This painting below shows two women walking under the umbrella. This scene caught me right away as it was one of the scenes in Ueda Akinari’s “Bewitched” where Toyo-o forcefully offered his umbrella to Manago and her maid Maroya as the rain was raining lighter. “And so Toyo-o saw her off as she spread the umbrella and left, watching until she vanished from his sight” (634). The women in this painting are wearing extravagant clothing which makes them stand out from the man behind them and their surroundings. “Her features, the way she wore her hair, her colorful robe, the perfume she exuded – all this. Toyo-o noted, made her bewitchingly voluptuous. With her was a pretty little maid of fourteen or fifteen carrying a bundle” (633). With the color choice which the painter has set, it is apparent that if Toyo-o was watching would immediately catch his attention. This painting somewhat gives an insight of Toyo-o sight of how he’s viewing Manago and Maroya. One of the detail that captured me was that the elderly man in the background seems not to notice the two women beside him, and so, one assumption which I came up with is that the elderly man cannot see them, just as in “Bewitched”, no one in the town knew these two women and have never heard of them. It is in a way ironic how they stand out amongst the crowd but yet, when others ask the people in the neighborhood, the people do not know about them.

The photo below is a depiction of the Japanese god of wind and thunder. This particular picture stood out to me as significant to Bewitched not only because of the multiple instances of thunder in the story, but also because the god appears to be standing on a black cloud. This image immediately reminded me of 2 quotes from Bewitched, The first being, “In the name of the governor, I arrest you,” shouted Kumagashi. “Come with me.” “But the woman made no answer. As Kumagashi approached to seize her, there was a sudden clap of thunder, so loud that it seemed as though the earth itself had been split apart. Stunned by the impact, everyone fell to the floor before they could flee the room.” The second quote that came to mind is, “Manago and Maroya stood up in a frenzy of confusion and plunged into the waterfall. The swirling waters suddenly shot up into the air and the two vanished from sight. At the same time a jet black cloud appeared over the spot like a splash of ink, and rain fell in a torrent, rattling noisily like thin bamboo slats.” The depiction of the god of wind and thunder riding on a black cloud makes me think that the author was trying to portray that this god could have been trying to inflict harm on or scare Toyo-o with the “Devil” that inhabits the women he gets involved with. The thunder from the first quote could be this coming to fruition as Toyo-o ends up in jail for one hundred days. The black cloud that appears when the old man helps get rid of the devil again could be the god showing his anger for Toyo-o.

1. First, read Akinari’s short story, “Bewitched.” (The link to the story is posted here on the blog.) Find an image that somehow corresponds to Akinari’s “Bewitched.” For example, this image may be a stereotype of femininity in contemporary popular culture or an image from Akinari’s culture and time period, etc. It may be a photo, other form of visual art, or even a clip from a music video or a film. Write at least 200 words explaining how you see the image you found as corresponding to “Bewitched.” Cite evidence from the text in your discussion. In order to receive credit, your response must be posted to the blog no later than 5pm on Monday, September 19th. Include your name and the story’s title in the title of your blog post.

2. Comment on 2 of your classmates’ posts by Friday, September 23rd at 5 pm.

3. Circle back, and check your own post for comments. Respond.

Tartuffe is a hypocritical individual who has tricked Orgon into believing that he is a good religious man. He exploits Orgon through this behavior and Orgon continues to believe him. Tartuffe is poor and knows he can use Orgon, who is wealthier and has property, in order to get what he wants, which is to not live in poverty anymore. Through all of this, he influenced Orgon into thinking he was a pious individual, who has saved him and changed his life. However, Tartuffe is in turn a bad influence on Orgon.

Orgon was a sane character until he met Tartuffe. He believed he needed to become a religious person, and that Tartuffe could help him. He was blinded by everything except Tartuffe, which is shown when he does not care for how his wife or family is feeling, but is just focused on Tartuffe. This is shown in Act 1.4 when Orgon repeats “And Tartuffe? Poor man!” which in turn shows how obsessed Orgon is with Tartuffe and how he cannot see that Tartuffe is just exploiting him for what he wants. This behavior is deemed ridiculous and absurd.

As opposed to everyone else in the household, Orgon cannot see the fact that Tartuffe is a hypocrite in disguise of a religious man. During a conversation with Cleante, Orgon could not talk about anything except praising Tartuffe. When Cleante tried to talk about how greedy and disrespectful Tartuffe was, Orgon, so blinded by this man, did not believe any of it to be bad. In Act 1.5, all he could do was compliment everything Tartuffe has done, which shows how Tartuffe has taken advantage of Orgon’s feelings and simplicity. He is conniving, and Orgon is just eating Tartuffe’s words right up.

The relationship between Orgon and Tartuffe in Moliere’s “Tartuffe” is a very deceptive one. On the surface, Tartuffe takes on the appearance of a lowly servant, one who was at church day in and day out, humbly kneeling and drawing “the eyes of everybody there by the deep fervor of his heartfelt prayer.” He would “sigh and weep”, sometimes even kissing the ground in what appeared to be a heartfelt show of devotion. He would run to offer Orgon holy water at the door, and when Orgon tried to give him gifts in return, he would humbly “beg [him] every time to give him less.” In Orgon’s eyes, Tartuffe was a blameless man, someone who believed in Heaven and lived his life devoted to his beliefs. Because of this, Orgon held him to an almost God-like standard, worshiping him even at the expense of his family and trusting him as though the words he spoke came from heaven itself. He gave him money, food, a place to stay, even his daughter to marry, yet to him it all paled in comparison to what Tartuffe claimed to be able to give him – a soul free from sin. Orgon was only able to see the surface – unlike the rest of his family, he was so in awe of Tartuffe that he was naïve to his hypocritical ways. Tartuffe, on the other hand, saw an affluent man, one with naïve, trusting tendencies and exploited them. His relationship with Orgon was deceptive from the start, never one based on good intentions. He used his words to manipulate and deceive, and Orgon was too blinded to see it, despite his family’s best efforts to open his eyes.
While reading “Tartuffe”, I was drawn to some of the parallels I saw between the story and things I’ve witnessed in my life. I grew up in a very religious family, going to church two or three times a week when I was younger. While I’ve never seen such an extreme example of Tartuffe, Cléante’s words stuck a familiar chord when he said “Those whose hearts are truly pure and lowly, don’t make a flashy show of being holy. There’s a vast difference, so it seems to me, between true piety and hypocrisy.” Growing up, it always stuck out to me how the people who always sat front and center at church, the ones who were always so vocal about their service, were the ones who often times were the biggest hypocrites. They were the ones who were the most unkind, the ones who would put others down and act in a way that was so different from what they preached. It was always kind of disheartening to me, so I really appreciated the truth in Cléante’s words. As he put it “those whose courage shines the most, in battle are the least inclined to boast.”

Tartuffe, a man who was a vagrant- is a cunning opportunist who postured himself as a man of grandiose piety- imbued with the ability to speak with God , in order to earn Orgon’s trust – the ultimate goal of climbing out the cliffs of poverty. Orgon is a rather complex character, having always tended to his servitude of the king and other significant matters in a rational demeanor- which raises the question of how an intelligent and well respected man such as Orgon deteriorated into a vacuous puppet of Tartuffes manipulation. Almost to the point of being too obvious, it is dubious that Orgon was attached to Tartuffe simply in hopes of obtaining some sort of spiritual nourishment, but rather was a way for Molliere to epitomize the almost absurd amount of control that religious hypocrisy (hypocrites) can have over even the most rational and respected men. During the time that the controversial and banned theatrical comedy (threats of excommunication were made clear to those who attempted to watch the play), ironically  the Church would have absolute authority on what is right or wrong, however the criticism of the acts of Church would be deemed as anathema and punishable by ostracism.

Satirical comedies written during Renaissance era Europe often employed platonic philosophical archetypes to criticize characteristics of fundamental issues of the time. Tartuffe also known as the The Hypocrite, is an allegory of religious hypocrisy – most notably that of the Church. The Church ostensibly feigns true virtue, proclaiming to embody the highest of moral standards- absent of political or social influence, though in reality much of the political atmosphere in post-medieval/Rennaisance Europe was far from secular. Abuse of indulgences plagued the foundation of Christianity- pay not pray. The Church employed pardoners to raise wealth on the premise of absolving the individual of temporal punishment of sins committed by purchasing a pardon – an indulgence, a monetized form of religious penance – absolution married to capitalism. Sinners rejoice -show your devotion to the Lord and empty the wallet for you can still hold on to your ticket to the pearly gates.

From Act I and II of Moliere’s Tartuffe, I can know Orgon is crazy on Tartuffe. Even though Tartuffe didn’t show up in the first two act, Orgon trying to marry his daughter to Tartuffe, and he does not care about his family’s opinions. Tartuffe is a pool guy with nothing, but Orgon believes Tartuffe is the best guy in the world. In the Act 1.5, Cleante  trying to convince him,and help him to make a right choice. But Orgon says:” You just don’t see him in the way I do, but if you did, you’d feel what I feel, too. Every day he came to church and knelt,., and from his groans, I knew just what he felt. Those sounds he made from deep inside his soul, were fed by piety he could not control.” And Cleante thinks Orgon is out of his mind, all his speak are nonsense. Dorine thinks Orgon is intoxicated with Tartuffe, as she said:” he calls “brother” and loves more than one, more than daughter, wife, son.” Tartuffe made Orgon lost his mind, he cares about Tartuffe more than his wife, his family. This is ridiculous. If Tartuffe is a good person, he should help Orgon, not divide his family to a part. I don’t understand their relationship, I have a lot of questions, Orgon is just like a fool, and why he trusts Tartuffe.

Orgon’s appreciation and love for Tartuffe is established early and often. Why, becomes an essential question as the play moves forward. Orgon believes Tartuffe is the complete embodiment of the perfect man and goes as far as breaking an organized wedding to replace his daugter’s groom with Tartuffe.  Mariane asks Orgon, “Who is this perfect man in every way, whom in body and soul I find divine and ask of you, ‘Please, Father, make him mine?” He responds with, “Tartuffe.” At that point one begins to think why is Orgon so fond of Tartuffe? Maybe he looks up to him for his devout religiousness, or maybe he is, in fact, in love with Tartuffe. Throughout the first two acts, Tartuffe is illustrated as a hypocritical, foolish imposter. He has already fooled the likes of Orgon and Madame Pernelle. This relationship between Orgon and Tartuffe seems to be based off of a religious fabrication Tartuffe pushes onto many, and often succeeds. The relationship between the two is just a delusion of Orgon’s. Over and over again we see others work to convince Orgon, and in part Mariane, of Tartuffe’s misleading ways. Dorine even concludes about Mariane, “I see the truth: You really want to be Madame Tartuffe.” I can think of various ways this can connect to contemporary life. When someone falls in love they are sometimes blinded by the lust to see what really lies beneath in their partner. As well as a politician that will do or say anything in order to be elected, the citizens are so focused on promises, charades, and smoke screens that they completely ignore corruption, or so much so that they do not even know the corruption exists.

After reading Tartuffe by Moliere I noticed how devoted Orgon is to Tartuffe. He was blind to his deceit and ignored all of his families’ warnings. Dorine, his servant, compares Orgon’s obsession with him to being head over heels in love with Tartuffe. He is more worried about Tartuffe and his well-being than his family. You can clearly see this in the beginning of Act 1 scene 4 when Orgon comes back from his trip and is only worried about Tartuffe as Dorine explains that his wife became sick as soon as he left.

Orgon-             … Now don’t hold back. Has everyone been well?

Dorine-                        Not quite. There was that headache Madame had

the day you left. Well, it got really bad.

She had a fever—

Orgon-             And Tartuffe?

He continues to ask about Tartuffe as Dorine explains that his wife could have died when he was away. His relationship with Tartuffe is odd. However, I do think it is plausible because people often see what they want to see. Orgon sees Tartuffe as the epitome of a worthy, holy, God-fearing man. His family and servants see him for what he truly is, a deceitful religious hypocrite. However, they still can’t seem to change Orgon’s opinions on Tartuffe. Tartuffe is clearly using Orgon but he believes he is still a righteous man. Cleante, Orgon’s brother in law, tried to explain that he was being used in Act 1 scene 5 but he did not agree at all.

Cleante-          …As letting this man do just as he wishes

            In your home and to your family,

            You brought him here, relived his poverty,

            And, in return—

Orgon-             Now listen to me!

 …. you don’t know this man. And don’t deny it!

In this scene, Orgon doesn’t even want to acknowledge that there this a possibility he is being used. He has put all his trust into this one person and this will most likely be proven as an unwise decision in the end. In contemporary life, people often become attached to someone and instill all their trust into that person. More often than not this becomes a bad thing that will have a negative impact on both lives.

“Practices precisely what he preaches. He’s a fine man and should be listened to.” It is surprising to almost every character in this play that such a wealthy man looks up to a man that has not reached his standard. It’s as if Orgon and his mother Madame Pernelle has been hypnotized by Tartuffe. These two characters see a side of Tartuffe that no one else sees. One can say that the situation that takes place in Act I and Act II symbolizes hypocrisy and delusion. I say this because Tartuffe is pretending to be a person he isn’t, he gives Madame Pernelle and Orgon an impression that he is a poor man of God. So they believe he deserves what they consider a better life, than he already lives. Orgon and his mother symbolize delusion, they never witnessed his actual personality, and I doubt that they ever tried to or even questioned if that is the way he really is. Orgon puts Tartuffe before his family and thinks it would be best for his daughter to marry him by force.

Not only in this case, but hypocrisy always brings delusion. When someone changes their ways and acts differently from how they naturally are to satisfy others it is considered being a hypocrite. The one who receives satisfaction does not try to question or view the hypocrite as anything else but what they think they are.