Essay On Tartuffe

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Recommended: The good and bads of absolutism in france

Warren Wolf
Dr. Stoff
Honors 203: Foundations of Modern Civilization
31 March 2014
Tartuffe, a comedic play written by the French playwright Molière, is about a seemingly pious man named Tartuffe and his dealings with Orgon and Orgon's household. Molière wrote the play for the purpose of revealing what people with absolute power and “divine power” can do with their power and in the play he both endorsed and critiqued absolutism and the "divine right" of "kings".
Tartuffe follows the interactions between Tartuffe, Orgon, and Orgon's family. Orgon believes Tartuffe is pious and truly a man of God, however most of the family does not like Tartuffe. They believe Tartuffe is faking his piety and using it for his own gain. As a result of his high regard for Tartuffe, Orgon decides to offer Tartuffe a chance to marry his daughter, Mariane. Orgon had already agreed to let Mariane marry Valère, who she loved and wanted to marry; but she would be forced to do what her father said. Damis, Orgon’s son, overhears Tartuffe express desire for and try to seduce Orgon's wife, Elmire. When Damis goes to his father and accuses Tartuffe of expressing desire for Elmire, Orgon does not believe him and kicks him out of the house. Knowing that Tartuffe is not what he claims to be, Elmire gets Orgon to hide under a table while she and Tartuffe meet. When Orgon hears Tartuffe's clear advancements on his wife he is outraged and kicks Tartuffe out of the house. However, before these events had occurred, Tartuffe had gotten the deed to Orgon's house through manipulation. Since Tartuffe has the deed to Orgon's house, he legally can have Orgon and his family evicted and decides to do so. When Tartuffe came to the King to try to have Orgon evicted, the king use...

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...ummarize, through this idea of the king is to the people as the father is to the family we can see that in the play Molière does indeed critique absolutism and shows that it indeed can have major flaws.
In conclusion, Molière's play Tartuffe was written to have a plot line that involves hypocrisy. Molière's purpose behind the play was to expose the hypocrisy he saw happening in the world at the time. He also expresses his opinion on absolutism and the "divine right" of the king. He might seem to endorse absolutism based on the king portrayed in the play, but if you look in the context of the father being "king" of his household it can seen that Molière also critiques absolutism and the "divine right" of the king in the play. Overall, the play covers hypocrisy as the main topic and shows both a positive and negative light on absolutism and the divine right of kings.

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