Tartuffe as One of Moliere's Most Famous Plays - Essay Example

?Moliere's Tartuffe Tartuffe is one of Moliere's most famous plays, written in 1664 and performed at the fetes for King Louis XIV. The play has many themes, focusing on hypocrisy and religion. The play caused much controversy in the 17th century, mainly because religion was a very sensitive issue, but the aim of Moliere was to show that there are those that manipulate religion to achieve certain goals. The play has been so influential that Tartuffe is now a synonym for hypocrite in both English and French. The purpose of this paper is to discuss whether it is indeed Tartuffe that is the main villain of the play, or if Orgon, the householder, has to shoulder some of the blame. Critics have, over the years, argued that Orgon should share some of the blame and that Tartuffe, whilst villainous, is not the only problematic protagonist. Orgon is a householder that takes in Tartuffe, who was previously a vagrant. Tartuffe claims to be pious and have a direct line of communication with God, and Orgon and his mother believe this and will not undertake any decisions without first consulting Tartuffe. The other members of the family actively dislike Tartuffe because they can see through his exterior, and are particularly disguested when Orgon decides to break his daughter Mariane's engagement to promise her to Tartuffe. This is the first instance in which Orgon begins to show his negative side. He acts like a fool by believing wholly in Tartuffe and not being able to see through the facade. In this sense, many critics argue that there Orgon should bear some of the blame for the situation that Tartuffe puts the family in, because his ignorance is the source of many of the problems. By not being more careful with whom he lets into his household, it can be said that Orgon has acted with foolishness and folly and agreeing to let Tartuffe marry his daughter is perhaps the start of all the problems with hypocrisy during the play. Another point in which sympathy for Orgon begins to fade during the play is when he claims that "My mother, children, brother, and wife could die,/ And I'd not feel a single moment's pain” (1.5.4). This leads the audience to believe that Orgon is careless with his family and how their life unfolds. It is perhaps the first moment of the play in which Orgon appears not only foolish, but downright villainous. Anyone who can claim something as strong as not being able to care when loved ones die surely has the streak of the villain in them. It is noted later that Orgon used to be 'wise' before he fell under the spell of Tartuffe, which is perhaps why the rest of the family is so dedicated to removing Tartuffe from the household and restoring the balance. It could be suggested that the above quote only came from Orgon because of Tartuffe's influence on him, but it is still difficult to feel sympathy for a protagonist that can suggest such a thing, and again it can lead the audience to feel that Orgon is at least partially to blame for the negative influence that Tartuffe has brought into the household. It is hard to ignore the fact that Tartuffe is himself portrayed to be the villain in this play. He manipulates Orgon and persuades him and Madame Pernelle that his is a good, pious man. His failed seduction of Orgon's wife, Elmire, is laughable and the audience is perhaps relieved to see him get his comeuppance in the final act of the play. Tartuffe is a hypocrite and a liar, and manages to manipulate situations to his own benefit, even almost managing to stage Orgon's eviction from his own household, although the truth comes out before this can finally take place. It is hard to ignore all these negative characteristics, especially with all of the other characters in the play denouncing his name before he even makes an appearance in the play bearing his own name. Whilst all of these features of Tartuffe are true, the point here is that he cannot be the only one to blame for all of the situations in the play. Tartuffe may be the manipulator, but Orgon is supposed to be a wise man, which is the reason that many critics feel that Orgon (and perhapes even Madame Pernelle) are not the innocent victims that they at first appear to be. Orgon ignores the advice of his own family, ignores the testimony by his son, and continues to believe that Tartuffe is the pious man he portrays himself to be until the last minute. This takes a special kind of foolishness, which is in itself not an evil characteristic but one which does not lead the audience to much sympathy for his situation. One of the most interesting aspects of the play is that Orgon has complete change of heart with regards to Tartuffe in the final act. There has been much debate over whether this is completely believable and realistic, because Orgon ignores all the warning signs until this point. It is not completely evident why Orgon finally sees Tartuffe in his true light, and perhaps this is what leads many literary critics to see the change of heart as unbelievable. It takes Orgon to see Tartuffe's seduction of Elmire with his own eyes for him to finally see the evilness. It could be argued that it is Orgon's trusting naivete is evidence of his good nature, but again we can refer to the quote suggesting that Orgon would not mind if many of his loved ones were to perish and feel slightly uneasy with this definition of Orgon. It is hard to believe that any man that feels this way about his own family, as well as ignoring their warnings and advice is completely a good man. In conclusion, there are many conflicting views on whether Orgon should shoulder some of the blame for the situations occuring in his household. The evidence above suggests that he should, for all his ignorance and foolishness allowed the events to happen in his very household. Ignoring the advice of his family almost lose Orgon his household and his wife, and Tartuffe cannot be completely blamed for this. Tartuffe is a hypocrite and a liar, but Orgon and his stupidity also play a crucial role in the events of the story. Orgon and Tartuffe should at least share the blame for being negative protagonists because they are both involved in how the events unfold during the course of the play. Orgon is not a completely helpless victim, as it may seem from an initial reading of the play, and it is interesting to explore the reasonings of the critics that believe that this is the case, because it shows the development and depth of the characters in this famous French play. It is also interesting that it caused such controversy on its first outing into the public sphere, and perhaps the conflicting views on Orgon helped lead to this controversy. Overall, it seems evident that Tartuffe is not the only one that needs to shoulder blame for the hypocrisy and negative influence over the play's characters. Read More