- Is Tartuffe in fact anti-religious, or does it only attack corruptions of religion?
I don’t know if you are meaning to ask if Tartuffe himself is ant-religious or not, or the poem as a whole… I want to say though, that both are more so to the corruption of religion. I think that Tartuffe may want to do his best at being the most righteous that he can be however he himself is seen by many in the poem as a “bigot’ and Dorine refers to him as a fraud. The insults from many in the play are extensive. It seems that many are under a mutual understanding that Tartuffe is a hypocrite and I would say slightly ruins to face of religion for the rest of them. In Scene 3, Tartuffe is totally hitting on Elmire and is trying to cop a feel, “Feeling your gown; what soft, fine woven stuff!’. When previously he was preaching to Dorine that she was showing too much of her bosom. I think that Molière is poking fun at religion and the self- righteous through his play and Tartuffe himself.
- In what respects is Hugo’s Satan a heroic figure? How does Hugo’s account differ from Dante’s?
I wouldn’t agree that Hugo’s Satan is a heroic figure… but I guess in a way, after his 10,000 year journey he finally found hell. Hugo and Dante differ in many aspects, but I would say the one that sets them apart the most is what they describe hell as. Dante has many different levels, while Hugo mentions that is incredibly dark and lonely.
- Discuss and compare the images in any two poems assigned for this week.
I found it somewhat difficult to interpret these poems, for they all seemed to be so depressing. I can understand why they would be, for the writers all faced some trail and writing must have been an escape for them. I think that the two poems that I liked the most however, were Leopardi’s “To Sylvia’ and “The Village Saturday’. Both seemed similar (ironic, they had the same author), in a way that they portray the young, youthful, and beautiful younger ones, and then in a more depressing tone say, “hey, it won’t always be like this’.
“My child, enjoy the season, I will not tell you more; but if the day Seems slow in coming, do not grieve too much’ (Leopardi line 46-48).
I like how you used the specific scene from “Tartuffe” that I was thinking when I read the question, it was very suggestive and pointed at the hypocrisy blatantly. Excellent post.