Voltaire: Mohammad is Tartuffe with a sword in his hand, cruel and a false prophet Frontispiece of the 1753 edition of Voltaires play Mahomet Mahomet (French: Le fanatisme, ou Mahomet le Prophète, literally Fanaticism, or Mahomet the Prophet) is a five-act tragedy written in 1736 by French playwright and philosopher Voltaire. It made its debut performance in Lille on 25 April 1741. The play is a study of religious fanaticism and self-serving manipulation based on an episode in the traditional biography of Muhammad in which he orders the murder of his critics. Voltaire described the play as written in opposition to the founder of a false and barbarous sect to whom could I with more propriety inscribe a satire on the cruelty and errors of a false prophet.[22] In a letter to Frederick II of Prussia in 1740 Voltaire ascribes to Muhammad a brutality that is assuredly nothing any man can excuse and suggests that his following stems from superstition and lack of enlightenment.[23] He wanted to portray Muhammad as Tartuffe with a sword in his hand.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 09:09:29 +0000
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