The Use of Satire in Tartuffe - Research Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages It is clear from the discussion that the use of satire can be seen in the character of Tartuffe, Dorine, Orgon’s relationship with his children and Tartuffe, and Orgon’s relationship with his wife, Elmire. The use of satire in the play can be seen in Tartuffe, who appears to be a very religious man, but he is a hypocrite. This is because when he arrives in Orgon’s house, Tartuffe possesses as a poor, but the extremely religious man of God. In fact, this is the reason Orgon decides to take him in. Despite the fact that Orgon and his mother Madame Pernelle view Tartuffe as a devout Christian, the rest of his family views him as a hypocrite, who is out to exploit every chance he gets. In Orgon’s house, Tartuffe behaves more like the owner and seems to take advantage of every opportunity he gets. Orgon and his mother do not notice anything odd about their guest (Tartuffe) as Orgon seems to get obsessed with him after some time. This is seen when Orgon travels, and his wife Elmire falls sick when he is away. When he returns he only asks about Tartuffe’s welfare and does not the concern to check on his ill wife. Tartuffe’s hypocrisy is also clearly displayed when he shows interest in taking Mariane to be his wife, despite being a devout and knowing very well that Mariane is betrothed to another man (Valere). In fact, he seems happy with Orgon’s decision to break his daughter’s engagement to Valere, in order to give him his daughter in marriage, even if Mariane does not approve of it. If Tartuffe was as devout as he pretended to be, he should have been the first person to refuse the proposal, and advice Orgon on allowing his daughter to choose the man she wanted to marry. He should not have also shown any interest in Marianne, since she was already engaged to Valere. Apart from being interested in Mariane, Tartuffe is also interested in Elmire, his host’s wife. This makes his behavior even more unchristian and questionable. During his first attempt to seduce Elmire, Damian is able observe the whole acts and decides to tell his father, Orgon about it, so that he can open his eyes and see that Tartuffe is not the kind of person he thinks he is. Orgon however fails to believe his son, who is telling the truth by defending Tartuffe, and in fact, disinherits his son and gives his rights to Tartuffe. All this while, Tartuffe pretends to be innocent and makes no attempt to convince Orgon not to disinherit his son. Dorine who is only a servant in Orgon’s house seems to cross the line of being just a servant when she does anything she wishes and goes away with it, making the whole situation rather ironical. This can be seen when Orgon, who is her master, asks his daughter Mariane how she feels about Tartuffe and suggests that since she is fond of him and respects him, she should marry him. Dorine thinks that the suggestion is ridiculous and does not hesitate to tell it to her master. She intentionally makes fun of Orgon and succeeds to terminate Orgon’s conversation with his daughter by getting him annoyed. Dorine is also oblivious of Madame Pernelle. In the beginning of the play, she openly snaps at Madame Pernelle by telling her that she condemns her (Dorine) and the rest of the members of the household, because she is old. ...Download file to see next pagesRead More