As a dramaturge in seventeenth-century France, Molière effectively uses a number of literary techniques to criticize religious hypocrites. Under the strict regime of absolutist Louis XIV, Molière wrote plays primarily for the king. However, being a natural dissident, he disguised critique through satire. The play, Le Tartuffe, has become a household name, and the word “tartuffe” has become a common word in French, meaning “hypocrite”. In this play, Orgon, the head of a noble household, is blinded and swindled by a religious hypocrite, named Tartuffe. Tartuffe manages to treat Orgon’s family with disdain, and disrespect, even to the point of attempting to seduce and take possession of Orgon’s wife. Orgon goes as far as cancelling an arranged yet desired marriage of his daughter, Mariane to a young nobleman Valère, and forcing her to espouse Tartuffe. He is so blinded by Tartuffe that he does not want to believe Tartuffe’s seduction of his wife, Elmire, until it was almost too late. As the paragon of religious hypocrisy, Tartuffe serves as a permanent example of dishonest pretense and abuse of power. Molière was not simply exposing religious hypocrisy, but, through use of satire, he criticized the absolutist rule of Louis XIV in France, especially as imitated by this particular French family.
The play Tartuffe exposes quite literally religious hypocrisy and forces the spectator or reader to reexamine his or her tendencies. Jerry L. Crawford, in his article entitled "Tartuffe: Attacking Hypocrisy, Not Religion” correctly remarks that Molière was not attempting to criticize religion exactly, but only “blind faith”. It is tempting to believe that Tartuffe is an awful example of a devoted Catholic, however, he is, more than anything, an extreme hypocritical religious fanatic, and, as we know, the extremists of any religion resemble each other.
Many characters of Molière’s play attempt to persuade Orgon through reason of Tartuffe’s malicious intents; however, Orgon is thoroughly misled by Tartuffe. Crawford describes Tartuffe in this way: “He is an obvious opportunist, a renegade, and a con man, who will play any kind of a trick to gain his desires. Religious piety simply happens to be the cloak that best conceals his motives from the gullible Orgon. He is smart enough, and actor enough, to make the most of his opportunities.” Orgon and particularly his mother, Madame Pernelle, are excellent examples of individuals who suffer from blind faith fanaticism. They would sacrifice their families to be more religiously acceptable.
Therefore, it is not only the gullibility of Orgon that causes the climax of the play, but it is also the cleverness and deceitfulness of Tartuffe who sees only an easy prey, due to his blind faith.
As Tartuffe so dramatically exemplifies, once blind faith has entered the scene, it becomes a weakness of character to waver, strength of character to persist--even in the face of obvious evidence to the contrary. [] What is much worse, he does not hesitate to cause others to die--all in the firm and righteous conviction that he is showing courage and strength of character. (Crawford)
In this way, Tartuffe takes advantage of the blind faith that he has produced in Orgon and Madame Pernelle to subtly take over “all of Orgon’s world—his wife, his daughter, his son’s inheritance, and finally his house” as Peggy Muñoz Simonds aptly puts it (89). Thus, faith and religion should not be considered the target of Molière’s satire, but that blind faith and hypocrisy in religion is a point to satirize.
As the religious fanaticism are a large part of Molière’s satire in Tartuffe, but it is important to recollect that Molière does not want to anger the religious members of his audience, who, as David Mander puts it in Culture & Society in Seventeenth-Century France, Molière’s audience included the upper-level social classes, the nobility, the King and his family (18). Thus, Molière was required to write with his audience in mind and so could not openly criticize the upper classes and Louis XIV.
When discussing satire, it is important to understand what exactly is being satirized in a text, and in the case of Tartuffe, there are some nuances. Crawford emphasizes that Molière wrote against extremes in religion, but one could also imply that the absolutist regime of Louis XIV was another example of an extreme that Molière criticized. While Crawford seems to indicate that religious fanaticism is the purpose of the play, the social satire of absolutism seems, to me, more important, especially with the family satire and with the use of the deus ex machina.
The family situation represented in Tartuffe mimics the structure of the absolutist monarchy. When Mariane and her servant Dorinne discuss how to refuse the arranged marriage with Tartuffe, Mariane characterizes her father as an absolute leader: “Contre un père absolu que veux-tu que je fasse? [] Un père, je l’avoue, a sur nous tant d’empire,/ que je n’ai jamais eu la force de rien dire” (Le Tartuffe 83-85). (“What can I do? My father is the master. [] A father's rights are such, it seems to me,/That I could never dare to say a word” (Tartuffe).) The vocabulary in French elucidates the comparison of Orgon to Louis XIV. The absolute master, either the father or the King, has the control to make decisions for the people under his reign. This comparison between Orgon and Louis XIV is not flattering. Orgon is badly perceived by his family: he breaks his promises, he is easily manipulated by Tartuffe, he ignores the desires and needs of his family whom he is to serve, and he almost allows his wife to be raped by Tartuffe while hiding under the table. To put it succinctly, he does not accomplish his duties as a father or as a husband, and he abuses his absolute power. By comparing Orgon with Louis XIV, Molière satirizes the absolutist monarchy.
At the end of the play, in what is called a deus ex machina, the king makes his appearance, setting up a stark contrast with Orgon. Molière praises the King in a not-too-subtle fashion: “Our prince is not a friend to double dealing, /His eyes can read men's inmost hearts, and all/ The art of hypocrites cannot deceive him. /His sharp discernment sees things clear and true; /His mind cannot too easily be swayed,/ For reason always holds the balance even. / He honours and exalts true piety,/ But knows the false, and views it with disgust” (Tartuffe). This exaggerated praise sets the bar quite high that even the Sun King would find it difficult to reach.
Muñoz Simonds concludes in this way:
Since the King’s claim to superhuman powers of Reason was also patently unreasonable, the action of the deus in Tartuffe may resolve the plot but (because it is also ex machina) it is at the same time unconvincing, even absurd. Molière has in this way subtly employed the deus ex machina convention to satirize the unreasonable extravagances in the politics and religion of his time. (93)
The ending of the play, thus, demonstrates a criticism for the absolute monarchy, just as the family structure does. The use of this literary tool transforms the play, which originally only had three acts, making it acceptable to the noble class and to the Sun King. (Muñoz Simonds 90).
In conclusion, Molière uses satires in his play Tartuffe to criticize and comment on the noble classes and on the absolute monarchy. One of the first social critiques that is apparent upon reading this play is the religious hypocrisy that is contrasted with religious fervency, as depicted in the characters Madame Pernelle and Orgon. Tartuffe takes advantage of a man and his family, and yet, with the appearance of the King at the end, everything is restored to normal, hopefully with new values. We cannot know for sure if the episode of Tartuffe left a lasting impact on Orgon, or if he started treating his family with more respect, but that is the effect of satire on the reader.
Works Cited
Crawford, Jerry L. "Tartuffe: Attacking Hypocrisy, Not Religion." Utah Shakespeare Festival. Utah Shakespeare Festival, 1993. Web. 3 Aug. 2013. <http://www.bard.org/education/studyguides/Tartuffe/tartuffeattack.html#.Uf1c1Y2siSq>.
Maland, David. Culture & Society in Seventeenth-Century France. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1970.
Molière. Le Tartuffe. Paris: Larousse-Bordas, 1998.
Moliere. Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite. Trans. Curtis Hidden Page. N.p.: n.p., 2000. Project Gutenburg. Web. 3 Aug. 2013. <http://archive.org/stream/tartuffe02027gut/trtff10.txt>.
Simonds, P. Muñoz. “Molière’s Satiric Use of the ‘Deus Ex Machina’ in Tartuffe.” Educational Theatre Journal. 29.1 (1977): 85-93. Print.
