Essay on Playwrights and Filmmakers: Enhancing Deeper Understanding With Styles

While presenting their literary work to their targeted audience, playwrights and filmmakers often employ various styles, to enhance a deeper understanding of the concepts and elements in the works. The use of these styles further reflects the author's ideas regarding the themes or issues addressed. Fundamentally, Jean-Batiste Moliere and Francois Mariane Arouet De Voltaire offer a great exemplification of playwrights who have tremendously succeeded in using such techniques in their plays. In most cases, these styles characterised by dark comedies that provide a profound revelation of the society, in an attempt to shed light about the importance of differentiating the real from the constructed appearance. This paper, therefore, provides a discussion regarding the comparison between Tartuffe and Candide about how the authors have succeeded in employing various elements to enhance the understanding of the audience on such issues.

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In Tartuffe, Moliere uses a plot to defend ad choose the characters who symbolise and ridicule the habitual behaviours that were imposed and introduced during the neo-classical time. Notably, Tartuffe is depicted as a pure comedy of manners and integrates the characters with few and perhaps traits that resemble those of one another. In this way, the play can restore some peace in the end. The author can downplay the entire society through creating a microseism, where everyone within the family must demonstrate obedience, respect, and mindfulness.

A closer look at the Tartuffe reveals that the playwork focuses on the importance of chastity in one of the scenes. In one view, Tartuffe contradicts o what he tells Dorine. He blatantly seduces Elmire and instils confidence to her so that she can betray her husband. The juxtaposition of the Tartuffe's behaviour in these scenes are crucial and therefore provides the audience with an opportunity to observe the inconsistency between his words and the actions. The dramatic transformation in his behaviour within the two scenes generates a comic effect that the author intends to satirise the types of religions and hypocrisy that are embodied in Tartuffe. Thus, it becomes evident that the play is not only a religious hypocrite but also a religious fanatic.

In act 3 scene 2, for instance, he calls his manservant, "Hang up my hair-shirt, and put my scourge in place" (p. 82). This kind of description offers a reflection of the Tartuffe's pseudo-religious severity because he purports to cause an infliction of the self-punishment to mention his loyalty. According to the author, however, there is no necessity of such religious fanaticism. He further exposes various disapprovals with the religious zeal through the utilisation of the dramatic irony.

In this way, Moliere presents the theme of deception as a menace that is broadly noticeable in many societies, encompassing a vast number of people ranging from religious leaders, non-religious leaders such as Dorine and families. This kind of description undeniably provides social work different in Tartuffe (Wade 85).

While Moliere employs a pure comedy of manners which integrates character traits that resemble another, Voltaire approach is known as the black comedy. Numerous huge factors play crucial roles in the lives of the characters, and this makes the audience to be amused in a more cynical way to protect their inner feelings (Moliere 555). Voltaire can challenge the entire society as a mechanism of implementing real-life happenings and makes them a reality or live. All these are depicted when Dr Pangloss informs Candide about what happened to Cunegonde at the Castle of Westphalia after leaving. In the view of Pangloss, she is being "disembowelled by the Bulgar soldiers, after encountering rape to the absolute limit of human endurance.

Undeniably, this description provides the audience with an opportunity to subject themselves into a deep state of imagination, which displays a clear image of how difficult the situations are. Further, he challenges the order by giving an illustration of a human condition. In reality, Candide's confusion prompts him to ask him if they have always been liars, traitors, thieves and weaklings (p. 557).

Similar to Tartuffe, Voltaire, therefore, challenges the religious hypocrisy, where he provides a representation of the clergy, whom he identifies as inquisitors and inhumane. Participates in the processes of execution of fellow citizens and this decision was justifiable under the philosophical differences but unacceptable.

Relating to Tartuffe, it is true that such acts are mere representations of the falsified beliefs that the responsibility of the clergy involves the correction of social actions by the citizens. This argument is indeed real because they are engaged in numerous evil actions that they preach, despite not looking and punishing themselves for their wrongdoings. These are the real jewel of thieves who are out to keep and condone any wrongdoing from people while at the same time urging people to desist from homosexuality.

I was particularly impressed with the Candide, in its social unmasking. This is based on the fact that the author can depict the church officials as the evilest individuals in Candide. Ideally, the desires to deceive for material gain to push other characters to act in various ways. In the play, Cunegonde accepts Don Fernando marriage proposal, despite the attachment with Candide. The decision to receive the proposal is not because of the existence of love amongst them, but because of the financial wellbeing of Don Fernando. The huge fool to Candide is himself just like Orgon.

The combination of these stylistic devices is crucial because they subject the audience into a complete state of imagination about various thematic issues presented and perhaps things that are yet to happen to the characters. Voltaire can challenge the entire society as a mechanism of implementing real-life happenings and makes them a reality or live. It is also important to note that Candide inspiration to other later playwrights, who followed the footsteps of Voltaire in developing and employing even better literary techniques to enhance the audience's understanding of the thematic issues expressed.

Another work that I found profoundly interesting was the Epic of Gilgamesh. Broadly, this interests is based on the fact that the epic recounts the tale of the hero-king of the ancient Mesopotamia. Fundamentally, Gilgamesh faces creatures in his life, and other things such as the kings, and gods, which therefore offers the story of human relationships, feelings, loneliness, friendship, love and revenge (George 34). In my view, the epic is a true reflection of the current happenings within contemporary society, as well as the relationships between individuals.

Works Cited

George, Andrew, Ed. The epic of Gilgamesh: the Babylonian epic poem and other texts in Akkadian and Sumerian. Penguin, 2002.

Moliere, Jean-Baptiste. Tartuffe. Larousse, 2011.

Voltaire, Francois. Candide: Or Optimism (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition). Penguin, 2005.

Wade, Ira Owen. Voltaire and Candide: a study in the fusion of history, art, and philosophy. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1959.