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Candide Theme Essay

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Themes of Philosophy and Religion in Voltaire’s Candide
Philosophy and religion are two themes consistently satirized throughout Voltaire’s Candide. Voltaire tells the story of a naïve young man, Candide, hopelessly in love with the selfish and vain Cunégonde. Candide’s quest to reconnect with Cunégonde is accompanied by various misfortunes that counter his personal optimistic belief that “everything is for the best”. Candide’s encounters force him to reconsider his optimistic views in order to gain a better understanding of the world surrounding him. Voltaire not only uses the story of Candide to reveal the folly of continuously relying on vague philosophies rather than acknowledge the tangible world, but exposes the hypocrisy of religion …show more content…

Religious men and leaders place emphasis on worldly ideas rather than genuine faith. In chapter three, Candide comes across a protestant orator giving a speech on charity. When he asks the orator for bread, he asks Candide if he believes the Pope is the antichrist. Candide tells the man he is unsure and that his own answer does not belittle the fact he is hungry. The orator, despite having just finished speaking on charity, turns Candide away for his beliefs. In this scene, Voltaire is ridiculing the extreme Protestant sects of his time that were consumed by their hatred of Catholicism and Rome. Religion is further satirized by the auto-da-fé, or act of faith, the learned men of Lisbon perform. The men blame the “sins” of Candide and Pangloss for the devastating earthquake and punish them via hanging and flogging. During the punishments, a sermon and religious concert are given. The beautiful religious music accompanying the horrifying punishments emphasize the hypocrisy of the church's appearance of holiness and the terrible events it oversees. Shortly after the punishment is carried out, another earthquake occurs dislodging the rationalization of religion and exemplifying that the sins of man, in this case Candide and Pangloss, are not the cause of disastrous

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