Religious Satire In Tartuffe

Tartuffe Tartuffe by Monsieur Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Molière is a religious satire that takes place in the home of Orgon, who is one of the main characters and a well-off man in terms of money, at least. The opening lines of the play place the reader in the middle of a family “discussion” about their house guest Tartuffe. However, the discussion is more of a quarrel about Tartuffe’s true character and the two opinions of Tartuffe can be seen immediately in the play as the grandmother, Madam Pernelle is thoroughly convinced that Tartuffe is a pious man while the other family members, excluding her son Orgon, know Tartuffe for the hypocritical tyrant that he is. The naivety, hypocrisy, deceit, and pride that are found in Molière’s Tartuffe highlight the faults that are found in society and the Catholic Church of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. To better understand …show more content…
Robert Cardullo, author of “Molière’s ‘Tartuffe’” states that “. . . we must recall that, in the mid-seventeenth century, France had just barely emerged from the period of bloody religious strife” (Cardullo 173). The bloody warfare that ensued until the mid-seventeenth century caused France to split into two religious sects: Roman Catholicism and Protestantism or as it is known in France, Huguenotism. Another key element to appreciate Tartuffe is to understand the satirical writing style that is used by Molière. In The Literature of Satire, Charles A. Knight, gives an example of an acceptable definition of satire that was written by Edward Rosenheim, who was an English scholar and professor. Rosenheim defines satire “. . . as an indirect attack on historical particulars, especially if one adds the characteristic feature of humor . . .” (Knight 13). In layman’s terms, satire is a writing style