Candide: an Analysis of Voltaire's Perspective on Organized Religion.

Throughout the novel, Candide comes across many religious leaders during his journey that Voltaire portrays with irony and hypocrisy. After escaping to Holland in the beginning of the novel, Candide encounters an orator who has been addressing on the subject of charity for a whole hour. The orator, when asked for food, tells Candide that he “don’t [doesn’t] deserve to eat” because Candide does not believe that the Pope is Antichrist. (27) Although people around him are actually suffering from continuous war and devastating poverty, the orator only seems to care about giving a speech on charity and converting others to his religious beliefs. Not to mention that his own religious belief or speech, ironically, also encourages reaching out to those in need. Stubborn and egoistic orator is engulfed with his certainness in his belief, and fails to recognize it himself that he, in fact, is going against his own belief. Another example of hypocrisy of religion is shown by the Grand Inquisitor who makes a deal with Don Issachar to share Cunegonde as a mistress.

    Candide on the surface is a witty story. However when inspected deeper it is a philippic writing against people of an uneducated status. Candide is an archetype of these idiocracies, for he lacks reason and has optimism that is truly irking, believing that this is the best of all possible worlds. Thus Voltaire uses a witty, bantering tale on the surface, but in depth a cruel bombast against the ignoramuses of his times.

Religious leaders are the targets of satire throughout Candide. Voltaire portrays the religious clergy as men who use their positions to further their own causes. In addition, the priests keep the less fortunate oppressed, so the clergy members can continue to enjoy extravagant luxuries. Candide discovers the young Baron, whom he thought to be dead, living among the Jesuit Priests of Paraguay. Assuming the native

Voltaire successfully uses satire as a means of conveying his opinions about many aspects of European society in the eighteenth century.  He criticizes religion, the evils found in every level of society, and a philosophy of optimism when faced with an intolerable world.

Martin is another character who holds a philosophy that is not useful. Martin holds a pessimistic view of people, claiming that humans are innately evil. For example, he compares the natural evils in humans with the natural tendency for hawks to prey on pigeons (87). When Candide accuses Martin of being possessed by the devil, Martin says, “he is so deeply concerned in the affairs of this world that he may as well be in me, as well as in everybody else” (82). Contrary to Pangloss, who is in denial of societal faults, Martin has accepted suffering as a present part of life. Although acceptance is important, Voltaire criticizes pessimism to being as equally detrimental as optimism. Martin constantly criticizes the evil in people and finds the fault in others. When Candide trusts Cacambo to take on the great task of retrieving Cunegonde, Martin condemns Candide for foolishly trusting a person enough to think that he will do him any favors with large sums of money handed to him. This is evidence to further suggest his belief in the natural evils in people. When Candide increasingly loses hope in Cacambo ever returning with Cunegonde, Martin is “not consoling” and “continued to prove to him that there was very little virtue or happiness upon earth” (104). Because Martin’s statements do nothing to help Candide’s

As Candide was forced in to the army and treated extremely badly, Voltaire is expressing his criticism of political power being unfair and out of control, forcing people to do certain things. With authoritive figures exercising their political powers in an unjust fashion, Voltaire feels that freedom of expression, something he strongly advocated, was being jeopardized. Politics are continued to be criticised throughout the novel in the same way religion was attacked. Examples can be found in Chapter 6 were Lisbon authorities burn “heretics” to prevent future natural disasters, Chapter 13 suggests governors receiving sexual favours from their female subjects and Chapter 19 sees business men mistreating their slaves. Each of these examples sees characters within the story misusing their power and authority to benefit them personally. Voltaire uses these examples to show on different levels how politically incorrect society was during the pre-modern period, something he felt desperately need to change.

oltaire’s Candide provides an Enlightenment religious and social critique of the Old Regime though satire. In Candide, Voltaire depicts the hypocrisy of the religious leaders during the Old Regime time period along with the criticizing the idea that reason can overcome social turmoil.

After 1688, England became a constitutional monarchy under the rule of Mary and William. English society evolved from embracing the absolute monarchy to one that introduces new thought processes and beliefs. In Voltaire’s Letters on England, he contributes the development of England to its respectable regards toward religion, governmental systems, and scientific advancements. He contrasts these practices with those of the less respectable Frenchmen, and reveals the different outcomes of the two nations.

Voltaire’s satire contains a strong sense of witful irony and parodies meant to elicit disgust at the topics he is criticizing. “Candide’s” sense of satire is largely derived from the Juvenalian satire which was created by the Roman satirist Juvenal. By using absurdist and ironic images of characters, satirists intend to invoke disgust or laughter at a topic to the point where it is rejected a legitimate. Thi is the point with Voltaire’s mockery of optimism in “Candide”.

In terms of religion, Candide explores the hypocrisy that was rampant in the Church. Consider for example, the inhumanity of the clergy, most notably the Inquisitor, in hanging and executing his fellow citizens over philosophical differences. Moreover, he orders the flogging of Candide for merely, “listening with an air of approval" thus proving himself somehow implicit in blasphemy. Church officials in Candide are depicted as being among the most sinful of all citizens; having mistresses, engaging in homosexual affairs, and operating as jewel thieves. Perhaps the most absurd example of hypocrisy in the Church hierarchy is the fact that the Pope has a daughter despite his vows of celibacy. While Voltaire is poking fun at the Church and

In his novel Candide, Voltaire often criticized religious beliefs of the times. His criticism of religion surfaces throughout the entire story. The kindness of the Anabaptist that Candide met showed the silliness of religious prejudices. The old woman's story of her father, Pope Urban X, and the life of wealth she lived as a child shows the corruption of the Catholic clergy. Finally, the conversation Candide and Cacambo had with the old man in Eldorado shows the benefits of a simple religion, a contrast of the European religions of the time.

Candide made his way to Holland, after losing Pangloss in a war. While in Holland, he begged for food and money, but received only threats. He spoke to a priest who was preaching about charity. The divide between Catholics and Protestants explained in the hostile response of the priest. A kind Anabaptist took him home, cleaned, fed, and helped him recover. Candide, thankful, expresses his repeated

The “Age of Reason”, during Europe was a time in history where people started to confide in eachother and themselves when it came to reason and logic; and it was a period when creative ability came to light and it was encouraged. This paper will examine Voltaire 's Candide and the way Voltaire mocks religion and how this outlines Enlightenment thought.

Voltaire’s Candide is a satirical fiction that was meant as both an insult and a criticism to the wealthy nobility and the Catholic Church. Voltaire, major voice during the Enlightenment period, had a wide spread influence from England and France to Russia. Candide was massively circulated throughout Europe. Voltaire used Candide to offer his opinion of what was wrong with society: being that the wealthy were ungrateful, selfish people and the church was a ruthless, maniacal super power.

Today, Candide is used in the study of European Enlightenment thinkers and philosophers as a first-hand account of the faults within the value systems of government, religion, and society during the 18th Century. Through its sarcastic portrayal of seemingly absurd customs and traditions, Candide illustrates Europe in all of its flawed glory. As a prominent figure of the Enlightenment, Voltaire sought to publicize his views on society in a digestible, entertaining, and condensed medium like Candide (“Voltaire”). Written in a period of exile and fear in his life, Candide acted as Voltaire’s biting response to the crushing weight of outdated societal customs.