Theme Of Humanitarianism In Voltaire's Candide

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.

In Voltaires?s Candide, the main character, Candide, fails to live happily because he is looking outside of himself and his circumstances to do it. Voltaire says through Candide's ultimate discovery that happiness in many ways depends on a person's attitude. Voltaire's philosophy expressed through Candide's final realization is that "We must cultivate our garden," which is the key to happiness(p.585). By cultivating our garden, Voltaire means that we must make the best of our situation in the present moment. We accept what we are given in life and work to make the best of it. It all has to do with our perspective on life. We do not find happiness somewhere else or by philosophizing about it, we open our eyes to the

Voltaire’s Candide portrays an exaggerated image of human cruelty and suffering in the world. Specifically, Voltaire criticizes people’s lack of willingness to prevent suffering, and their tendency to accept the idea that there is nothing anyone can do about human outcomes. He upholds his belief that practical ways of solving problems generate improvement. He believes that human indifference and inaction cause suffering to carry on. Voltaire’s believes that naïve optimism, absolute pessimism, cruel indifference, and lack of reason hinder positive and constructive change.

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

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

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

Another scene of Candide claiming tyranny being manifested is when “they put me in prison instead. My innocence would not have saved me, If I not been moderately pretty. The judge released me on condition that he succeeded the doctor, But I was soon supplanted by a rival and dismissed without a penny in my pocket. That’s how I have been forced to continue in this detestable way of life.” (115) As Pangloss young, old mistress, Paquette was taken under a surgeon’s wing and cured her disease after it was acquired initially by Pangloss, but as time progressed, the surgeon’s wife was abusive and then poisoned by her own husband, so he then left them both and Paquette was then soon sent to prison and acquired by a judge that took advantage of her. Under certain conditions of her “freedom” was the simple fact that she was his mistress but he soon dismissed her while leaving with her money.

These women understand that in the 1800s they had very little power; only through men may they exert any influence. The female characters in Candide are of little importance to the action of the story. The narrator embraces a male perspective and does not endow any of the women with any interesting or redeeming qualities. The Old Woman, being ugly and world-weary does not even earn a name. Paquette is merely described as “a pretty and obedient brunette.” (5) She is pronounced obedient not because of her duties as a chambermaid, rather because she is quite willing to submit to the men in the baron’s castle. Cunegonde, Paquette, and the Old Woman are not intricate characters.

While most of society define heroism as a person who saves lives, people with heroism show bravery and opposition to society or its laws. In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Antigone, King Creon defies his society’s laws for his own self pride while in Voltaire’s novel Candide, a young boy breaks his uncle’s rule to fulfill his desires. Both characters challenge their society’s laws and take a stand against the flawed principles; however, should people consider Creon and Candide as heroes? Individuals do not have an obligation to challenge laws due to the fact that it leads to multiple deaths and the suffering of themselves or of others.

Francois-Marie Arouet, better known by his pen name “Voltaire”, once said “Nothing is more dangerous than ignorance and intolerance armed with power”. This quote criticizes the government and the Catholic Church - two institutions known for their lack of tolerance, respect, and value of the common person’s life. Voltaire was a French author, historian, and philosopher who was active during the age of enlightenment in the 18th century. It was a time characterized by the discussion of four new values: Humanitarianism, ending suffering; Progress, furthering society; Rationality, using logic and reason to improve the world; and Freedom of Thought, challenging traditional authority, blind obedience, and superstition. Voltaire is known for

On November 21, 1694, Francois-Marie Arouet, otherwise known as Voltaire, was born in Paris. The youngest of five, son to Francois and Marie Arouet, Voltaire grew

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

But still, he is optimistic about the world. Without Cunegonde, I believe, that Candide would not so readily accept Optimism. His love for her is so strong that it renders Candide naïve to the world’s horrors.

     “Everything happens for the best, in this the best of all possible worlds.” This is a statement that can be found many times within Voltaire’s Candide. Voltaire rejected Lebitizian Optimism, using Candide as a means for satirizing what was wrong with the world, and showing that, in reality, this is not the best of all possible worlds.