Tartuffe And Feminism In The Enlightenment - 1431 Words

Breanna Smith Dr. Brasher World Lit II 17 October 2017 Tartuffe and Feminism in the Enlightenment One highly esteemed student at Susquehanna University describes Moliere s Tartuffe as â€Å"an attack, not on religion, but on people who hide behind religion and exploit it† (Sodd 1). Aside from this central theme, Moliere develops the plot and characters of the play in a way that makes an even more significant social observation. His writings leaned on the ideas of reason and ordered structure of society from the Enlightenment period. â€Å"Writing during the Enlightenment, his plays satirized a great many aspects of society, from hypochondriacs to hypocrites (Lawall 11). Most importantly, Moliere’s Tartuffe gives readers a taste of the†¦show more content†¦She is a character that develops to be very sensible. She is one of the more lively voices of reason within the play. Elmire has no trouble seeing through Tartuffe’s hypocrisy. At first, Elmire did not wish to do anything about Tartuffe’s hypocritic al ways. Damis catches Tartuffe speaking to Elmire and wants to reveal the truth about Tartuffe’s ways but Elmire promised her silence. She merely states: â€Å"I promised him. Don’t make me take it back. It’s not my nature to see as an attack Such foolishness as this† (Moliere 3.4. 13-15). This quote proves that Elmire knows her place in society. She has no initial intention to cause a huge scene about Tartuffe. She initially plans to brush the entire ordeal under the rug. Despite her initial thoughts, she eventually sets up a plan to reveal Tartuffe’s disgusting ways to her husband. â€Å"Elmire, embittered by the behavior of this impostor in her house, resolves to unmask him. She persuades Orgon to hide under a cloth-covered table to see and hear for himself the real Tartuffe† (Hada 1). Another female character in the play is Mariane. Mariane is the stepdaughter of Elmire. She is the young and innocent character in the play. Although Mariane is old enough to know her right from wrong, she still does not stand up against her father or any other character. Mariane’s father, Orgon, has an infatuation with Tartuffe. Orgon is oblivious to Tartuffe’s hypocrisy for most of the play. â€Å"The fact that Orgon’sShow MoreRelated Feminism During the Enlightenment in Molià ¨res Tartuffe Essay1297 Words   |  6 PagesFeminism During the Enlightenment in Molià ¨res Tartuffe Women have been the most discriminated-against group of people in the entire history of humankind. They have been abused, held back in society, and oftentimes restricted to the home life, leading dull, meaningless lives while men make sure the world goes round. It seems strange that half of the worlds population could be held down so long; ever since the dawn of humanity, women have been treated like second-class citizens. Only in the