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Essay / He is both a religious man and the voice of reason in the story, while alluding to an underlying philosophy for pursuing true religious belief. This establishment places Cleante's character above that of Orgon because of the employment of reason. This makes the public more receptive to Cleante's philosophy and assessments. At the end of the act, Tartuffe has not yet appeared. However, Orgon and Cleante have already largely established its character. Orgon paints Tartuffe as a saint and praises his religious piety without much support to support his faith in the man. Due to the unreliable nature of his character that was previously established, Cleante's opinion of Tartuffe is considered more authentic. Orgon speaks of Tartuffe's religious nature, stating: “The way he humbly bowed and kissed the ground? And when they tried to look away, his fervent prayers to heaven and his deep sighs made them witness his deep spiritual pain. He is a man who makes a spectacle of his worship and who intends for his own worship to elicit praise from others. Cleantes condemns this form of worship, saying that true believers “are not those who groan and prostrate.” He therefore infers that true religious devotion is something internal and should not be shown or praised externally. Because of his established trustworthiness, audiences are more open to his interpretation of Tartuffe's actions. This helps cement Tartuffe's character as a fortune-seeking hypocrite who only gives the appearance of religious devotion. Because he constructed this intelligent plan in order to live lavishly, he can be considered a man full of reason and devoid of religion. In this sense he is the opposite of Orgon and as such he becomes the symbol of a religious hypocrisy which must be condemned because of his meaningless worship which is only a spectacle and a self-praise. Cléante condemns this type of religious belief by saying to Orgon: “I believe that you praise him very sincerely, I also think that you will pay very dearly for him. » This is both a warning for this type of belief system and a foreshadowing of Orgon's unfortunate late revelation near the end of the story. These characters come together to form the theme of the story. Tartuffe embodies religious hypocrisy and reason without religion. Orgon is the embodiment of a religion or belief without reason or self-evaluation. In the character of Cleante, a medium or balance between religion and reason is shown. Orgon's predicament at the end of the story reveals that blind belief is unwise while Tartuffe's betrayal which is revealed at the end shows the evil in religious hypocrisy. Cleante's philosophy remains the only right path to true worship and true religious belief. The point of the story can be drawn from these establishments. Molière's theme in the story is that true religious belief is only found with authentic worship and the use of reason to discern for oneself how to achieve the faith described in the religion itself while warning of the dangers of religious hypocrisy or religion without substance.Keep in mind: this is just a sample.Get a personalized article from our expert editors now.Get a custom essayDespite the one-dimensional nature of these characters, Molière uses their presence to develop a theme that makes an important point about religion. It establishes the trustworthiness of each character, which not only causes the reader to question the genuine nature of each character's claims, but also encourages the reader to question any.
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