Family and loyalty are popular themes in literature and are often the focus of plays. While at first glance Moliere's Tartuffe and Racine's Phèdre seem different, considering that the former is a comedy and the latter a tragedy, ultimately the two works have very similar family structures and their stories are driven by loyalty or the lack of it. Although the works feature two families centuries apart, Phèdre is set in antiquity, while Tartuffe is set in the 17th century, but both of these families are patriarchal and immense loyalty surrounds the two fathers. However, Orgon and Thésée's lack of loyalty causes the crisis in these stories as they both abandon their families in favor of a stranger. While both Orgon and Thésée eventually realize their mistakes, sadly only one story has a happy ending. Moliere presents a noble family in Tartuffe, where the head of the family is Orgon. He has a son, Damis, and a daughter, Mariane, from his first marriage and is now married to his second wife, Elmire. Orgon is the face of the family and is responsible for all major decisions of the family. Similarly, in Phèdre, Racine presents a noble family, in this case the royal family of Athens. Thésée is the king and head of the family. He has a son by an Amazon, Hippolyte, and is now married to Phèdre, his second wife. The close-knit family unit in both plays is threatened as Orgon and Thésée, the most important people in the families, are blinded by lies and neglect their responsibilities to their families. However, while Orgon's family survives the crisis and ends their story with a happy ending, Thésée is severely punished by her ignorance, resulting in the tragic end of...... middle of paper... little things can cause the family breaks down, which is why it is always essential to remain faithful and faithful to each other. In a patriarchal family, just like in Tartuffe and Phèdre, the loyalty of the head of the family is the most significant and can cause the greatest suffering when it is placed in people outside the family. Both Orgon and Thésée have learned that believing in the words of strangers like Tartuffe, whose only loyalty was to himself, and Oenone, whose loyalty was to one person instead of the entire family unit, can cause the family to fall apart and cause tragic consequences. deceased. So the message of these plays is loyalty to the family which guarantees everyone's happiness, as in the case of Orgon, who realized his mistake in time and was saved by the king. Unfortunately for Thésée, his realization came too late and he paid a very high price.