Extreme and Moderate Characters in Moliére’s Tartuffe Essay -- essays

Extreme and Moderate Characters in TartuffeIn Molires Tartuffe (Moir 1664), the reader is able to nail a great contrast of Extreme and Moderate characters. Extreme characters being those who are seen as over the top, or very passionate people, and the moderate characters having a more calm and subtle approach to ideas. The extreme characters in this case would be Madam Pernelle, Orgon, Tartuffe, and Dorine. The moderate characters are seen as Cleante and Elmire. One of the characters that obviously finalise into the extreme character category would be that of Madam Pernelle. Madam Pernelle is an excellent example of an extreme character because of her sharp remarks, and the idea of telling people incisively what she thinks. From the very beginning of the play, the reader is able to identify how out spoken this character is when she begins to defend Tartuffe in the opening pages.. This is demonstrated when Madam Pernelle comments on a remark made by Dorine saying, Girl, you talk t o much, and Im afraid / Youre far too saucy for a ladys maid. / You adjure in everywhere and have your say (I, I, 21) Another example of an extreme character in Tartuffe would be the character of Dorine. Much like Madam Pernelle, Dorine is an frank individual who does not like to be argued or reasoned with. She is very adamant about her idea of Tartuffe, and will not be easily persuaded into opinion otherw...