World Masterpieces 272 Name:_________________

Tartuffe Writing Assignment

Tartuffe, pp. 10-67

Due: Please see our course calendar

Please follow MLA structure throughout your response as well as revise and edit carefully and often.

In Tartuffe, Moliere satirizes the vice of religious hypocrisy by embodying it in the character of Tartuffe, himself. The play, first performed in 1664, created a huge controversy throughout France, leading the Catholic Church to force the king of France to ban it. Moliere’s defense of his play was that it was intended not to mock faith but to attack its misuse.

Consider the Catholic Church’s objection and Moliere’s defense of the play; then respond to the following two issues:

First, write a paragraph or two in support of the Catholic Church’s objection to the play being seen by its parishioners. Give examples from the play to support the Church’s objection that the play belittles faith.

Second, write another paragraph or two in support of Moliere’s position that the play attacks the misuse of faith, not faith itself. Give examples from the play to support Moliere’s position.