Tartuffe

The Church in the Dark Ages was in complete control of society. In order to live a life in the good graces of God, members of society needed to follow the dictates of whatever the Church deemed appropriate. The Church was able to use this great influence to control great wealth and command great power. Naturally, with such concentration of power, came elements of corruption, and its handmaid, hypocrisy. The upheaval of the Reformation with the blossoming of Renaissance ideas independent of the Church provided an environment where this hypocrisy was beginning to be exposed. The use of the stature of the Church for enrichment, through practices such as the sales of indulgences, and the disparate levels of wealth between the clergy who professed to honor poverty and the poverty of those they professed to serve were ripe subjects for Moliere's satire. .
             Tartuffe plays his part of the hypocrisy of the Church in many facets. Members of the household lament his constant sermonizing on what is acceptable behavior, which they view as nothing more than his efforts to exert control, but which he justifies as the proper respect for the wishes of Heaven. He claims to have no worldly aspirations, but seeks to enjoy all the comforts of wealth in the name of keeping it out of less pious hands. As he explains to Cleante,.
             Twould never occur to those who know me best.
             To think I acted from self-interst.
             The treasures of this world I quite despise;.
             Their specious glitter does not charm my eyes; (Moliere 111).
             Tartuffe's efforts to control and manipulate Orgon and his household (society as a whole) and to enrich himself at their expense mirror the aspects of the Church that Moliere has set his wit against. The base elements of the Church, as portrayed by Tartuffe, use the promise of salvation as a means to gain entrée into the lives of the unsuspecting populace, only to drain them of their resources and their freedom of thought.