Warren WolfDr. StoffHonors 203: Foundations of Modern CivilizationMarch 31, 2014Tartuffe, a comic play written by French playwright Molière, tells the story of a seemingly pious man named Tartuffe and his dealings with Orgon and the House of Orgon. Molière wrote the play with the aim of revealing what people with absolute power and "divine power" can do with their power and in the play he both endorsed and criticized absolutism and the “divine right” of “kings”. Tartuffe follows the interactions between Tartuffe, Orgon and Orgon's family. Orgon believes that Tartuffe is pious and truly a man of God, but most of the family members dislike Tartuffe. They believe that Tartuffe is faking his piety and using it for his own gain. Because of his high regard for Tartuffe, Orgon decides to offer Tartuffe a chance to marry his daughter, Mariane. Orgon had already accepted that Mariane should marry Valère, whom she loved and wanted to marry; but she would have to do what her father told her. Damis, Orgon's son, overhears Tartuffe expressing his desire and attempting to seduce Orgon's wife, Elmire. When Damis goes to his father and accuses Tartuffe of expressing his desire for Elmire, Orgon does not believe him and kicks him out of the house. Knowing that Tartuffe is not who he says he is, Elmire asks Orgon to hide under a table while she and Tartuffe meet. When Orgon hears Tartuffe's clear advances towards his wife, he is outraged and expels Tartuffe from the house. However, before these events occurred, Tartuffe had obtained the deed to Orgon's house through manipulation. Since Tartuffe has the deed to Orgon's house, he can legally have Orgon and his family evicted and decides to do so. When Tartuffe came to see the King to try to have Orgon expelled, the king used...... middle of paper ......summary, through this idea of ​​the king is to the people what the father is to the family we can see that in the play Molière actually criticizes absolutism and shows that it can indeed have major flaws. In conclusion, Molière's play Tartuffe was written to have a plot that involves hypocrisy. Molière's goal behind the play was to expose the hypocrisy he saw happening in the world at the time. He also expresses his opinion on absolutism and the “divine right” of the king. He may seem to approve of absolutism based on the king depicted in the play, but if you look in the context of the father being "king" of his house, you will notice that Molière is also criticizing absolutism and the "divine right" of the king in the room. Overall, the play covers hypocrisy as its main theme and shows both a positive and negative light on absolutism and the divine right of kings..