Tartuffe by Moliere is, perhaps, one of the best-known books that describe the fault of hypocrisy. In the main character of the play – Tartuffe – the author embodied the basest traits of humanity concealed under the mask of a holy man. While some people may consider the play an attack on religion itself, in fact it is religious hypocrisy that Moliere vividly portrays. The play aims to reveal hypocritic features inherent in religion of those times and fight corruption and duplicity most pronounced in doctrinal societies of those times.
In Tartuffe, Moliere turned to the most common kind of hypocrisy at that time — religious — and wrote it based on his observations of the religious “Society of the Holy Gifts”, the activities of which were surrounded by great mystery. This prompted the plot of the play, while the character of Tartuffe was formed from typical features inherent in members of this organization. As part of the plausible movement of the comedy plot, Moliere gives two comedic hyperboles balancing each other — Orgone’s hyperbolic passion for Tartuffe and Tartuffe’s equally hyperbolic hypocrisy.
The image of Tartuffe is not the embodiment of hypocrisy as a universal vice, it is a socially generalized type. No wonder he is not alone in comedy: his servant Laurent, the bailiff, and the mother of Orgon are hypocritical as well. All of them cover their unsightly deeds with pious speeches and vigilantly monitor the behavior of others. The characteristic appearance of Tartuffe is created by his imaginary holiness and humility. Tartuffe is not devoid of external attractiveness, he has courteous, insinuating manners, behind which lies prudence, energy, an ambitious thirst for power, the ability to take revenge. He is well settled in Orgon’s house, where the owner not only satisfies his slightest whims, but is also ready to give him his daughter Marianne, a rich heiress, as a wife.
Tartuffe does not just thoughtlessly rush into the pool of sins, he has everything calculated: he knows when he can sin and when he needs to play to the public. He simultaneously stands before the readers as a saint and as an unscrupulous hypocrite. Such controversy serves to show that it is religious hypocrisy Moliere condemns, not religion itself. Thus, Tartuffe in the play utters a phrase that can become a kind of “justification” for many pseudo-religious people, “If you sin in silence, then it is not a sin” (The Misanthrope, Tartuffe, and Other Plays 68). While truly religious people abstain from committing sins in any form, this phrase shows that for Tartuffe sin is acceptable if no one knows about his committing it. Thus, the readers see a secret Jesuit, artfully infiltrating families, greedy for prey and having all the features of monastic selfishness – Tartouffe exercises all shades of pretense, whatever form it takes.
The play provides a classic exposure of one of the main strongholds of the absolutist state — the first estate of France — the clerics. However, the image of Tartuffe has an immeasurably greater capacity. On the surface of it, Tartuffe is a rigorist, rejecting everything sensual and material without any condescension. But he himself indulges into sensual pleasures, which he has to hide from prying eyes. Thus, he says: “To love eternal beauties far above is not to be immune to other love” (The Misanthrope, Tartuffe, and Other Plays 65). Thus, as a hypocrite, he enjoys what truly religious people abstain from, which, once again shows that it is religious hypocrisy Moliere condemns, not religion itself.
The comedy Tartuffe had a great social significance. In it, Moliere the most harmful public vice — hypocrisy. As Moliere asserted, hypocrisy was the main vice of France of his time that is why it became the object of his satire. In a comedy that provokes laughter and fear, Moliere portrayed what was happening in France. Hypocrites like Tartuffe, despots, informers and avengers, ruled the country with impunity, and lawlessness and violence were the results of their activities. Although the king acts fairly at the end of the play, the social situation outlined by Moliere seems threatening.
Work Cited
The Misanthrope, Tartuffe, and Other Plays. Translated by Maya Slater. Oxford University Press, 2008.