Revision of Tartuffe thesis.

Seventeenth century France was comprised of a social hierarchy that was based on three estates: the clergy and the priests, who were supposed to be the most intelligent and superior group; the nobles, who were at a lower status but still had power; and the peasants, who were treated unequally and unfairly by the other two. The involvement of priests in the utmost estate shows that religion, alongside power itself, was of considerably large value. Tartuffe challenges this hierarchy by presenting characters who act in ways the audience does not expect from their respective classes.