Moliere’s “Tartuffe” mainly gives the impression of a satirical play on religious hypocrisy. However, throughout the plot, it is apparent that “Tartuffe” also functions as a social commentary on women and the patriarchal hierarchy that deems them necessary for little purpose. This is most apparent on his use of several female characters, that possess a great capacity for reason, cleverness, and rationality, to critique the social structure that oppose them so unfairly and, through them, demonstrate that females are capable of much more. After all, it is the female characters that utilizes logic and cunning to bring about Tartuffe’s unmasking and succeed where the men failed to do. Hence, it is through the females characters insistency that guides the family through Orgon’s foolish decisions and Tartuffe’s scheme.

Firstly,Mariane is portrayed as an obedient and submissive female who refrains from outwardly expressing her opinion. In this respect, Mariane is the most conventional character of her time. She reflects what society finds acceptable in women and displays what function women played within a hierarchical system. This is most apparent within several scenes between her and Orgon. The scene where Mariane expresses her disdain towards her father’s plan only to have it utterly dismissed by Orgon shows the dilemma most women at the time faced. Their voices were largely unheard even though it is rational and morally right. Furthermore, Orgon states “to graft Tartuffe into my family. So he must be your husband” portrays women as intermediaries of wealth, power and ownership. Lastly, Mariane further supports the conventional ideal women by her soft spoken nature and her decision to delegate the responsibility of vocalizing her direct disdain towards her father’s plan to Dorinne. In summation, Mariane portrays the conventional women who is oppressed under a patriarchal system. They were expected to hold blind obedience towards men even though men’s decisions can lead to an unfavorable outcome.

Dorine and Elmire are perhaps the stars of “Tartuffe.” They are largely outspoken characters that consistently defy conventional standards with tremendous vigor and enthusiasm. Dorine, the maid of the family, outwardly expresses her opinion despite her role as a maid. She openly expresses that Tartuffe is a fraud defiantly towards Orgon with reason and understanding in which Orgon seems to lack. Dorine’s absolute disregard for her position combined with her rational ability to see through Tartuffe’s scheme communicates Moliere’s argument that women should pay no heed to their position within the hierarchy since they are capable of using logical reasoning and making rational decisions, just as much or even more so than men. In addition, Elmire is shown to display a great degree of intelligence through her subversion of authority and using social conventions to convince her husband of Tartuffe’s scheme. Most notably, Elmire uses cunning to expose Tartuffe by advancing on Tartuffe with Orgon hidden. This ultimately leads to Tartuffe’s demise, as well as, Orgon dismissing his plans for his daughter. In this scene. Elmire displays a great degree of intelligence in many regards. Firstly, despite Elmire’s social status, she uses her position to convince Orgon to follow through with her plan. Furthermore, she displays a great understanding of men and expertly uses persuasive language to expose Tartuffe within her grand scheme. Once again, Moliere demonstrates that women are capable beings who deserve more than what the patriarchal hierarchy deems them.

In conclusion, women within the 17th century were largely oppressed due to the nature of society. As such, women’s roles were limited to function as a bond or contract between wealth and power. Furthermore, due to society largely ignoring women, they were forced to use indirect tactics to influence social decisions. Despite this, Moliere recognizes this as evidence for women’s rights and uses the play to shun the oppressive system women lived under.