Reading "Tartuffe" was extremely enjoyable for me because I was vividly reminded of the humor that can be found in Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew."
My favorite character throughout the entire play has to be Dorine. Moliere sets her up to be the main voice of reason, even though she possesses the sassiest, saltiest personality! I found it ironic that Moliere would designate such a character to be such an important player, especially when you consider that Dorine's honesty often came out as blunt and straight-forward!
In all honesty, I found it almost strange how Dorine, the one character in the play who brings the most humor, stood apart from all of the other actors as the wisest of them all. I suppose it is this fact that has me paralleling "Tartuffe" to "The Taming of the Shrew." In Shakespeare's play, his main and wisest character is also the one who brings the must humor and joy!
I can't figure out what the strategy was in creating such sassy, salty voices of reason. But if its only purpose was to make the audience laugh, then both Moliere and Shakespeare have done a good job!
Edit - Replied to Jamie Peters and Caroline Tucker.
My favorite character throughout the entire play has to be Dorine. Moliere sets her up to be the main voice of reason, even though she possesses the sassiest, saltiest personality! I found it ironic that Moliere would designate such a character to be such an important player, especially when you consider that Dorine's honesty often came out as blunt and straight-forward!
In all honesty, I found it almost strange how Dorine, the one character in the play who brings the most humor, stood apart from all of the other actors as the wisest of them all. I suppose it is this fact that has me paralleling "Tartuffe" to "The Taming of the Shrew." In Shakespeare's play, his main and wisest character is also the one who brings the must humor and joy!
I can't figure out what the strategy was in creating such sassy, salty voices of reason. But if its only purpose was to make the audience laugh, then both Moliere and Shakespeare have done a good job!
Edit - Replied to Jamie Peters and Caroline Tucker.
Comments
It is also interesting to think about Dorine's class station. Marianne takes Dorine's advise into consideration. That is very fascinating considering that Marianne is the daughter of a prominent man while Dorine is her maid.