Tartuffe, Swift and Voltaire

In his own way, Moliere's Tartuffe represents one aspect of the Enlightenment, if only a negative one, since he is a purely self-interested individual who cares only about advancing his own wealth and status. He is a fraud, a con artist and a hypocrite who puts on a show of religion but is really only interested in stealing Orgon's estate -- and his wife. Orgon is too foolish to understand this until the end, although his wise and cunning servant Dorine understands Tartuffe's intentions almost immediately. In this case, the uneducated servant is far more intelligent and clever than her master, who even seems callously indifferent to the illness of his wife. By the standards of the time, Orgon is a very incompetent head of household and a poor ruler and governor, in choosing a corrupt and scheming advisor who only intends to destroy his estate...
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