Voltaire satirizes structured religion by means of a series of crooked, hypocritical religious leaders, who appear throughout the novel. The reader encounters the daughter of a Pope, a man who as a Catholic priest should have been celibate; a hard-line Catholic Inquisitor who hypocritically keeps a mistress; and a Franciscan friar who operates as a jewel thief, despite the vow of poverty taken by members of the Franciscan order. Finally, Voltaire introduces a Jesuit colonel with marked homosexual tendencies. Religious leaders in the novel also carry out inhumane campaigns of religious oppression against those who disagree with them on even the smallest of theological matters. For example, the Inquisition persecutes Pangloss for expressing his ideas and Candide for merely listening to them. .
Another injustice Voltaire discusses is negative aspects of class separation. In his early childhood Candide is troubled by not being born a privileged noble. Voltaire citing that “He decided that the height of good fortune was to have been born Baron Thunder-ten-Tronckh”, showing Candide”s aspirations to become socially elevated (20). The most prominent example of social classes is the relationship between Candide and Cunegonde; throughout the book Candide is chastised for loving Cunegonde. The reaction of Cunegonde’s brother, when Candide suggests marriage, is that of offense and a feeling that the union of the two would be a wrong. The young Baron scolding, “you have the impudence to think of marrying my sister, who has seventy-two quarterings in her coat of arms, and you dare to talk to me of such a hot headed notion” (67). A belief of this kind would be very common among the higher class, as marriage to a person of a lower status would be considered inappropriate. This statement shows the common view of superiority among the upper class society in eighteenth century Europe.
Candide also shows the corruption of money in the novel. When Candide acquires a fortune in Eldorado, it looks as if the worst of his problems might be over. Arrest and bodily injury are no longer threats, since he can bribe his way out of most situations. Candide is unhappy as a wealthy man, the experience of watching his money trickle away into the hands of dishonest merchants and officials tests his optimism in a way that no amount of flogging could. In fact, Candide’s optimism seems to hit an all-time low after Vanderdendur cheats him; it is at this point that he chooses to make the pessimist Martin his traveling companion. Candide’s money constantly attracts false friends. Count Pococurante’s money drives him to such world-weary boredom that he cannot appreciate great art. The cash gift that Candide gives Brother Giroflee and Paquettee drives them quickly to “the last stages of misery.” As terrible as the oppression and poverty that plague the poor and powerless may be, it is clear that money—and the power that goes with it—creates at least as many problems as it solves, Voltaire wrote.
Candide also discusses of sexual exploitation of women. The three main female characters: Cunégonde, the old woman, and Paquette—are all raped, forced into sexual slavery, or both. Both the narrator’s and the characters’ attitudes toward these events are strikingly casual and nonimportant. Voltaire uses these women’s stories to demonstrate the special dangers to which only women are vulnerable. Candide’s chivalric devotion to Cunégonde, whom he wrongly perceives as a paragon of female virtue, is based on willful blindness to the real situation of women. The male characters in the novel value sexual chastity in women but make it impossible for women to maintain such chastity, exposing hypocrisy in the book.
Candide is written the form of satirical mockery, to the optimism of Leibniz. "Everything is for the best in the best of worlds..." said the optimists. In Candide, both optimism and pessimism are personified and explored in the characters of the book. At the time Candide was written, Voltaire clearly had already lived a long, full life with many experiences to draw discernment from. What he witnessed and experienced in his life contradicted the philosophy and absolute certainty of the optimists; or at least, it proved to him that the optimists were only half-correct. The duality of man, and of all the things in this world for that matter, was evident to him.
The basis of Candide is based on a young and naive character’s experiences in a harsh, rude, and cruel world. In nearly every instance, Candide's observations and experiences show him that mankind is evil. Accompanying these experiences are characters that represent optimism, which is personified by the character Pangloss; and pessimism is represented by the character Martin, who believes that man, "...is born to live either in convulsions of distress or the lethargy of boredom." Voltaire accepted neither Martin's pessimism nor Pangloss's optimism at face value. Each perspective is explored and valued equally, allowing the reader to decide for themselves through insightful consideration of the qualities of both views.
