Molieres Tartuffe a Masterpiece of French Literature

1278 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: tartuffe by moliere essay

Molieres Tartuffe a Masterpiece of French Literature Moliére's Tartuffe has long been considered a masterpiece of French Literature for its powerful social commentary, finely sculptured characters and its presentation of moral theme. While Tartuffe stands soundly on its own merits, its curiosity and impact for audiences both within its own period and for contemporary productions are heightened by the history surrounding its original presentation. Tartuffe was written and produced in a sensitive time for a sensitive audience. King Louis XIV sat upon a throne made uneasy with the plotting and dissent of multiple and powerful factions. The self-styled "Sun King", King Louis XIV inherited a throne at five that he would not truly rule until he was 22 when, after the death of his Prime Minister, Cardinal Mazarin, he announced the formation of a Council of Ministers to advise him. Even after the formation of this council, King Louis XIV still found himself forced into constant appeasement of the factions surrounding him. Those factions, especially those factions controlled by the Queen Mother and the ministers of his Council, would prove a near insurmountable obstacle in the efforts of Moliére to produce Tartuffe. Clustered around King Louis XIV were religious and political alliances, the seeds of which were sown during the reign of King Louis XIII. In various corners sat the aforementioned Catholic Advocacy (including the Society of the Holy Sacrament and the Jansenists of Port Royal), the Queen Mother, and the Protestant population at large. As the "Most Christian King", Louis struggled to balance the needs of the Church with what he thought to be in the best interests of France. Unfortunately for Moliére, when it came t... ... middle of paper ... ...f the Church, perhaps not. One must work only with the knowledge one possesses. Regardless, the vigorous response of the Church has created a sensibility for the production that makes it as much a history as a tragedy as a comedy. WORKS CONSULTED Bryson, Scott S. The Chastised Stage. Saratoga: Anma Libri, 1991 Hochman, Stanley (Editor). McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1984 Hodgson, Terry. The Batsford Dictionary of Drama. London: B.T. Batsford 1988 Mander, Gertrud. Moliére. New York: Frederick Unger Publishing, 1973 Sennett, Herbert. Religion and Dramatics. Lanham: University Press of America, 1995 Turnell, Martin. The Classical Moment. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1947 Walker, Hallam. Moliére. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1990

Show More
Related

  • Differences Between Louis Xiv And Peter The Great

    674 Words  | 2 Pages

    Louis XIV is considered the “perfect absolutist” and he has been said to have been one of the greatest rulers in France’s history. He came up with several different strategic plans to gain absolute

    Read More

  • Analysis Of When The King Took Flight

    1089 Words  | 3 Pages

    King Louis nation had a massive reaction focused on the King’s plight and return. The Reaction was not only seen in Paris alone but also on the other provinces, where a widespread phobia caused by foreign invasion led to the utter news of the King’s escape. Nevertheless, Tackett identifies the royal family plight to flee France as one of the most critical moments in the history of the French revolution. The king’s flight opens a window to the whole of the French society during the revolution. The purpose of the Kings flight was to offer freedom of action in terms of power and this was in regards to the King’s power and rule. The royal couple together with their advisers had unclear political agenda for their nation. Similarly, it is in the vent of these unclear goals factored by the Kind’s technical knowhow of not making decisive decisions that led to the stoppage of the royal family at Varennes and thereafter their return to Paris. The consequence of their return to Paris was the onset of the constant possibility of the end of the Monarch reign. On the same case, it is as a result of the royal family escape attempt and failure necessitated the integrity of the King as a constitutional monarch. On a much more political notion, The King’s hope of survival is mitigated

    Read More

  • Louis XIV and Absolute Monarchism

    373 Words  | 1 Pages

    Louis XIV (the fourteenth) was an absolute monarch. He was often called "the Sun King," and ruled over France. He devoted himself to helping France achieve economic, political, and cultural prominence. Many historians believe the phrase "absolute power corrupts absolutely" mirrors Louis' reign. Louis XIV revoked the Edict on Nantes, changing the economy of France in one motion. By creating the city of Versailles and being a major patron of the arts, Louis was very influential on French culture. He made France go almost bankrupt from his costly wars and failures. Louis was very corrupt in his power, and it shown in all he did to change France; he got what he wanted, when he wanted it.

    Read More

  • Louis XIV and His Court

    774 Words  | 2 Pages

    There were many negative comments and many positive comments about Louis XIV and his court. In Louis XIV’s court, the closer a person was to the king, or the more he did for a person, the more that person likes him. The more distant you were from the king, the more you disliked him.

    Read More

  • Louis XIV, An Absolute Absolutism

    1541 Words  | 4 Pages

    Louis XIV of France was born to Anne of Austria and Louis XIII in 1638 after more than twenty years of childless marriage. The birth was seen as a miracle and the child was considered to be a gift from God by the people of France, and thus was named accordingly. Louis ‘le Dieudonné’ was to become one of the most powerful kings in early-modern Europe, ruling over twenty million people and reigning for over seventy years (until his death in 1715), one of the longest reigns in European history. Louis XIV was a formidable figure, in control of both the largest standing army in Europe at that time and highly complicated political system, for which he has been hailed as the propagator of “early modern state building”. His reign and in particular the longevity of his reign have frequently been questioned. E.H Kossman described Louis’s reign as “absolutism in its most perfect form”, while Briggs argued that “the absolutism of Louis XIV was often little more than a façade, behind which many of the old limitations continued to operate”. It is my belief that the exploration of the idea of ‘absolute monarchy’ could serve to obtain some clarity on the matter.

    Read More

  • The Complex Alceste of Moliere's Misanthrope

    1415 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is evident from such a diversity of sentiments that the work before us is complex enough to provoke a variety of reactions. On the one hand, Molière made The Misanthrope a comedy, not a tragedy. Alceste, despite his bold railings against the hypocrisy of society, often finds it impossible to set a heroic example in front of his all-too-"civilized" circle. He is no lone upholder of a noble creed forced to martyrdom for his beliefs; in fact, his announcement, at the end of the play, of the martyrdom he is imposing upon himself--exile to "some solitary place on earth/Where one is free to be a man of worth"{6}--makes him look less heroic than ridiculous.

    Read More

  • Absolutism Essay

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    Louis XIV wanted to have control over everything that happened in his country. To be able to do this he had to centralize the state. Cardinal Richelieu had already started to do this under the reign the Louis XIII by centralizing the administration of France with district commissioners appointed by the king. This weakened the local nobility but gave a lot of power to Richelieu who mainly ruled the country in Louis XIII's place. To keep power over France, Louis XIV ruled through councils of state and made many decisions personally. He also selected councilors from the recently ennobled or upper middle class for he did not trust the nobility who had rebelled against the throne when he was a child. Those who were to become his councilors were manly upper middle class who relied on him for their position in society and politics for they were less inclined to rebel against him. He also never had a first minister to avoid the power of Richelieu and Mazari...

    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

  • Enlightenment and Tartuffe

    446 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Communism: The Reign Of King Louis XIV

    1707 Words  | 4 Pages

    The glare of the sun blazed over France for seven decades during the most elaborate rule in European history. King Louis XIV was the sovereign king of France at age four, born on September, 5th 1638. His reign lasted longer than any other monarchy in history from 1643-1715. He was the god given child to his mother Queen Anne of Austria. She held the title Regency during her son’s younger years. France was in a total eclipse state politically with nineteen million subjects and a weak financial situation. The sovereign suffered from neglect from his mother, she allowed servants to raise and see to the day to day needs of his majesty. During an outing he nearly drowned due to a lack of supervision. Although evidence shows strong neglect his mother

    Read More

  • Political Testament of Cardinal Richelieu

    780 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the beginning of the 17th century, France was a place of internal strife and bickering bureaucrats. The king, Louis XIII, had come to the throne in 1610 at the age of nine, leaving the running of the kingdom to his mother, Marie de Medici. One of her court favorites, Armand de Plessis de Richelieu, rose through the ranks, eventually gaining the title of Cardinal and becoming one of Louis’ key advisors and minister. His political manifesto, Political Testament, was a treatise for King Louis XIII that offered him advice mainly concerned with the management and subtle subjugation of the nobles and the behavior of a prince. Beneath all of the obeisant rhetoric, Richelieu was essentially writing a handbook for Louis XIII on how to survive as a king in a political landscape increasingly dominated by the aristocracy. Richelieu’s ideology shows a pragmatic attitude reminiscent of The Prince, a political work by 15th century Florentine politician Niccoló Machiavelli.

    Read More

  • Louis XIV

    782 Words  | 2 Pages

    When Louis the XIV began his rule in 1643, his actions immediately began to suggest and absolute dictatorship. Because of the misery he had previously suffered, one of the first things he did was to decrease the power of the nobility. He withdrew himself from the rich upper class, doing everything secretly. The wealth had no connection to Louis, and therefore all power they previously had was gone. He had complete control over the nobles, spying, going through mail, and a secret police force made sure that Louis had absolute power. Louis appointed all of his officials, middle class men who served him without wanting any power. Louis wanted it clear that none of his power would be shared. He wanted "people to know by the rank of the men who served him that he had no intention of sharing power with them." If Louis XIV appointed advisors from the upper classes, they would expect to gain power, and Louis was not willing to give it to them. The way Louis XIV ruled, the sole powerful leader, made him an absolute ruler. He had divine rule, and did not want to give any power to anyone other than himself. These beliefs made him an absolute ruler.

    Read More

  • King Louis XIV: A Disastrous Ruler

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    King Louis XIV's 72 year reign was incredibly influential in shaping French history. King Louis XIV’s childhood was traumatic because of “La Fronde” which was a noble rebellion against the monarchy. This experience taught King Louis XIV to distrust the nobles. It was for this reason that he eventually excluded nobility from the council and surrounded himself with loyal ministers whom he could control. He also separated the aristocracy from the people of France by moving the court to the Palace of Versailles. One of the most notable of King Louis XIV’s decisions was that he refused to appoint another Prime Minister after the death of Prime Minister Mazarin. Every decision, from the declaration of war to the approval of a passport, went through him personally. During his reign as king, France participated in several wars including the War of Devolution, in Anglo-Dutch War, and the War of the Spanish Succession. Another major action he took was the proclamation of the Edict of Fontainebleau, which revoked the Edict of Nantes, imposing religious uniformity through Catholi...

    Read More

  • Tartuffe: An Excellent Example of a Neoclassical Drama

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tartuffe is an excellent example of a neoclassical drama because of its close adherence to the guidelines set forth in Aristotle’s Poetics, its use of character structure, and its incorporation of the common neoclassical ideas involving: reason, rational thinking, as well as logical problem solving.

    Read More

  • Francois Rabelais’ Satire of Medieval and Renaissance Learning In Gargantua and Pantagruel

    2310 Words  | 5 Pages

    In his book Gargantua and Pantagruel, Francois Rabelais uses satire to address the dislocation felt by Renaissance Humanists. By providing an exaggerated fable, comical in nature, Rabelais poses a serious introspection into the extremes of both the Medieval and the Renaissance man. More importantly, however, he brings into question his own ideals of Humanism. Through an analysis of Rabelais’ satirical technique and by examining his social parody of the Medieval and the Renaissance man, we are able to better understand Rabelais’ introspection into the ideals of his own generation and to accept his argument that learning is transitory and often a necessary, yet futile, attempt to understand our world.

    Read More

More about Molieres Tartuffe a Masterpiece of French Literature

Open Document