Satire in Tartuffe and Modest Proposal

In “A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Swift provides a satirical exploration of the attitudes of the wealthy people towards the underprivileged and poor children in the society. Laymen and intellectuals during the late seventeenth century distributed political pamphlets containing different ideas throughout Ireland. In his essay, Swift utilizes some of the overlooked pamphlets during this period and develops an ironic proposal. As a colony of the British, Ireland had endured long years of prejudicial discrimination and tyrannical oppression since the twelfth century. In this regard, the British dominated the political life of the Irish people. Moreover, religious divisions within Ireland were becoming apparent. Roman Catholicism was the prominent religion in most of Ireland. With the onset of Protestantism, the number of Catholics dwindled significantly. Since the Protestants became the majority in the country, they were able to lock the Catholics out from holding any positions in parliament and government. Moreover, the parliament could not convene without a direct edict of the English King. For this reason, the people of Ireland depicted growing dissatisfaction in their political, religious, and economic lives. In particular, Swift uses his essay to illustrate how bad the socio-economic status of the Irish people was during the seventeenth century. In the essay, Swift creates a narrator who speaks from the first person point of view.

In Moliere’s “Tartuffe,” although many things and behaviors are satirized, the play focuses mainly on the issue of religious hypocrisy. Whereas Tartuffe is the obvious hypocrite and

Swift attracts attention to the cruel mistreatment of the impoverished class of Ireland through the use of his absurd proposal, his tone, and also his insincerity.

Tartuffe is one of the most famous comedies Moliere wrote and is one of the most famous theatrical comedies to ever exist. It’s watered down summary is a man, named Tartuffe, is taken in by a family head, Orgon, because it is a good act of kindness and it is “what Christians are supposed to do”. Tartuffe exploits the family and uses them whilst portraying a man of god and the family succumbs to everything that he says and does only because he has this pseudo holy persona. The church was outraged by this play and its “insult on religion”, threatening anybody who went to see it with excommunication from the church. Eventually, the haters or detractors of the play lost their powers and influence and Moliere was able to perform the original play,

On Saturday, December 3rd at 4 pm, I watched the play “Tartuffe” at York College. “Tartuffe” is a classic French play written by Moliere. It was originally named “Tartuffe, ou I’Imposteur”. And it was first performed in 1664. The play is a comedy that centers around the character Tartuffe who is a hypocritical holy man. Throughout the play Moliere indirectly tackles many societal problems in his time.

The third act of Tartuffe contributes to the play’s hilarity. The author’s decision to allow Tartuffe to appear in the third act made the story comical. The readers have been awaiting Tartuffe’s appearance for a while. As Tartuffe enters, the author does not make it clear to the readers right away that he is a hypocrite. He is trying to use the fact that he wants Elmire as a disguise for his bad ways. In this act, Tartuffe’s dishonesty becomes comic because he believes that it’s okay for a woman to cheat on her husband with a religious man like himself. Elmire’s outlook on the situation is that a woman shouldn’t run and tell her husband every time a man tries to get with her.

The Hypocrite Over 3 centuries after his death, Jean-Baptiste Moliere’s satirical comedies are still an essential part of Universities Curriculum, being revised as modern plays being shown all over the world, and even being produced as Movies for everyone to see. Jean-Baptiste Moliere’s Tartuffe a French comedy first performed in 1664, was one his most famous, the play was banned by King Louis XIV for attacking the hypocrisy of the clergy. Tartuffe uses comedy to show character flaws that people even today still have. With an array of characters in the play Moliere shows what a common household may have consisted of in the 1660’s from the overbearing mother, to the naïve daughter and her witty lady maid.

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin was a great satirical playwright in the seventeenth century. Under his stage name, Moliere, he used comedy to call into the light certain questionable phenomenons in his society (Puchner 141). In the play “Tartuffe”, Moliere targets religious hypocrisy and society’s refusal to see it. He uses satire to make blind obedience seem comical, while also urging the audience to examine the religious hypocrisy and deceit in their own lives. In the play, Tartuffe is a supposed holy man who embodies hypocrisy and uses cunning and deceit to earn Orgon’s pity, love, and dependence, to be taken into his home, and to eventually become his heir and the owner of his house. When

Jessica Lonon FREN 0868-701 Moliere Essay Tartuffe is Moliere’s most famous play. It was originally written in 1664 as a three-act comedy, however the final version – which is what has survived to today – is composed of five acts. Many have said that Tartuffe was written in response to hypocritical religious situations of the age. Religious hypocrisy was an issue that plagued many upper class Frenchmen and this play subtly targets them and their folly.

During the Enlightenment, Jean-Baptiste Moliere wrote the controversial satirical play Tartuffe making him famous in regard to the King and his court, but also he became infamous through the eyes of the mighty Catholic Church. The play focuses on the deceitful Tartuffe who uses his religious manner to become a parasite feeding off the hospitality and riches of Orgon and his family. A b c d e f g h I j k

Swift vents his growing exacerbation at the tyranny of the English class, insincerity of the affluent, ineptitude of Ireland’s leaders and the ruin and shabbiness in which many people were living in. He describes and laments an Ireland that is utterly subject to manipulation by England (Barnet 222). However, he does not totally blame the bleak state of affairs in Ireland to the Englishmen. He proclaims that even the Irish are to blame for their nation’s poor socio-economic status. Self-evidently, Swift believes that despite the harshness of the Englishmen, the Irish could still have done something to liberate their state rather than simply living at the mercy of the British ruling class (Atwan 877).

What exactly is a satire? A satire is the use of humor, irony. or exaggeration to criticize someone’s behavior, life, values, or ideas, especially in concurrent events and in social-political issues. Writers most often use satire in literature to make a statement about society or certain people who conform to a general idea that is prominent in society. One particular story, King Lear, is thought to be a satire about King James VI and I because of the parallels to his life.

Tartuffe is one of the most famous comedies written by the French playwright Molière. The play tells the story of a wealthy Frenchman named Orgon who takes in Tartuffe, a man who presents himself to be religious and passionate but actually turns out to be a hypocrite. Despite his family’s warnings, Orgon completely turns his back on his family in order to protect Tartuffe, who betrays him. During that time the play was first written and performed, many people, along with King Louis XIV himself, enjoyed the play. However, to others it was seen as being critical of religion and the church, which then lead to it being banned. In a political sense, Tartuffe serves as both an endorsement and critique of the ideas of absolutism, divine right,

Swift’s subtle insinuation of the fault of the wealthy Irish landlords financially crippling families could not be bluntly stated. Swift himself was an Irishman. He

Tartuffe is a play that shows the dynamics of an aristocratic family and how they deal with an unwanted guest. When a con artist manipulates his way into the family, he takes total control of the household. Even though everything about him is obvious to those that are looking, one can still be blinded by a grand performance. The family is thrown into dissension when Orgon refuses to see Tartuffe for what he really is. Everyone’s relationship comes under scrutiny. Moliere play illustrates that having a direct knowledge of who and how God operates can help when the Devil is standing in the shadows looking to devour.