Monica Ang

Literature 14, Mo5

Dr. M. A. Pedron
March 12, 2008

Feminism in Moliere's Tartuffe and in Louis XIV's Absolute Monarchy

As patriarchal societies have dominated the world for millenia, the empowerment of

women shown in any way can inevitably spark up even the least amount of controversy. In

today's literature, Feminism has been fiercely prominent. The first wave of this liberation

movement is widely acknowledged to have begun in the late nineteenth century. However, the

first seeds of Feminism may also be traced back to the seventeenth century, the period of

Absolute Monarchy under Louis XIV. Evidence of this kind of free thinking is depicted in the

work of Louis XIV's favorite playwright, Jean-Baptiste Molière. Among his satirical plays that

exposed the hypocrites, bigots and hypochondrics of his society, Tartuffe is widely considered to

be his masterpiece.

Moliere wrote Tartuffe in a time when absolute monarchy was used by a king to make

France the epicenter of European culture. Contrary to what may be thought of dictatorial rules,

Louis XIV's reign did not marginalize women. Although avenues of power in Europe were

mostly restricted to men, France's cultural renaissance was vastly affected by women, or more

specifically, the king's mistress. Athenais Montespan's great taste in the arts transcended the

conventional limitations of her time, and would directly contribute to that century's cultural

renaissance of France. Notably, she was the first to promote the satirical works of Racine and

Moliere, resulting in them gaining patronage from the king. Another woman with a direct

influence on Tartuffe would be Armande Béjart, an actress whom Moliere married. She would

consequently inspire him to create the character, Emile, in order to best display her sensible

nature and her acting abilities.

 The feminist undertone in the play, Tartuffe, is clearly shown by the dynamics between

the different female characters and the situations they come upon. The different female

characters display the modern definition of Feminism in varying degrees.

The drama begins with Madame Pernelle, Orgon's overbearing mother, leaving the house

because she cannot take the family members's criticisms of Tartuffe. She is depicted as another

sort of religious hypocrite and is in return, duped by Tartuffe. She is not someone to be ignored

because of the volatile nature of her character and her presumably good standing in society.

Though she is unlikable and infuriating, she should be praised for being a woman who speaks

her mind and is not afraid to argue, even with men, namely Orgon, Damis and Cleante.

Doreen is the archetype of the witty maid. She is the most vocal, but not necessarily the

most effective, of the group trying to expose Tartuffe. Madame Pernelle says of her, “You're a

maid, like many of your kind/ Too saucy and too quick to speak your mind./ Nobody asks you

but you will be heard.” Her keen observations and intelligent insights make her invaluable to the

household, especially to Marianne, her charge, whom she tries to help defy Orgon. Notice that

she is the only one of the female characters who has to fight for her place because of her lower

station. She also has a brave and unwise side to her as shown when she is overly sarcastic and

impudent towards Orgon to make him see his foolishness and to deter him from having Mariane

marry Tartuffe. Orgon is incensed by Doreen's interventions as evidenced by the lines: “Now I

must learn form her how to behave... Quiet, you serpent!...Shut up, you! Talk to your own kind.”

Mariane, Orgon's daughter, is a prime example of the effects of marginalization of women

in society. Although she is still young, she has already conditioned herself to the idea of total

submission. She is only able to stand up for herself regarding her marriage to Tartuffe whom she

despises when Doreen urges her to fight for her love, Valere. Her change from a weak and
submissive daughter to an assertive, more independent-minded young adult embodies exactly the

effect Feminism wants to achieve. She no longer meekly says yes to marrying Tartuffe and

proceeds to let her feelings be heard. She would eventually go so far as to threaten Orgon with an

extreme; she proposes to become a nun simply to avoid marriage to Tartuffe.

Elmire is Orgon's beautiful second wife and stepmother to both Damis and Marianne. She

observes that mere reproach or testimonies of Tartuffe's abuses could not sway Orgon to

disbelieve Tartuffe's piety. She is not easily fluffed by the outrageous acts done by Tartuffe or

Orgon compared to the others:”If someone simply tells us of his passion/ Must our honor take

arms in martial fashion?...I take such propositions with a smile/ And do not find explosiveness

worthwhile.” This line may also explain her initial lack of action against Tartuffe, but she never

reaches the point of indifference. She merely brushes aside Tartuffe's advances but takes action

when Damis is disinherited and Mariane is forced to break her engagement to Valere. She

devises a plan that would most assuredly prove to Orgon that Tartuffe was a despicable

hypocrite. She uses (and is not afraid of) her sexuality to take advantage of Tartuffe's desire for

her and lure him into exposing his true nature while Orgon witnesses this out of sight. She can

think on her feet as seen when Tartuffe tries to ascertain he is not being tricked into exposing

himself. She relies on the common misperception of women in assuring Tartuffe of her love:“Oh!

If such a refusal makes you smart,/ How little do you know a woman's heart...Such a refusal is an

invitation!”

All the women, except Pernelle, are voices of reason or rationality which was the prime

concept of the imminent Enlightenment period in France. Considering Damis and Cleante, there

are still more women portrayed in this light in the play. Moliere's positive depiction of women

may be a result of the presence of the strong women in his society. It may also have helped other
women in that time to want for more than was given to them and use their wits and sexuality to

empower their lot.