The Characteristics Of Moliere And Tartuffe Or Racine's Phaedra

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Using the characteristics of the neoclassical ideal, examine the usage in Moliere’s Tartuffe or Racine’s Phaedra. The neoclassical ideal really focuses on preserving the ideals of the classical period of tragedy. These characteristics include the appearance of a tragic hero, the tragic flaw that is present in our hero, evoking pity and fear for the hero, the recognition scene, and how the pace of the play follows the actions of the protagonist. 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 …show more content…

A tragic hero is a character who is born to noble parents, and is fated to come into some kind of life-altering hardship. Phaedra definitely fits these first two characteristics as she is the daughter of a king. Early in the play, it is also mentioned that the women in her family seem to always fall on hard times when it comes to love. Her mother was cursed by Aphrodite to fall in love with a bull and subsequently, she gave birth to the Minotaur that Theseus later killed. Her sister, Ariadne, had fallen in love with Theseus, but he just abandoned her on an island because he didn’t want to marry her. So it seems fitting that Phaedra’s love life would be less than happiness and

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