Saur's Interpretation Of 'Tartuffe'

Critical Analysis of Saur's Interpretation of "Tartuffe" Pamela S. Saur’s article “Moilere’s Tartuffe” provides us with a well-built synopsis of Moliere’s character Cleante. In the play, Cleante is a very smart man: he’s observant, educated, and intelligent. Despite all of this, Saur argues of Cleante, saying “If the play were merely 'a struggle between Tartuffe and Cleante,' that the ending would be different. The victory would go to Tartuffe” (Saur 10). Saur is missing the entire point of Molière’s character because Cleante was never meant to take on Tartuffe directly, but to be the balancing voice of reason in the chaos. One such event is where Cleante tries to convince Orgon of Tartuffe's supposed claim of moral standard to actually be
Cleante is trying to get Orgon to understand that Tartuffe is a bad guy, not someone that he should honor, but a hypocrite, a fake and a liar. Saur may be right in thinking that Cleante's logical argument is on the surface ignored, but his words against Tartuffe help to put the that hypocrite in a negative light and plant the seeds of doubt in Orgon's mind that will help the truth come to fruition later
Cleante seeks to end this foolishness when he says this: “Moderation. Is that a word you know? I think you’ve learned it, but then off you go” (Moliere 188). Saur’s suggestion that Cleante is encouraging his brother-in-law Orgon to once again repeat the errors of ignoring his family, and risking all he owns, is illogical. Cleante is attempting to advise Orgon to calm down and use rational thinking to understand that he should trust those who are true believers, but that he should be on a cautious watch for imposters. By employing this word choice, Cleante proves himself to be a vital and obvious counsel to not only to Orgon, but the audience as