Satire in the Works of "tartuffe" by Moliere and "a Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift

Satire is the literary art of using mockery, irony, and comedy to ridicule and point out human follies and vices with the hope that they will be corrected. Satire is a form of the comic, which differs from other types such as humor and irony with the sharpness of conviction. It is characterized by clearly expressed negative painting depictions. The aesthetic purpose of satire is to cause and revive the memories of those vital values ​​as kindness, truth, justice, and beauty, while it insults meanness, baseness, stupidity, and vice. Satire, openly exposing an object, frank in their view, is biased, whereas the serious purpose of humor is to lay down in the deeper structure of the image, more or less hidden behind the comic aspect. Specificity of satire is not that it reveals a negative, harmful or shameful phenomenon, but that it always does this by means of a special comic law, where resentment is the unity of the comic incrimination. Satire directed against the ugly, unacceptable in life. This is the main content of a satirical way. On the one hand, satire tends to recreate reality, the real disclosure a deficiencies and contradictions of the phenomena of life, but at the same time the power of protest and indignation to ridicule them, paints them in a grotesque. Two of the greatest satires in literature are Moliere’s, Tartuffe, and Jonathan Swift’s, A Modest Proposal. These two works came out during the Enlightenment period which highlights an intellectual movement which highlights the use of reason to solve problems by ignoring traits such as superstition and ignorance. Therefore, the two satirical works heavily emphasize on use of reason to solve issues at the time. Tartuffe is the more effective satire with its comical approach to religious hypocrisy with the use of simple language and well developed and colorful characters. On the other hand, A Modest Proposal uses dramatic satire where the selling a children as a source of food to better the economy of Ireland seems very horrifying and inhumane. This form of satire can have different interpretations based on the social and wealth status and could diminish its efficacy.

In Tartuffe, Moliere primarily sought to show the hypocrisy, dressed in religious clothing and masking their lowly and despicable activities of the principles of Christian morality. According to the Moliere, it is one of the most enduring and dangerous vices of his “time”. Moliere decided to use a sharp satire and exposes vices to ridicule. He thought highly of truthfulness in the relations between people and hated hypocrisy. Moliere built on the plot of his observations of the above sect religious people, nicknamed "the bondage of Hypocrites, and the image of the central character was made of the typical features inherent in sectarians. By the end of the play, everything the audience wants to happen, does in fact happen. The religious hypocrite, Tartuffe, goes to jail instead of Orgon, who fell for Tartuffe’s scheme. Oregon realises that his family was right about Tartuffe the entire time, and that he was terribly mistaken. As far as the rest of the family, they are relieved that Tartuffe will no longer be around them. Tartuffe is definitely not a religious man, and this can be evicted in Act III, Scene II, which is the first scene that Tartuffe is actually present. The “holy” Tartuffe gives Dorine, the maid, a handkerchief to cover her breasts because his dirty mind would get distracted. In the following scene, Tartuffe’s sexual desires are brought out as he is alone with Elmire, Orgon’s second wife. Elmire wanted to ask Tartuffe about validity of the marriage between Tartuffe and Marine. Tartuffe, however, had other intentions in mind, as he gets closer to Elmire and starts harassing her. Later on this scene, Tartuffe confesses his love for a married Elmire, and tells her that they will keep this while situation a secret. In this scene and throughout the play, one can realise that Tartuffe is not a religious, instead, Moliere uses the character of Tartuffe in a comedic way to epitomise religious hypocrisy.

In "Tartuffe" Moliere castigated deception personified by the main character, as well as moral stupidity and ignorance, represented in the character of Orgon and Madame Pernelle. It is the contradiction between the obvious and apparent, between the mask and face. Tartuffe has made unsuccessful attempts to impersonate a completely different, diametrically opposite personality, but still chose quite specific, alien quality to himself. What could be more difficult for the man of pleasure and libertine to play the role of an ascetic, chaste and devout worshiper? Tartuffe exposes not only, or rather, not just stupidity and deceit but Moliere exposes the moral category as a whole. In each piece they take different forms, ranging in detail and manifested in various