lying on the table. Toinette lets the audience know that Argon is a hypochondriac by rebutting everything he says about his doctors and illnesses with sarcastic comments. For instance, when Argon says, “You leave my insides alone.” She comes back with, “I wish you would. You’d be a different man.” She also lets the audience know by saying, “Why, if it wasn’t for him you wouldn’t even know you were ill,” speaking of the apothecary. The main conflict of the play is Argon’s unwillingness to accept that he is not ill and he is, in fact, a very healthy man. This “illness” leads to the selfishness that he shows his family, especially his daughter Angelica. Later in Act I his “illnesses” prove to have relevance to the conflict when she speaks of Cleante, the man she loves. Cleante is not a doctor; therefore, Argon will not give his blessings for Angelica to marry him.
The first time Lloyd catches Doree in this weak state is the very moment the doomed couple laid eyes upon each other. Doree was slumped in a hospital chair worrying about her ailing mother. Lloyd charmed Doree with his witty jokes and their common interest in music. It was clear to Lloyd that Doree needed a “shoulder to cry on”, especially once her mother succumbed to complications caused by her operation. As mentioned before, Lloyd invited Doree into his home. The split seconds Doree expressed vulnerability, Lloyd took advantage of it and used it to prove his power he exhibited over Doree. Lloyd had money, Lloyd could support Doree, and Lloyd could be a loving father. To Doree, Lloyd seemed like the perfect man. Soon after, Lloyd would begin to prod at Doree’s insecurities like her incapability to breastfeed their son, Dimitri. Lloyd believes that the reason for this is because Doree is a “whore”. Readers learn about Lloyd’s insufferable arrogance by the way he talks about women in general and the way he talks to Doree. Once Doree gave in to Lloyd’s bullying, Lloyd would act like the superior figure of the family who knew the answer to every question. This boosted his confidence and fueled his ego. Her children also became vulnerable the night that they were attacked. When Doree left her home, the children were in Lloyd’s care. Her children became target and Lloyd had the
In Moliere's comedy, Tartuffe, the main focus of the play is not of Tartuffe, but of Orgon's blind infatuation with Tartuffe. It just so happens that the title character is the villain, rather than the hero. Orgon is Moliere's representation of how a man can be so blind in his devotion to a belief that he cannot make accurate judgment as to the sincerity of others who would use that belief to deceive him. Tartuffe easily achieves total power over Orgon's actions because of his gullibility. However, as the play progresses, Orgon's view of Tartuffe changes and results in Tartuffe's removal.
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.