How does Moliere's Tartuffe represent the Enlightenment?
Satire is the form most characteristic of the Enlightenment, and religious hypocrisy is among the most frequent targets. The simple faith of Orgon might have been treated as admirable in Medieval or even Renaissance writing, but for Molière, it is mere stupidity to be duped by such a vulgar fraud as Tartuffe. It is not simply that Orgon cannot see through the charade of piety. According to Enlightenment ideas, expressed in the play by Cléante, there should be no charade to see through since religion is a private matter and ought not to be the subject of a display of devoutness.
Unlike other Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire, Molière does not attack religion per se but satirizes the presence of devoutness. He does, however, share Voltaire's views on the primacy of reason and excoriates unreasonable and immoderate conduct, not only in Orgon, but in Tartuffe himself, who is...
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gluttonous, slothful, and lecherous. These faults are criticized not as sins in amorality play but as extreme departures from the Enlightenment standard of reasonable conduct.
Moliere's farceTartuffe ridicules demonstrative religious zeal that excludes reason and leads to folly. Rather than listening to the reasonable objections of others in his household, the wealthy Orgon invites Tartuffe into his home where he is duped by this impostor, believing him a humble and holy man when, in truth, Tartuffe is licentious and greedy. So fooled is Orgon that he succumbs to the oppressive force of Tartuffe by arranging for his daughter to marry this hypocrite, and by even giving Tartuffe his fortune.
This blind faith of Orgon is reflected in his mother, Madame Pernelle, who insists that Tartuffe is a good man, to whom others should listen. In Act I, she scolds her grandson Damis,
He[Tartuffe] is a good man and should be listened to; I can 't best, with patience , to hear him cavilled at such a fool as you.
Later, her son echoes her words in his slavish devotion to this "holy man" as he tells his brother-in-law, Cleante, his brother-in-law,
Bother, you would be charmed did you know him, and there would be no end of your raptures. He is a man that...Who always practices as he directs, enjoys a profound peace,....you can hardly imagine how good he is....
Dorine, a servant, comments that Tartuffe puts on a ‘‘pious mask’’ in order to gain financially from Orgon's devotion to him. Cléante later urges Orgon to admit that he has made the mistake of believing Tartuffe's "mask" of piety is the face of his true nature. Finally, it takes the empirical experiment--a method of solving scientific problems used by the leading minds of the field of science--to convince Orgon of the man's sordid nature. For, Elmire, his wife, has Orgon hide under a table so that he can overhear the attempts of Tartuffe to seduce her.
Much like the great thinker of the Enlightenment, Voltaire, Moliere presents the folly of intolerance in one's thinking and religious fervor as the hypocrite Tartuffe attempts to steal Orgon's daughter and his property. It is not until reason and empirical proof--those traits of the thinkers of the Enlightenment--are used that Orgon comes to realize the true nature of the impostor.
In Tartuffe, what objections might Moliere's contemporaries have had? Does the play reflect Enlightenment worldview?
I can answer the first part of your question which should help you with second part. It would be helpful for you to refer to eNotes' historical context and introduction to help with a better overall understanding of this play, which may also assist you in at least part of the rest of your questions.
First, Tartuffe is hysterically funny; if you ever have the chance to see it on stage, go for it. It is absolutely wonderful. By the way, it is a farce (a satirical comedy).
The play is about a man (Tartuffe) who tries to ingratiate himself with a wealthy family in order to trick Orgon (wealthy man of the house). To get an "in" with Orgon, Tartuffe pretends to be extremely pious (holy). Orgon takes him at face value, seeing a saint, while never looking beneath Tartuffe's facade; he treats his house guest better than his family--even as far as to plan to marry his daughter to this relative stranger.
As with life, when Orgon's friends warn him that Tartuffe is not what he seems, Orgon is too close to the situation to see Tartuffe for the hypocrite and liar that he is. When Orgon overhears Tartuffe's attempted seduction of his wife, his eyes are finally opened. In the end, after Tartuffe shows his true colors and almost gets away with the bank, the family is delivered from the clutches of this scheming con man.
With all this in mind, remember this play is written under the "patronage" of King Louis XIV of France, who (like Elizabeth I in England) was a true supporter of the "cultural arts," which thrived during his reign. However, the country was still very much "under the thumb" of the Catholic church, with no separation of Church and State.
Two reasons Moliere's contemporaries would be displeased with the play are, first, the objectionable character of Tartuffe who uses all things holy and sacred to pretend to be a truly God-loving man, when he is, in fact, a schemer beneath his "disguise." The Church actually banned the play--it did not see the stage for five years; it was only after Moliere's appeals to the King that it was finally performed without obstruction.
The second reason, simply put, is that no one likes to think that his own behavior is being exposed to ridicule. Those like the character of Tartuffe ("church angels, house devils") would take it personally that Moliere would draw attention to their disgraceful, hypocritical behavior which was counter to the teachings of the Church.
This play is a satire, a piece of literature that uses humor--in this case harsh humor--to make a point about something within society that the author brings to ridicule. Tartuffe's hypocrisy a major theme in the story, as is Orgon's foolish gullibility in that he cannot see Tartuffe for the fraud he is, refusing the counsel of friends, and placing the wishes of his guest over those of his own family.
When it comes to finger-pointing, Moliere wasn't letting anyone off the hook easily. His finger wagging would have made the hypocrites within his society (and there are always many in any society) extremely uncomfortable. This did not, however, stop theater-goers from attending the play. Candid it may be, but it is also very entertaining: perhaps even more so to those of us who can, at least secretly, identify with perhaps both of the main characters-- saying one thing and doing the other, and/or being too close emotionally to a situation to see it for what it really is.