Satire in Moliere’s Tartuffe, Voltaire’s Candide, and Swift’s A Modest Proposal

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.

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.

Voltaire’s satire contains a strong sense of witful irony and parodies meant to elicit disgust at the topics he is criticizing. “Candide’s” sense of satire is largely derived from the Juvenalian satire which was created by the Roman satirist Juvenal. By using absurdist and ironic images of characters, satirists intend to invoke disgust or laughter at a topic to the point where it is rejected a legitimate. Thi is the point with Voltaire’s mockery of optimism in “Candide”.

In Voltaire’s most notable literary work Candide, he uses his own enlightenment to tell the story of Candide and his teacher Pangloss. Through the teachings of his scholar Pangloss, Candide believes that the world he lives in is “the best of all possible worlds.” As Voltaire takes Candide on the path that is least to be desired, picking and poking at many philosophies of the time, Candide realizes that things are different than what he has been taught. Voltaire uses symbolism and satire to torture the noble, critique philosophies and philosophers, and expose the lack of candor within the people of the church.

Before Orgon is left to believe the statements about Tartuffe, it is the discussion between Orgon's wife, Elmire, and Tartuffe that begins to reveal the truth of the rumors of Tartuffe. As Elmire and Tartuffe talk about Orgon's proposal to marry Mariane, Tartuffe says that he would rather find happiness elsewhere. It is at this point in the play that Tartuffe begins to reveal his feelings towards Elmire.

Tartuffe is a fraud of the highest order and one of the servants proves to be the one with any real sense. Another part of what makes this play so funny is that the characters are all so over the top in their actions, that the reader can’t help but laugh at the absurdity of all it all. An example of his can be seen when not only does the audience realize that Tartuffe is a fraud, but the rest of Orgon’s family does as well. However, taking the comedy a step further, Orgon not only won’t make a move without consulting Tartuffe, but then he opts to marry his daughter off to this charlatan as well. A comedy of errors ensues after this point, as the family takes step to avoid this happening.

In his work, Candide, Voltaire uses satire as a means of conveying his opinions about many aspects of European society in the eighteenth century.  Voltaire successfully criticizes religion, the military, and the philosophy of optimism.

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

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliere's Tartuffe is an epic play of hypocrisy, betrayal, and the tale of a foolish mind. Moliere's choice of protagonist in this play happens to be the most blatantly ignorant character in the play. Orgon is naive to the villain Tartuffe's hypocritical ways, makes a complete dunce of himself by uplifting Tartuffe as holy, and failing to pick up the abundance of clues of Tartuffe being fake. Analyzing this character is rather interesting and at the same time frustrating to read of someone so ignorant that they fail to see the wolf hiding under the sheep clothing. A fool is a fool unless they open their eyes to see the truth, and it took Orgon the majority of the play to realize the truth.

  In its time, satire was a powerful tool for political assault on Europe's corrupt and deteriorating society. Voltaire's Candide uses satire to vibrantly and sarcastically portray optimism, a philosophical view from the Enlightenment used to bury the horrors of 18th century life: superstition, sexually transmitted diseases, aristocracy, the church, tyrannical rulers, civil and religious wars, and the cruel punishment of the innocent.

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;

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

Second, the value of moderation and reason in all things, as opposed to excess and obsession, is an important theme running throughout Tartuffe. Cleante is the voice of reason also because he promotes moderation and balance throughout the play. After Orgon realizes Tartuffe’s real nature, Orgon becomes emotional and begins to angrily say that he is “through with pious men” (Molière 244). Again, Cleante displays emotional control by questioning Orgon on why he could not be rational (Molière 244). Cleante advises Orgon that the lesson to be learned from his experience with Tartuffe is not to curse all men who appear to be good but rather carefully avoid all extremes of behavior and judgment to act less impulsively

Voltaire successfully uses satire as a means of conveying his opinions about many aspects of European society in the eighteenth century.  He criticizes religion, the evils found in every level of society, and a philosophy of optimism when faced with an intolerable world.

From one hand, a hypocrite is easily capable of manipulating the one, who does not have sincerity or who is inattentive with his/her personal dealings. According to the play, Tartuffe manages to impress Orgon by showing off his piety (Act 1, scene 5, line 36-40) and his generosity as an alms giver (Act 1, scene 5, line 55). I believe