François-Marie Arouet, whose pen name is Voltaire, quickly became known for his sarcasm, wit, and outspokenness. Voltaire wrote slanderous poems about the French regent and the duke of Orleans thus landing him in prison in Bastille. To avoid imprisonment for a second time, Voltaire chose to flee to England. There he devoutly studied English society and was particularly impressed by their constitutional monarchy and their religious freedom. In 1755 the Earthquake of Lisbon struck. In 1756, the devastating Seven Years War began. Influenced by these catastrophic events, Voltaire came to reject the ideas of German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. One prominent concept of Leibniz’s was that of Theodicy, which attempts to answer the question
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Throughout Candide’s endeavors we meet multiple corrupt religious leaders. For example, an orator tells Candide that he deserves to die because he does not know whether the Pope is the Antichrist. However, Candide had just heard the insincere man giving a speech on the subject of charity: “He next addressed himself to a person who was just come from haranguing a numerous assembly for a whole hour on the subject of charity… Thou deserves not to eat or to drink… wretch, monster that you are! Away with you! Out of my sight, never come near me again as long as you live” (Voltaire 18). Cunégonde is also taken as a Catholic Inquisitor’s mistress. The Inquisitor killed the man who originally owned Cunégonde and hung two Jews and an honest man at the same time: “My Lord Inquisitor chose to celebrate an auto-da-fé… I was dreadfully shocked at the burning of the two Jews and the honest Biscayner who married his godmother” (Voltaire 34). Then, a Friar, who is supposed to resist earthly wealth, is suspected of stealing: “I have a shrewd suspicion of a reverend Father Cordelier, who shared the same inn with us last night at Badajoz. God forbid I should condemn any one wrongfully, but he came into our room twice, and he set off in the morning long before us” (Voltaire 38). At that same inn, a Benedictine Friar bought their horse, he is another religious man who has disobeyed his vows. Cunégonde’s brother, who is a Jesuit priest, has homosexual tendencies: “I became still more so, and the reverend father Croust, superior of that house, took a great fancy to me” (Voltaire 59). Furthermore, an Inquisitor hangs Pangloss for his teachings and persecutes Candide for listening to them. The most absurd example of this type of hypocrisy is that the Pope has a daughter despite his vows of celibacy: “You must know that I am the daughter of Pope Urban X…” (Voltaire 41). The hypocritical leaders advance
Throughout Candide’s endeavors we meet multiple corrupt religious leaders. For example, an orator tells Candide that he deserves to die because he does not know whether the Pope is the Antichrist. However, Candide had just heard the insincere man giving a speech on the subject of charity: “He next addressed himself to a person who was just come from haranguing a numerous assembly for a whole hour on the subject of charity… Thou deserves not to eat or to drink… wretch, monster that you are! Away with you! Out of my sight, never come near me again as long as you live” (Voltaire 18). Cunégonde is also taken as a Catholic Inquisitor’s mistress. The Inquisitor killed the man who originally owned Cunégonde and hung two Jews and an honest man at the same time: “My Lord Inquisitor chose to celebrate an auto-da-fé… I was dreadfully shocked at the burning of the two Jews and the honest Biscayner who married his godmother” (Voltaire 34). Then, a Friar, who is supposed to resist earthly wealth, is suspected of stealing: “I have a shrewd suspicion of a reverend Father Cordelier, who shared the same inn with us last night at Badajoz. God forbid I should condemn any one wrongfully, but he came into our room twice, and he set off in the morning long before us” (Voltaire 38). At that same inn, a Benedictine Friar bought their horse, he is another religious man who has disobeyed his vows. Cunégonde’s brother, who is a Jesuit priest, has homosexual tendencies: “I became still more so, and the reverend father Croust, superior of that house, took a great fancy to me” (Voltaire 59). Furthermore, an Inquisitor hangs Pangloss for his teachings and persecutes Candide for listening to them. The most absurd example of this type of hypocrisy is that the Pope has a daughter despite his vows of celibacy: “You must know that I am the daughter of Pope Urban X…” (Voltaire 41). The hypocritical leaders advance