The plays of Moliere’s Tartuffe and Henrik Ibsen A Doll’s House are some of the most famous literary works. Both plays explore the all-consuming topic of money and the obsession with money, which are still relevant in modern society. A Doll’s House and Tartuffe depict the influence of money on the main characters of the plays: Orgon and Tartuffe in Tartuffe and Torvald Helmer and Nora Helmer in Ibsen’s play.
Speaking about the theme of money in the Tartuffe by Moliere and A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, both similarities and significant differences can be distinguished. Thus, both plays by Moliere and Ibsen connect money with power and a thirst for control of others (Efthimiadou, 2019). Wealthy people claim to have power over people who are in different social and economic conditions, those who have less money. For example, Torvald Helmer controls Nora Helmer, his wife, possessing absolute financial power and reprimanding Nora for her extravagance. Nora, in turn, has to submit to her husband’s authority and follow his orders without asking questions (Ibsen). Drawing an analogy with Tartuffe, Orgon also has a significant financial standing and, taking advantage of his position, requires power and control over friends and his family (Moliere, 2016). In A Doll’s House, money is a source of power that is not available to all characters of the play. In Tartuffe, money plays the role of a cause of problems for both Orgon and other characters. However, both plays portray the money as an instrument limiting the happiness and joy of heroes.
Heroes with money in Tartuffe and A Doll’s House cannot achieve happiness because of the wealth problem. Torvald Helmer in A Doll’s House takes care of his wife Nora, tormented by anxiety due to the wastefulness of his wife, and at the same time experiences discomfort. Tartuffe forces Orgon to act in the interests contrary to the interests of his family. Orgon is in danger of being held accountable for alleged crimes and only by chance, and thanks to the intervention of the king, avoids responsibility. Thus, in Tartuffe, Orgon becomes a victim of his thirst for profit (Bentley, 2016). The heroes of the plays, Tartuffe and A Doll’s House, become victims of money and their thirst for power.
Money can be both a source of strength and a cause of weakness and problems. Moliere depicts wealth only as a constructive power: Orgon is endowed with power, and Tartuffe’s efforts to get a loan from him are faced with a strong personality of Orgon. Nora Helmer in A Doll’s House, by contrast, is the personification of money weakness. She is so proud that she was able to raise money for a trip to Italy, but due to debt, she must yield to the creditor’s requirements. Two plays show how wealth can lead to power, but also become a source of weakness.
Money is the tool with which Moliere and Ibsen describe their characters and their relationships with other characters in the plays Tartuffe and A Doll’s House. For the most part, money is a technique used by the authors to portray the inequality of character position. The theme of money, revealed in the Moliere’s Tartuffe and Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, shows how money can give absolute power, managing relations, and lead to problems and weakness.
References
Bentley, E. (2016). Writing for a Political Theatre. PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, 38(1), 39–52.
Efthimiadou, E. (2019). Money Immobility and Mobility in Moliere’s Last Comedies. Journal of Literature and Art Studies, 9(11), 1167–1174.
Ibsen, H. (2016). A Doll’s House: And Two Other Plays (Classic Reprint). London, UK: Forgotten Books.
Moliere. (2016). Tartuffe (Dover Thrift Editions). (J. Berseth & P. Negri, Eds.). New York, NY: Dover Publications.