Satire-Moliere-Voltaire -- Swift Satire in Tartuffe, Candide Term Paper

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Satire-moliere-Voltaire -- swift

Satire In Tartuffe, Candide And A Modest Proposal

Generally speaking, satire is a literary form or work which exploits human vices, such as greed, avarice and jealousy, in order to ridicule. Some of the literary devices used to accomplish satire include wit, irony and sarcasm which exposes or discredits human foibles. Satire is usually directed at individuals or institutions with political or social leanings and serves, at times, as pure entertainment for the reading public. It also is used to illuminate certain conditions or situations that exhibit unjust or discriminatory traits. Three writers stand out as exemplary proponents of satire-Francois de Voltaire (1694-1778), author of Candide, Jean Baptiste Moliere (1622-1673), author of Tartuffe, and Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), author of the satiric piece a Modest Proposal. Thus, the ideals expressed by these authors in the above works focus on the human condition as it relates to man and his environment and serves as attacks filled with irony and metaphor.

As one of the greatest writers of the so-called "Age of Enlightenment," Voltaire

uses satire in a scathingly brilliant way, especially regarding Candide, the main character in the novel. Permeated by the human condition, Candide is a young man full of great optimism and sees the world as one filled with much hope and possibility. But Voltaire the satirist steadily destroys all optimism, something that goes completely against the ideals and tenets of the Enlightenment which stressed that rational thinking was the key to ending all human strife and suffering.

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Thus, Voltaire applies satire in such a way as to demonstrate through the actions and revelations of Candide that the world is not what it appears to be on the surface, and throughout the novel, Voltaire inserts satirical assertions that the workings of human existence are actually nothing more than mocking parodies, especially regarding the pursuit of happiness which is often infused with much misery. Also, Candide himself stands as a satirical figure who represents all the human ills linked to ignorance, mental weakness, hatred and hostility, while Voltaire the author satirizes the evils created by man as they exist within in religious, political and social/cultural systems, particularly those associated with the "Age of Enlightenment."

In the five-act comedic play Tartuffe, Moliere appears to have injected the worst traits of those that he despised in life, such as the rejection of human values, hypocrisy, arrogance and gullability, into the main characters. Satirically, the character of Orgon, the husband of Elmire, is the best example of this injection of traits, for he is the ultimate dupe and symbolizes Moliere's finest use of comedy, parody and human psychology. Orgon is a very cruel and selfish person and poses as a threat to his entire family via his rejection of human decency and his overtly boisterous piety.….....

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