n Damis catches Tartuffe in the act of Page 03seducing Orgon’s wife (45). But of course, Orgon cannot believe what he does not want to believe, so he dismisses Damis’ claim as slander. Tartuffe is Orgon’s most apparent antagonist. He is the one who is held the highest by Orgon, but in actuality he is the one directly lying to him. The last of the important antagonists to Orgon is his housemaid Dorine. She is constantly trying to tell him how foolish he is being. Orgon actually has the most physical confrontation with her than of all the rest. In act two from scene two, Orgon takes a swing at Dorine to shut her mouth (32). He cannot stand her sarcastic way of speaking to him, but it is only in this manner that she gets him to answer for his behavior. Also so, when you have a setting as vast as Candide’s, the antagonists in the story will be near infinite. However, Candide had three main antagonists as well. In Voltaire’s Candide, Candide’s most important antagonist is also himself. Candide is cursed from the beginning of the story until the end because he is determined to get back his true love. His true love, Cunegonde, plays a very similar role to Tartuffe in robbing Candide of his senses. Candide becomes so enraptured with the thought of finding Cunegonde again, he is taken advantage of and all his fortune is stolen from him (372). Candide’s quest became a great antagonist for him; life itself was against him. His story was almost epic and thus led him to encounter many obstacles. everywhere he went seemed to become a challenge. Whether it was enduring shipwreck and earthquake, being flogged for talking, or avoiding the cannibal Biglugs, things did not go his way. Much like if Orgon had only listened to his family, Candide only needed to listen to reason and se...
