Dramatic Justice In Tartuffe By Myrna Zwillenberg

In Tartuffe, Moliere's use's plot to defend and oppose characters that symbolize and ridicule habitual behavior's that was imposed during the neo-classical time period. His work, known as a comedy of manners, consists of flat characters, with few and similar traits and that always restore some kind of peace in the end. He down plays society as a whole by creating a microseism, where everyone in the family has to be obedient, respectful, and mindful of the head of the home, which is played by the father Orgon. Mariane shows her obedience when she replies "To please you, sir, is what delights me best." (Moliere 324,11) Shortly afterwards, Orgon commands Mariane to take Tartuffe as her husband even though she is not interested in him at all.

Orgon felt pity for him so he decided to let Tartuffe stay in his house. Yet, the moment he moved in everyone saw right threw him, everyone except Orgon. He thought Tartuffe was a righteous holy man. The family

The play successfully conveys this message because Tartuffe is a first-class villain. He is as manipulative as Lady Macbeth, as greedy as Prince John, as underhanded as Modred, and as clever as Darth Vader. Through his every word and deed it becomes more apparent that he is thoroughly bad. More specifically, he not only wants to marry Orgon's daughter, but wants to defile his wife as well. He is not satisfied with living off of Orgon's wealth but wants to possess it. At no time in the play does Tartuffe resemble a truly pious man. The play never mocks God, but only those who use his name to prey on unsuspecting fools.

The extreme level of Orgon's devotion to Tartuffe is obvious. At the end of Act I, Scene 2, Dorinne, the maid, remarks on Orgon's complete infatuation with Tartuffe. She tells Clèante, Orgon's brother-in-law that "he's quite loss his senses since he fell / Beneath Tartuffe infatuating spell. / He calls him brother, and loves him as his life, / Preferring him to mother, child, or wife. / In him and him alone will he confide; / He's made him his confessor and his guide" (18). While this appears to be an exaggeration on Dorinne's part, it is soon clear that she is correct. Throughout Act I, Scene IV, Dorinne tries repeatedly to tell Orgon about his wife's illness. He never once expresses concern or sympathy for his own wife Elmire. In contrast, Tartuffe has been eating enough for several men, drinking wine heavily, and sleeping soundly. However, every time Dorinne begins to talk about the fever and headaches, Orgon repeats, "Ah. And Tartuffe?" or "Poor fellow" (20-23). Furthermore, Orgon himself even admits openly that through Tartuffe, his "soul [has] been freed / From earthly loves, and every human tie: / My mother, children, brother, and wife could die, / And I'd not see a single moment's pain" (25). The blindness Orgon exhibits, therefore, robs him of every human sympathy. The loving husband and father

Throughout time, man has used many forms of deception to get what they want. Moliere’s play Tartuffe is a classical story about deception and how a “mask” is used to hide someone’s true intentions. Moliere applies the idea of a mask and a theme of deception to exploit the power struggles within a traditional household. The character Tartuffe employs deception so he can achieve social and economical standings while Elmire, Mariane, and Dorine use deception to defy the authority of Orgon over the entire household and to help bring back family harmony.

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliere wrote Tartuffe during the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment. One of the main characteristics of the Age of Enlightenment was a push towards using reason over emotions to make decisions. The leaders of the enlightenment truly believed that the world could be made a better place if people did this. In Tartuffe, when the characters use their emotions to make their decisions they find themselves in undesirable situations. While those who let their emotions rule them find their lives spinning out of control, there are other characters in the play who try to approach them with reason and logic. Out of these characters the lady’s maid Dorine stands out as the voice of reason.

From this scene, there is clear evidence showing how Tartuffe is a hypocrite. Here, he preaches about the importance of chastity; however, in the scene that follows, he goes against this statement when he tries to pursue Elmire. Tartuffe tries to persuade Elmire to cheat on Orgon, but she comes up with a plan to expose Tartuffe's true personality to Orgon as well as to show him how Tartuffe was trying

In Tartuffe, Moliere's use's plot to defend and oppose characters that symbolize and ridicule habitual behavior's that was imposed during the neo-classical time period. His work, known as a comedy of manners, consists of flat characters, with few and similar traits, and that always restore some kind of peace in the end. He down plays society as a whole by creating a microseism, where everyone in the family has to be obedient, respectful, and mindful of the head of the home, which is played by the father Orgon. Mariane shows her obedience when she replies "To please you, sir, is what delights me best." (Moliere 324,11) Shortly afterwards, Orgon commands Mariane to take Tartuffe as her husband even though she is not interested in him at all. Orgon's command shows how men are dominate

Orgon's family and friends believed by now that there was no hope in helping him realize the deceit that was going on right under his nose. Orgon decided that giving his daughter to Tartuffe would be the ultimate gift, and hearing this Elmire decided that it best to try to reason with Tartuffe to make Orgon keep his promise to Valere with his daughters hand in marriage. Orgon's character is drawn as that of being naive and ignorant, and displays this when he refers to Tartuffe as blood and tells the story of Tartuffe when he first met him with him asking for money, and then saying he only needed a little not the large amount Orgon gave. " nd how austere he is! Why, he can detect a moral sin where you would least suspect."(Moliere 26). In Elmire and Tartuffe's meeting Damis hiding behind the curtains hears the foul confessions of the holy one's love for Elmire and decides to come our and catch him. Damis tells Orgon of Tartuffe's confessions and the manipulator that Tartuffe is convinces Orgon that is just a plot against him. Orgon as angry as he is makes a stupid mistake "This very day, I'll give to you alone Clear deed and title to everything I own"(Moliere 48). This mistake alone cost Orgon his son, and his family's support. Elmire's plan to call out Tartuffe one more time in front of Orgon to show there was a wolf among them worked, and Tartuffe showed his true colors for Elmire by asking for acts of true caring if her feelings were true for him made

But once Tartuffe is unmasked and his hypocrisy discovered, Orgon reverses himself and determines to hate and persecute all pious men. Orgon in the play seems to represent man's extravagant and uncontrollable nature, which never takes the right and rational direction, but instead, constantly shifts between absurd extremes.

The setting of Tartuffe is in Orgon’s home. Madame Pernelle, Orgon’s mother, Madame Pernelle feels as though Orgaon’s family and the servants in the home no longer appreciate Tartuffe. Tartuffe who was once facing financial difficulty was taken in by Orgon. The family begin to feel that Tartuffe is not as sincere and genuinely holy as Tartuffe is letting on to be,

At this moment, we see that Tartuffe is two-faced and he knows that Orgon will believe what he has to say considering he is a saint. Orgon confronts Tartuffe and in disbelief Tartuffe admits what he has said and continues to tell Orgon what a bad person he is. Orgon then is disappointed with Damis for telling a "lie" and questioning Tartuffe's purity. Orgon is too blind to see that Damis is telling the truth, because he is so sure that Tartuffe could not commit such a sin. As the play continues, in Act IV Scene III, Elmire offers for Orgon to hear for himself.

He is at the beginning of the play seen as a God like figure, particularly to Orgon and Madame Pernelle, by this he is strong and inspirational, however, when he does realises he has been found out for being in the wrong, his persona changes to guilty and even vulnerable. This is shown in Act III scene 6 when Damis accuses Tartuffe of trying to seduce Elmire, Tartuffe uses reverse psychology to win Orgon over by confessing the all things awful, to an extent in which Orgon begins to sympathise with him. It is clearly shown that Tartuffe goes to the absolute extreme when he apologises to Orgon;

Tartuffe exemplifies the desire for equality and dignity for all irrespective of the social standings because in the midst of all the drama that was