Comparing Moliere's Tartuffe And Ibsen's A Doll's House

Comparing Moliere's Tartuffe and Ibsen's A Doll's House

The paper compares the classic comedy concerns regarding the plays “Tartuffe” and “A Doll's House” written by Moiré & Henrik Ibsen respectively. Tartuffe was written in 1669 was written in 1879. In Moliere's comedy, Tartuffe, the most important focal point of the play is not of Tartuffe, other than of Orgon's blind obsession with Tartuffe. (Harmon, 2000) It just so happens that the title character is the villain rather than the hero. Orgon is Moliere's representation of how a man can be so blind in his devotion to a belief that he cannot make accurate judgment as to the sincerity of others who would use that belief to deceive him. Tartuffe easily achieves total power over Orgon's actions because of his gullibility. A Doll's House is a realistic three-act play, focuses on late nineteenth century life in a middle-class Scandinavian household, in which the wife is expected to be contentedly passive and the husband paternally protective.

Nora Helmer, however, has subverted this play. At that time, a woman could not sign a legal contract alone; thus, when her beloved husband, Torvald, became ill, Nora secretly obtained a loan by forging her father's signature so that they could travel to a warmer climate. The play, Tartuffe was presented by Moliere that he used Orgon as an example of how the obsessive need to believe can cause man to be taken in by those who would cloak themselves in, and manipulate with, those beliefs. (Barr, 1993)

The theme is based on the classical comedy perspective as the play is comic because Moliere shows how silly Orgon looks when his sincere belief is contrasted with the truth, which is seen by all but his blind self. In contrast, the play, Henrik ...