Tartuffe 1

Discuss at least 3 important trends in literature during “The Enlightenment of Europe.”

One important trend in literature during “The Enlightenment of Europe” was society.  During this time period, writers focused on the importance of the whole group, rather than the importance of the individual.  For example, French writers of this time “often used domestic situations as ways to examine larger problems,” rather than using personal situations (297).  During this time period of writing the role of women in the society is not to a great extent and children were not truly considered part of the society because it was believed that only adults could play a role in society.  A second important trend in literature during this time period was nature, the “inherent order of things” and “human nature” (298).  I believe the writers of this time period believed nature was an important aspect of their works because they wanted their readers to understand that human nature remains the same because all humans experience the same or similar emotions throughout their life.  For example, each human experiences happiness, sadness, sickness, hardships, etc. throughout their lives.  The writers also focused on nature to teach the “insufficiency of human powers in comparison with divine,” but that we live in a wonderful universe (298).  The writers focus on nature to explain things that probably could not be explained otherwise, such as human emotions.  The writers focusing on nature allows the readers to know essential things that they might find helpful throughout their lives; for example, knowing that others go through many of the same emotions that they do.  A third important trend in literature during this time period was convention and authority, such as manners.  The writers used this trend to “declare continuity between present and past” (299).  For example, although manners may have changed their way of being over time, manners have still always been present in some form; what may be considered proper manners today may not have been considered etiquette manners in the past, but manners were still present in the past, just in a different way.  The “underlying” of “all specific conventions” was believed that literature was to satisfy and teach the reader (299).  The literature of this time period did exactly that; “the two-dimensional characters of Voltaire’s tales” not only provided “signals about authorial intention,” but also “anticipated reader response” (299).  Because the literature of this time period followed a certain manner, I believe it made it known to the reader what to expect to some extent and I believe it possibly made it easier to understand.

Why do you believe that “Moliere” continues to be read and beloved?

I believe that “Moliere” continues to be read and beloved because he included aspects in his writings that people can still relate to today.  In today’s society many people struggle with power and Tartuffe’s energy comes from the “struggle for erotic, psychic, and economic power” (304).  In that same play, Orgon is seeking control, which is something that many people still do today; there are constantly people seeking and wanting to take control so they can be powerful.  “Moliere” says that in his play, “Cleante, before he meets Tartuffe, claims (accurately) to understand him by his effect on others,” which is something that we as humans do on a daily basis (304).  We are constantly claiming to know people that we have never met just simply because of what they may have done to others or because of the influence that they have had on others.  I believe that because “Moliere” includes issues in his writings that still can relate to present times, it allows him to truly be beloved because readers can understand and relate to many aspects in his writings.

What insight do you gain from the preface and petitions leading up to the play?

From reading the preface and petitions leading up to the play, I have gained insight that Tartuffe was not written to make fun of religion, but yet to only criticize the hypocrites.  I believe that “Moliere” has no intentions on being rude, but instead he is writing about his true feelings.  He had no intentions of offending anybody, but those who were offended by his play were probably the hypocrites themselves.  He says that “Criticism is taken lightly, but men will not tolerate satire,” which is exactly why the hypocrites take offence to his comedy (308).  He emphasizes on how comedy is clearly innocent and he provides proof of that by saying that many famous philosophers and honored men wrote comedies.  Although comedy is innocent, he explains that anyone can turn innocence into something that does not portray innocence, even in other aspects not including comedy.  However, one must look past their preconceptions to truly realize that Tartuffe is an innocent comedy.  Although he does not intend on upsetting or offending anyone, I gained insight that it did offend some people and they banned his play.