Women vs. Men When a person does something wrong, they are often shamed upon by others. It ruins their reputation no matter what their gender is; however, in the 1700’s women are viewed differently than men when one or a few mistakes are made. So what makes women appear flawed while men seem to be better beyond the faults they make in their lifetime during this time period? Within the satire novel “Candide or Optimism”, Voltaire makes the men seem more ideal. By doing this, he is making the women physically weak, full of vanity, insignificant, and unfaithful.
First, Voltaire makes a female character physically weak while making not one, but two male characters strong. The female character being Cunegonde, tells her story of how she is horribly assaulted but can’t fight off the man who does it. Cunegonde claims while being raped she “screamed and scratched, bit and fought, tried to tear the eyes out of that big Bulgar” and a “Bulgar captain appears and kills him” (Voltaire 434). This shows how Cunegonde fails as protecting herself no matter how hard she tries and also needs help keeping someone from harming or attempting to kill her. This shows her as mentally strong, but not physically. Even though the brute rapes and …show more content…
Although the Marquise seduces Candide, he admits to cheating on Cunegonde by feeling “some remorse at having being unfaithful to Miss Cunegonde” (Voltaire 465). Cunegonde does also admit to not being faithful by saying she “would belong to the both of them as joint tenants; the Jew would get Mondays, Wednesdays, and the Sabbath, the inquisitor would get the other days of the week” (Voltaire 435). Even though the both of them are unfaithful, Candide keeps his promise of marrying Cunegonde while her looks and attitude turn foul by the minute. This makes him look better because while he moves past of her cheating, it seems she is possibly bickering each day to him about his
First, Voltaire makes a female character physically weak while making not one, but two male characters strong. The female character being Cunegonde, tells her story of how she is horribly assaulted but can’t fight off the man who does it. Cunegonde claims while being raped she “screamed and scratched, bit and fought, tried to tear the eyes out of that big Bulgar” and a “Bulgar captain appears and kills him” (Voltaire 434). This shows how Cunegonde fails as protecting herself no matter how hard she tries and also needs help keeping someone from harming or attempting to kill her. This shows her as mentally strong, but not physically. Even though the brute rapes and …show more content…
Although the Marquise seduces Candide, he admits to cheating on Cunegonde by feeling “some remorse at having being unfaithful to Miss Cunegonde” (Voltaire 465). Cunegonde does also admit to not being faithful by saying she “would belong to the both of them as joint tenants; the Jew would get Mondays, Wednesdays, and the Sabbath, the inquisitor would get the other days of the week” (Voltaire 435). Even though the both of them are unfaithful, Candide keeps his promise of marrying Cunegonde while her looks and attitude turn foul by the minute. This makes him look better because while he moves past of her cheating, it seems she is possibly bickering each day to him about his