Comparative Study of Voltaire's and Molière's Views on Religion in Candide and Tartuffe

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Candidate Name: Frances Yao Tong

Candidate Number:0637072

Word Count: 1432

A Comparative Study of Voltaire’s and Molière’s Views on Religion in Candide and Tartuffe

Literary works often reveal their authors’ views on particular social issues. Tartuffe (1669), a play by Molière, and Candide (1759), a philosophical tale by Voltaire, both deal with the question of religion in society. Tartuffe is a satire on the attitudes of the bourgeoisie toward religion in seventeenth-century France. Molière firmly believes in religious moderation and condemns religious hypocrisy and fanaticism. Published almost a century later, Voltaire’s Candide satirizes eighteenth-century European society by criticizing the hypocrisy of the clergy. As an Enlightenment thinker, Voltaire advocates the importance of free thinking and scientific reasoning. Although he believes in the existence of God, Voltaire is severely critical of revealed religion as well as of religious optimism and fanaticism.

Tartuffe is a critique of religious hypocrisy as embodied in Tartuffe. Molière’s Tartuffe is an imposter, who has no morals and merely uses religion as a cover-up for his vices and crimes. He pretends to be extremely pious, but his actions go completely against the moral codes of his religion. In Act 3, Scene 2, when he sees Dorine, Tartuffe tells her:

Cover that bosom, girl. The flesh is weak,
And unclean thoughts are difficult to control.
Such sights as that can undermine the soul.

Tartuffe preaches the importance of chastity here. However, in the next scene, he contradicts what he tells Dorine. He blatantly seduces Elmire and urges her to betray her husband. He “takes her hand and presses her fingertips” (Molière 87) and lasciviously “places his hand on her knee” (Molière 88). Molière’s juxtaposition of Tartuffe’s behavior in these two scenes enables the audience to clearly see the inconsistency between his words and actions. Tartuffe’s drastic change of behavior in the course of two scenes produces a comic effect that is intended to satirize the kind of religious hypocrisy embodied in Tartuffe.

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Tartuffe is not only a religious hypocrite but also a religious fanatic. For example, in Act 3, Scene 2, Tartuffe calls to his manservant, “Hang up my hair-shirt, put my scourge in place” (Molière 82). The hair-shirt and scourge reflect Tartuffe’s pseudo religious severity; he habitually purports to inflict self-punishment to assert his piety. However, in Molière’s view, such religious fanaticism is unnecessary and foolish. Orgon, under the influence of Tartuffe, is also satirized. Molière further exposes his disapproval of religious zeal through the use of dramatic irony when Orgon praises Tartuffe:

In the smallest trifles, he’s extremely strict.
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