The And Female Characters Of Candide

The Story of Candide is a short but diverse story that tells of a young man’s journey for love and understanding and the hardships he faces, all the while keeping a very strong, positive and philosophical outlook on life. The novel takes place both in fictional and existing locations throughout Latin America and Europe during the 1750’s. Voltaire believed that the society he lived in had many flaws, which are often illustrated and satirized in Candide. Candide’s journey portrays the flawed human assumption that the grass is always greener on the other side as well as giving the reader an apt example of an individual’s journey from innocence through a series of trials and tribulations to becoming a mature, experienced and enlightened individual.

Cunegonde was a beautiful young woman, she was the daughter of the Baron, and is constantly being pursued by Candide throughout the whole story-which really is about him finding his way back to her the whole time. Cunegonde grew up in the Castle of Baron Thunder-Ten-Tronckh which was located in Westphalia. She grew up rich, getting all the nicer things in life, and didn’t have to worry about anything until one day, Candide got banished from the castle and that’s where it all started going downhill. Cunegonde was separated from Candide, her home got attacked, and her family was murdered. From there, Cunegonde is passed around through a couple of men: The Bulgarian, Captain Don Issachar, The Grand Inquisitor, Don Fernando, and others. Candide ends up feeling like she isn’t as beautiful after he gets her back in the end, and really just is not attracted to her like he used to be. In fact, in the end, there is a description of how ugly she really is while she is running to Candide after their time apart. There is also a line that says “in fact, Candide had no real wish to marry Cunegonde” (Voltaire 411) when in the beginning he talks about his love for her non-stop. But now that she’s been raped, abused, and used for whatever, he thinks she’s ugly and really doesn’t want to marry her but thinks that it is a good decision. At the same time, Cunegonde understands that she isn’t very powerful and doesn’t have a lot of options. So, if she wishes to survive, she must use her beauty to her advantage. Women in the 18th century didn’t have a lot of options if they wanted a “good” life after marriage. They married someone who could take care of them since they legally couldn’t have jobs. This quote “A women’s gender and marital status were the primary determinants

Even though many people practiced this doctrine Voltaire did not aside with it instead, he implanted doubts on the chances of achieving true happiness and real conformism. Voltaire’s opinion was that one could not achieve true happiness in the real world but only experience it in an utopia. With the many hardships that Candide goes through ultimately leads him to abandon his attitude of optimism. Candide’s misfortunes and adversities often contrasted with his optimistic view on life. Noticeably, Voltaire uses this satirical piece as a way to criticize this exaggerated optimism. This tale as stated by William Bottiglia, “ Has had a great effect on modern writers who confront mankind’s inhumanity to fellow human beings by presenting the human condition absurdly, ironically, and humorously...” (Bottiglia 112).

Voltaire’s Candide can be understood in several ways by its audience. At a first glance it would appear to be simply a story blessed with outrageous creativity, but if you look deeper in to the novel, a more complicated and meaningful message is buried within. Voltaire uses the adventures of Candide as a representation of what he personally feels is wrong within in society. Written in the 18th century (1759), known commonly as the age of enlightenment, Voltaire forces his audience to consider the shift from tradition to freedom within society. He achieves this by exploring the reality of human suffering due to

From a young age, Candide had been taught by Pangloss to have an optimistic philosophy, and he kept those ideas with him throughout his life. Even when the people around him feared the worst and complained about their misfortunes, Candide kept going back to the idea that “everything is linked in a chain of necessity, and arranged for the best” (9). And by no means was he left untouched by various trials: he was flogged, penniless, driven from his home, shipwrecked, robbed, and doomed to leave his loved ones. Although these misfortunes make him question the necessity of tribulation, he nonetheless hoped for the best. Part of his optimism might stem from the fact that he was young and healthy, but it’s also because he cared about the welfare of those apart from himself. For instance, when he heard that Cunegondé was dead and Pangloss hanged, he cried, “If this is the best of all possible worlds, what must the others be like? …Mademoiselle Cunegonde…was it necessary for you to be disembowelled?” (16) Clearly, the reason he questioned the “rightness” of the world is because it took away the people he loved. His mourning for those who have died shows his tender innocence, but it also shows his selflessness. In fact, the reason he was so optimistic throughout the story was because of his longing for Cunegondé, his beloved, and his only wish was to be with her and keep her safe. In other words, he lived for something outside of himself, and that caused him to have hope.

Enlightenment philosophers wanted concrete, tangible proof to back their ideas. Pangloss, Candide’s friend and teacher, is a character that depicts the metaphysical side of the Old Regime. He is an optimist who believes that there is no effect without a cause and that everything is made for a reason and with a purpose. Voltaire portrays Pangloss as naive. Pangloss finds himself in trouble for studying and exploring the world before he becomes sure of himself and his ideas. Even after Pangloss’s troubles, he still refuses to stray from his thoughts and would rather believe his ideas than face reality. Another character that is depicted as naive and optimistic is Cacambo, Candide’s servant. Cacambo consoles Candide after his loss of Cunegonde. Cacambo claims that God takes care of all women and that they will never be at a loss. But Candide knows the sufferings that Cunegonde and the Old Woman have experienced. Cunegonde was bought, sold, and objectified throughout the novel, along with the Old Woman, who was beaten, raped, and treated with

Voltaire's Candide is a novel that is interspersed with superficial characters and conceptual ideas that are critically exaggerated and satirized. The parody offers cynical themes disguised by mockeries and witticism, and the story itself presents a distinctive outlook on life narrowed to the concept of free will as opposed to blind faith driven by desire for an optimistic outcome. The crucial contrast in the story deals with irrational ideas as taught to Candide about being optimistic by Pangloss, his cheerful mentor, versus reality as viewed by the rest of the world through the eyes of the troubled character, Martin. This raises the question of whether or not the notion of free will is valid due to Candide’s peculiar timing of his

Candide studied under Professor Pangloss, who taught him, we live in the best of all possible worlds. In the beginning, Cunégonde seeks out to have affectionate affairs with Candide. Unfortunately, they were discovered, which caused Candide to be ejected from the castle. This could symbolize the Biblical Fall. Like Eve, Cunégonde comes across the forbidden knowledge of sex and shares it with another person.

In the novel, Voltaire shows that Candide also expresses tyranny touching upon the values of power of reason and progress and potential. A specific scene on progress and potential states “He then informed the Baron that he was going to marry his sister. ‘I shall never allow her to disgrace herself so meanly,’ said the

In Candide Voltaire discusses the exploitation of the female race in the eighteenth century through the women in the novel. Cunegonde, Paquette, and the Old Woman suffer through rape and sexual exploitation regardless of wealth or political connections. These characters possess very little complexity or importance in Candide. With his characterization of Cunegonde, Paquette, and the Old Woman Voltaire satirizes gender roles and highlights the impotence of women in the 1800s.

He sees firsthand the results of violence and rape, page 6 “There several young virgins, whose bodies have been ripped open, after they had satisfied the natural necessities of the Bulgarian heroes, breathed their last….The ground about them was covered with the brains, arms, and legs of dead men”. Moreover, two of the female characters, Cunegonde and the Old Woman are also subjected to rape and servitude as a result of warfare. Most of the violence in the novel Candide is as a consequence of continuous warfare and struggle for power. On page 95, the Old Woman remarks “ I would like to know which is worst, to be ravished a hundred times by Negro pirates, to have one buttock cut off, to run the gauntlet among the Bulgarians, to be whipped and hanged at an auto-de-fe, to be dissected, to be chained to an oar in a gallery..”. All of these atrocities highlight the consequences of warfare in the 17th century, and exhibits Voltaire’s view of the world as absolutely chaotic in terms of the violence experienced by many of the characters in the novel, with so much suffering inflicted on all them that it becomes almost comical due to the frequency of their

Enlightenment thinkers wanted tangible, concrete evidence to back their arguments. Pangloss based his arguments on nothing. Voltaire portrays him as naïve, scorning him for not experiencing and studying the world before he becomes firmly planted in his ideas. Even after Pangloss experiences the evil ways of the world, he refuses to change his philosophy. Pangloss would rather preach something attractive to the ear rather than reality. Candide’s servant Cacambo also speaks of false optimism as he tries to console Candide over the loss of Cunegonde. He says that women are never at a loss and that God takes care of them. However, Cunegonde and the Old Woman both experienced brutality and suffering many times over in their lifetime. Cunegonde was bought, sold, and treated like a possession throughout the novel. She and the Old Woman were left vulnerable to molestation and treated like objects. The only hint of optimism in Voltaire’s novel is when Cacambo and Candide stumble upon the country of Eldorado. However, this optimism is quickly distinguished when the two men foolishly trade such a perfect society for jewels, gold, power, and influence. Eldorado is a country in which there is no organized religion, no courts or prisons, no poverty, and complete equality. Even the king is treated as a normal citizen. Candide overlooks the fact that this is a perfect society because of the ideals they practice, and believes that the riches are the most

In Voltaire’s Candide, we are taken by the hand through an adventure which spanned two continents, several countries, and to a multitude of adverse characters. The protagonist, Candide, became the recipient of the horrors which would be faced by any person in the 18th century. But Candide was always accompanied with fellows sufferers, two of which our focus will lay, Pangloss and Martin. In equal respects, both are embodiments of different philosophies of the time: Pangloss the proponent of Optimism and Martin the proponent of Pessimism. Each of the two travelers is never together with Candide, until the end, but both entice him to picture the world in one of their two philosophies. Throughout the story there is an apparent ebb and flow

Candide is a fictional satire of the optimism many philosophers had for life in general during the mid 1700’s written in response to Alexander Pope’s An Essay on Man. Written by Voltaire, the literary alias of Francois-Marie Arouet, the satire covers religion, the wealthy, love, why people thought natural disasters occurred and especially, philosophy. The novel even goes on to make fun of the art of literature by giving ridiculous chapter headings. Just about everything Voltaire put into Candide is designed to question and satirize real world injustices. In effect Candide is the 18th century equivalent of a modern day sitcom (Shmoop).

In each adventure of the story Candide, Candide is on the path to his own enlightenment. Enlightenment comes through one’s personal trials and tribulations. Candide is an optimistic individual, and his story explains the view of Optimistic Philosophy. But, in the end of the story Candide abandons his optimistic views to be happy with the life he has come to create for himself. There are several other themes or motifs related to this story, and I am going to touch on seven of the obvious ones.