Analysis of Tartuffe Play - Assignment Example

TARTUFFE Question one A staged version of the play would be both hilarious and captivating but also incencing to some extent. The facial expressions of the charaters would be varied depending on the role a person plays; those who are part of Orgon’s family would appear perplexed at how gurllible Orgon is while Tartuffe’s confidence and pretetious timid would confound the audience. Question two In his preface, Moliere defends the use of comedy termin git as an effctive way of correcting immoral behaviour. He argues that since nobody likes to be rediculed, it works when the vice is exposed to everybody’s laughter. According to me it doesn’t work because most of these vices are commited in private and people do not care much weather its embarasing or not for as long as nobody sees them in the act. The play was critisized because it potrayed religion in bad light and as a tool that people use to manipulate others. Their attacks were justified to some extent because religion is expected to be respected as the epitome of morals and virtues but on the other hand it’s also true that religion has been used and abused to disenfranchise other people. Question three In the first scene, Madam Pernelle sounds very convincing and sure of what she is saying while the rest of the characters appear to be full of malice and witch hunt against Tartuffe. The other characters seem to harbour some negative feelings towards Tartuffe. Tartuffe comes through as a very humble and innocent servant of the house. Question four Madam Parnelle is very critical of everyone in the family because of their persived resentment towards Tartuffe. She argues that the rest are envious of tartufe’s good virtures since he reminds them of their ills and moral flaws. Parnelle refers to Damis and Dorine as dunce and secrative respectively while Cleante is too worldly, Elmire is accused of being a spendthrift. Dorine accuses her grand mother of being jealosy since the world is about to drop her off. Tartuffe seems to be the only person to win Pernelle’s approval; she actually asserts that the rest should be greatful to be sharing a roof with such a holy man. Apparently, Madam Parnelle finds flaws with everyone except Tartuffe while the rest find her abrasive, irrational and unaware of Tartuffe’s real character. Question five The love birds in the play resemble those that appear in sitcoms and soup-operas. They potray some sweat and innocent young love while at the same time being vurnarable to opposing forces including the girl’s gurllible father. Question six Organ’s trust towards Tartuffe is motivated by the former’s desire to help someone he considers being desparete and in need of help. It’s also driven by the trust already bestowed on Tartuffe by Orgon’s own mother. The fact that he had allowed tartuffe access to some sensitive documents also puts him at a delicate situation. Question seven From the play, reason is not very effective in stemming passion, there are various instances early in the play when Orgon’s family have tried to convince Orgon to change his trust and behaviour towards Tartuffe to no avail. The best way to convince people like Orgon to change their behaviour is by exposing them to the reality of their folly as demonstrated towards the end of the play. From the play Moliere asserts that Passion must be balanced with reason in order to exercise authority in an efective and beneficial way. Question eight Tartuffe seems to have the power through manupulation as opposed to Orgon whose supposed to be the one with the power. Question nine From the play, Moliere’s view of religion is that it’s a system composed of hypocrates and pretenders. And yes his critics are right because it gives the audience a reason not to take religion too seriously. But then again on the other hand a serious Christian who is not a hypocrate would not be offended by it. Question ten The argument between Valere and Mariane was included to bring out the fact that the two lovers are at cross purposes and also to add some humor to the story. The scene is about dilema, indecision and humor. Question Eleven Mariane finds it hard to oppose his father’s plans because as she says, she has been very loyal to her father and had always followed his instructions very strictly. This therefore makes it hard for her to start learning how to oppose him even though she is a grown up now. Apart from Dorine’s probing, she seems not to be aware of the potential predicaments that may befall her if she agrees to marry Tartuffe. Question Twelve Orgon’s mind is subdued by his desire to show his religious virtues of sympathy and gratitude towards Tartuffe and this prevents him from believing his son’s accusations towards Tartuffe so much so that he even goes ahead to disinherit Damis of his property just to vex him (Damis) and to show the rest of the family how he appreciates Tartuffe than the rest of them. The reverse psychology tactic employed by tartuffe on Orgon really confirms the later’s state of mind and sympathy towards the former. Question Thirteen The mixture of love and religion in Moliere’s play was meant to bring out the actual picture of the society at that time. This is because at the time when the play was written the french society was very religious yet evil at the same time. It was meant to vex the society into some positive behaviour change resolutions, even though critisism is all that came out of it. Question Fourteen Orgon’s religious fanatism and pride leads him to actions that potrays him as an unstable individual who waivers from one extreem top another. His desire to show sympathy and to uphold religious virtues of being gentle to the destitute and disadvantaged individuals such as Tartuffe makes him vurnarable to manipulation by Tartuffe. Question Fifteen Of course Tartuffe is a hypocrate but it also has to be noted that Orgon was just too gullible not to be manipulated. At some point Tartuffe was trying to be honest eventhough in pretention. A good example is when Damis evedrops on his conversation with Elmire then Orgon walks in, He goes ahead to admit to Orgon that He is the most evil person on earth yet Orgon still defends him. Orgon also bares some blame for his problems this is because it was also stupid of Orgon to allow Tartuffe to have acces to those sensitive documents. Question Sixteen Tartuffe’s confession is not sincere, this is because even as he makes the confession he already knows that Orgon will still defend him and stand by him. He knows he has the man of the house on his side irrespective of the out come of the confession. If he was sincere he would have stopped his evil activities at that point but we see him proceeding with the same. He also know he is holding some sensitive documents which he can use against Orgon incase He decides to believe his son which he actually does later after being caught. Question Seventeen All along Orgon has maintained that his decisions are influenced by his religious conviction as exemplified when he says her daughter should motify her flesh in order to marry Orgon as a demostration of her humility. But at this point he is pushing his daughter to sign marriage documents. It’s only the set up by his wife that saves him from his absurdity. Question Eighteen Madam Pernelle won’t believe what her son says because at the back her mind she believes Tartuffe is a good person and that the rest of the family has been slandering the “pious man” she also asserts that a rigteous man like Tartuffe is always maligned by the rest. Orgon’ really finds it hard to convince his mother, right untill when the royal office walks in. Refferences 1. http://www.academia-research.com/filecache/instr/t/a/738072_tartuffe.pdf Read More