In Moliere's comedy Tartuffe, The play centers on the
family of Orgon, a wealthy and impressionable man, his
central target of ridicule is Orgon. Orgon is Moliere's
character of how man can be so blind in his devotion to a
belief that he cannot make a good judgement as to the
sincerity of others who would use that belief to deceive
him. This play fits into the concept of comedy because all
of the elements of comedy are present. It happens that the
title character is the villain rather than the hero and some of
the elements have been tampered with. In Tartuffe, we
have the classic comic scenario of two lovers, Valere and
Marianne, trying to get together but being thwarted.
However, instead of the villain, Tartuffe is not the one who
is antagonizing them, it is Orgon who gets in the way.
Orgon tries to flatter Tartuffe by offering Marianne to be his
wife. Before it is all over, Orgon ends up giving the deed to
all his land to the deceitful Tartuffe. The other comic
elements such as the unmasking of the villain and the happy
ending are also present in Tartuffe. It is in the duality of
Orgon, who is a believing and devoted subject, and
Tartuffe, the manipulating hypocrite. Moliere takes his shot
at the extremes of enthusiastic belief. Tartuffe plays the role
of a man whose greedy actions are cloaked by a mask of
overwhelming piety, modesty and religious passion. Orgon
is the head of a household who has taken Tartuffe in, and
given him shelter and food. Everyone in the family, except
Orogon's mother, knows that Tartuffe is a fake. In this play
Moliere uses Cleante to emphasize pious qualities, Cleante
spoke with wisdom common sense and moderation. All of
Orgon's relatives try to warn him o ...