the fool, there is no one to take advantage of. Page 02 Similarly, Voltaire’s Candide is an ironic story centered on one man’s trials and tribulations through life. The protagonist in the story is Candide. Candide is portrayed as a heartbroken wanderer. Unlike Orgon, he is not an outright fool. He is over concerned with the loss of his beloved to such great extent that he becomes easily mistreated and hopelessly lost. The reader can feel a pity for Candide that he cannot equate with Orgon. Very early in chapter 2 it states, “. . . [Candide] wandered for a long time without knowing where he was going, weeping, raising his eyes to heaven,” which foreshadows how the rest of the story will unfold (338). Like in Tartuffe, it is Candide’s state of mind in which this story also thrives upon. Without losing something great, there can be no reward for finding something great. Everyone has put faith in something while losing sight of the truth, but hopefully not to the extent that Orgon did. Also everyone has chased a lost cause, or perhaps has lost more than gained, but not to the extent that Candide did. Both Moliere and Voltaire set up their stories with realistic protagonists, ones whom the reader can empathize with, but who are set to extreme natures. Every protagonist has to have an antagonist; David had Goliath, The People have The Government, and Batman has The Joker. Of course, when you have a fool as great as Orgon, the antagonists in the story will be near infinite. However, Orgon had three main antagonists tolook at. In Tartuffe, Orgon’s most important antagonist is himself. In order to believe the amount of lies that he did, Orgon had to convince himself to throw away his own self reason and common sense. In act three from scene five, Orgon’s so...
