Tartuffe An Excellent Example of a Neoclassical Drama

Tartuffe is an excellent example of a neoclassical drama because of its close adherence to the guidelines set forth in Aristotle’s Poetics, its use of character structure, and its incorporation of the common neoclassical ideas involving: reason, rational thinking, as well as logical problem solving. During the beginning of the 17th Century neoclassical thought began to dominate the stage in France. In the domain of theatre, this meant that neoclassical writers began to look back to the ideals and beliefs of classical times, accentuating the classic ideas of rational control and discipline. It was an age intrigued with regularity as the ideas stemming from this period insist upon certain norms of behavior in society. Throughout the†¦show more content†¦In addition, each character has a specific reason that he or she is essential to the progress of the play, and is only used for that purpose. For example, Clà ¨ante’s rationality and ability to reason serves him as a mediator of the house. He is essential to the plot in that without him successfully mediating and preventing violence, the King may not have seen Orgon’s family as good and might not have ruled in their favor. This is also demonstrated when Clà ¨ante advises that Tartuffe not continue to pursu e his irrational demands on the Orgon family when he says; â€Å"the quarrel must be mended, and my advice is/ Not to push matters in to further crisis† (Gainor, Tar.V.1.15-16). The neoclassical age was also known as the Age of Reason,. This was due to the emergence of new ideas about reason, logical thinking, order, and restraint, which were being adopted by the majority of people. During this time there was significant influence from playwrights aiming to convey the general truth rather than their unique vision, and the desire to communicate ideas more than to express themselves. Molià ¨re demonstrates this in Tartuffe as he structures the play in a way that generates thought and incorporates the audience by having relatable characters exposing common relatable truths through the plays