Tartuffe
Moreover, the following comments of Orgon’s mother about Elmire reflect the disapproval of her behaviour:
A woman who would please her husband's eyes
Alone, wants no such wealth of fineries (Moliere Act 1).
A woman should behave according to a great number of rules to be approved by society. Also, here Moliere shows strained relationship between the mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law that is of interest nowadays as well. Madame Pernelle claims that Elmire is a bad example for her step children, she constantly compares her with Orgon’s departed wife, constantly saying that she was a great mother to Damis and Mariane, her behavior and attitude were much better. Madame Parnelle’s character is showing conservative worldviews of the 18th century society. She cannot tolerate constant entertainment and spending time when it is treated in society as a non-moral behavior.
A perfect example of social order conservatism can be seen in the conversation between Orgon and Mariane. It is highly important to remember that father is talking to his daughter in the patriarchal society, which means that daughter is supposed to abide and behave according to his wish. In the comedy, Orgon almost makes Mariane agree to marry Tartuffe since her father’s wish is of a first priority to her even higher that her own love and future life. Another example of social order can be found in the scene where Mariane was talking to her beloved Valere about her future marriage to Tartuffe. She, as a lady, cannot tell her true feelings about Valere; he, at the same time, is obliged to follow the rules of society and hide his true attitude towards Mariane.
Also, I would like to pay attention to the fact that Tartuffe reflects the importance of economic class in the society. In the play we see the life of a rich family and the head of it was supposed to approve a match for his daughter of a corresponding wealth. Further, religion plays an important role in Tartuffe as well since the representatives of church were treated as members of a different class.
The relationship between Orgon and Tartuffe resembles the one between Iago and Othello. Both main heroes were blind towards the real events that happened and believed their false “advisors” more that closest friends. In both cases Iago and Tartuffe managed to become the most important people in the lives of their victims. Both Iago and Tartuffe are villains manipulating the main heroes and distorting the reality.
In the 18th century, rich people were presupposed to be more intelligent and clever comparing to their servants. However, Moliere ironically shows a different matter of things: Oregon is blind towards the reality and allows to be deceived, the holy man appears to be a fraud and Dorine, the servant girl, shows a real wisdom and true understanding of the situation. The play Tartuffe is full of dramatic irony. It is clearly visible when the main character returns home and instead of worrying about hi wife and her excruciating headache, asks about Tartuffe. The author shows a decay in family relations since the husband is much worried about some person rather than his own wife. I would like to mention one extremely striking situation at the very end of the play where the author puts the main hero in the shoes of his family – Orgon having realized his mistakes, tries to persuade his mother, Madame Pernelle, but is facing the same rejection as his children used in conversations with him. Moliere spins the same situation again but with other characters – Madame Pernelle shows the same blindness that her son used to have, and, finally, she understands the truth only when it’s too late.
In my opinion, the ending of the play is logical and expected since the play was supposed to have a happy end and bring a lesson to those watching or reading it. However, the twist with documents was rather unexpected and, in my opinion, is different in the tone of the rest of the play. The events at the end happened too fast comparing to the flow of the preceding scenes and the interference of the king and his officers was out of the subject. This part has a different role, I believe, it was written to praise the king, describe his infinite mercy and extreme intelligence.
The presentation of royal authority in Tartuffe and Othello is a contrasting one. In Tartuffe the servants have a wide freedom of word, they are not afraid to present their point of view. In Othello we see the life of authorities only, Othello has to abide by the representatives of higher rank. The value of king’s help is visible in Tartuffe when the fraud tried to take everything from the main hero, in Othello the representative of royalty can influence the future of the general that is why the royal authorities play an important role for both plays.
In my opinion, the play Tartuffe is an attack on the Church rather than an expose of a fraud. First of all, the main trickster is a hypocrite showing his deep belief in God and false willing to live according the commandments. He pretends praying and twists the facts in his own advantage. This behavior provides some alternative interpretations like the one that Tartuffe could be a real clergyman but his true self could remain the same, he could still be a hypocrite and benefit from others. Moliere shows that clergy are the same people as the characters and they should be treated accordingly. In the play, we see a special attitude towards Tartuffe – he prays a lot (or pretends to, not important), so he is a person to be trusted. Moliere tries to eliminate this stereotype and highlights the fact that every person can be a potential fraud, even a holy one.
Therefore, we see that Moliere reflects conservatism in society on different stages, from the proper behavior of a lady, general behavior in society and its importance on the lives of its members, financial status and the level of morality.
Work cited
Moliere, Jean Baptiste Poquelin. "Tartuffe or the Hypocrite." Full Text of "Tartuffe" Web. 4 Nov. 2014. <https://archive.org/stream/tartuffe02027gut/trtff10.txt>.
