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Tartuffe and The Misanthrope are two comic plays with different themes but closely related structures. The authors of the two plays chose to present comedy indirectly through their way of tackling core vices in society. Comedy in the two plays is presented through different ways of character development through different plots and main themes in the plays.
The plays take different social settings hence their characters are developed to bring out comedy depending on the setting. One thing that stands about the comedy in these plays is that they are not intended to invoke laughter alone. The writers have developed their plot in such a way that they either ridicule certain vices in society or advocate for certain attributes. Thus, they both carry a moral lesson to be passed over to the society.
The social settings of the two plays are different from one another. Tartuffe revolves around a family structural setting which is centered on Orgon and his actions has the head of the family. He is presented as a dupe who is easily manipulated to trust Tartuffe beyond any doubt although other members of his family apart from his mother are aware of Tartuffe’s witty and cunning character.
He wholly trusts Tartuffe and follows whatever he says. More so, he even embarks on forcefully making other family members to follow suit failure to which he threatens to break his daughter’s engagement and force her to marry Tartuffe, a man who is secretly making advances toward his wife.
On the other hand, The Misanthrope revolves around a love conflict in which several suitors are up to win Celimene, a certain beautiful lady. Although some scenes take place outside Celimene’s house, most of the play touches on her efforts to choose a husband amongst the many suitors.
Alcaste manages to beat them all and win the lady’s hand in marriage but renounces his love for the same lady in order to keep his integrity and serve as an example to others in the society.
The main characters in the two plays possess different traits. Tartuffe is a witty character and uses fraud to manipulate Orgon who falls prey to his wits while other members of Orgon’s family interpret this fraud. Orgon believes so much in him that he cannot doubt any of his actions.
This is much pronounced when Tartuffe seduces Elmire, Orgon’s wife, but still Orgon cannot accept that it happened. The climax of the manipulation is when Orgon almost loses all of his possessions to the witty Tartuffe who manages to obtain fake papers that need Orgon to flee the country leaving all his possessions to him.
On the other hand, Alceste, the major character in The Misanthrope stands for honesty and integrity in society and refuses to compromise his beliefs at whatever cost. In the beginning of the play he openly complains to his friend Philinte about the level of corruption in the French society.
He is among the suitors expecting to win Cemene’s hand in marriage, but he can only do so without compromising his character. Thus, he refuses to appeal the court’s verdict on the lawsuit against him by Oronto in order to serve as an example to the society.
Comedy in the two plays is brought out differently. In Tartuffe, the comical climax is when Orgon is adamant to accept the fact that Tartuffe made advances on his wife Elmire who then sets up a trap for Tartuffe and Orgon hides below the table.
He enters while Orgon is in his hideout and he confirms by himself that indeed Tartuffe is not the person he has always held in high regard. He witnesses Tartuffe seduce Elmire in his own house! Hence, comedy in this play is brought out when the characters are surprised of each other. Tartuffe does not expect Orgon under the table neither does Orgon expect him to seduce Elmire.
The Misanthrope presents comedy in a different way through many suitors expressing their affection and desire to court Celimene, and although Arsinoe and Alcaste accuse the young lady of flitting she does not pick any of the suitors. Thus, when time comes she finally agrees to marry Alcaste but not to stay with him.
Quite comical! Furthermore, Alcaste, who has all along tried to win the lady does not celebrate this but rather renounces his love for Celimene. In this case, comedy is achieved when the characters are furious towards each other.
Comedy in the two plays is not only meant for laughter but also to condemn certain vices in society. The play writer in Tartuffe targets to ridicule manipulation in society since the play is meant to warn the general public of witty characters who may pose in different personalities in order to exploit others.
At the end of the play, Orgon feels ashamed that he could not detect the mischievous and witty character of Tartuffe all along. In fact, he is embarrassed of falling prey to Tartuffe’s wits and manipulation.
The play writer of The Misanthrope aims to advocate for honesty and integrity in society. The main character Alcaste is presented has one with an unwavering believe in honesty and integrity. He is even willing to lose the fight of his life and live all alone in solitude so as to serve as an example to the society.
He openly criticizes Orontes’s poetry and does not appeal the verdict against him even though he had a chance to do so. It is clear that Oronte filed a lawsuit against him when he openly asked for his comment on the sonnet he had written. Thus, the play-writer intends to encourage people to emulate Alcaste hoping perhaps this would be only way to help reduce the levels of poverty in France.
The two plays above qualify to be called satirical. They are intentionally written to ridicule certain behavior in society. In fact, the satiric approach has been largely employed to develop the themes in the two plays.
It is believed that The Misanthrope was written at a time when corruption and other social injustices were looming in the French society and most of these incidences of corruption were reported in the judicial system.
Therefore, art was used as a tool to reinstate integrity and social order. Nevertheless, even though they are both comical, the writers have employed different aspects and styles to bring out the comedy.
The social settings of the two plays play a major role in the development of satire since each is characterized by a certain number of misdeeds in the society which they condemn.
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