Many believe that deceiving one is wrong, but should one always tell the truth under any circumstances? Deceit is best defined as the “concealment or distortion of the truth for the purpose of misleading; duplicity; fraud; cheating (Dictionary).” Since deception is viewed as a morally wrong action, one may consider that telling the truth is a better option or moral to choose. The play, “Tartuffe” by Molliere, is a prime example of how one may not always need to tell the truth because deceiving can be reflected as both morally right and morally wrong. Through the analysis of the characters and the theme, we can understand the reason to the use of deception as both beneficial and disadvantageous, and the relationship of their appearance and reality. …show more content…
Molliere uses deceit and manipulation in two different ways; having different moral implications of good and bad. The first main usage of deception is by Tartuffe. Tartuffe’s deception comes into play at the beginning of the play when he hasn’t even appeared yet. During this scene, Madame Pernelle, Dorine, and Damis are fussing about homing a fraud (145). Like Orgon, Madame Pernelle refuses to listen to others nonsense and exclaims that Tartuffe is a saint or rather “he’s a man who should be listened to” because he’s showing them the way to heaven (145). The mask Tartuffe puts on is the ideal deception of him being a saint, having nothing but goodness in him, and that he has all of the right