Voltaire's Candide: Satire On Religion
Candide satire on religion paper
James Li
April 11th Monday
In Candide, Voltaire satirizes the hypocrisy of morally corrupt religious officials who do not adhere to their religious standards. When the protagonist Candide approached an orator who was preaching charity, Candide was asked if he believed the “Pope to be Anti-Christ” (pg.9). However when Candide showed indifference to the question, the orator became furious and refused to offer him a meal. This shows how ironic that charity actually was, since agreeing with the orator was the requisite. Later on when Candide’s teacher Pangloss is consoling the victims of the Lisbon earthquake using his philosophy, an agent of the inquisition sentences Pangloss and Candide to an auto-da-fé where …show more content…
Showing the corruption of this religious sect that kills and brands anyone who does not agree with their religion. When Candide is reunited with his beloved Cunegonde, she tells him of how she was held as an unwilling mistress to Don Issachar and the Grand Inquisitor, two men of supposed religious devotion. The two religious men having Cunegonde as their mistress conflicts with their religion. Later when on ship, Cunegonde realises her diamonds had been stolen, the old woman suspects “it was that reverend Franciscan who slept in the same inn as us last night” (pg.23). A Franciscan friar stealing would conflict with the vow of poverty Franciscans undertake. The old woman reveals that she is the “daughter of Pope Urban X”, evidently showing that the father defied his requirement of celibacy (pg.25). The old woman also reveals that she, her mother and their chambermaids were subjected to a humiliating and intrusive inspection by supposedly “religious gentlemen the Knights of Malta”. An immoral act that would not be expected from religious gentlemen. These women were sold to Morocco and on their journey were attacked by pirates. The “Italian maids and [her] mother cut to
In Candide, Voltaire satirizes the hypocrisy of morally corrupt religious officials who do not adhere to their religious standards. When the protagonist Candide approached an orator who was preaching charity, Candide was asked if he believed the “Pope to be Anti-Christ” (pg.9). However when Candide showed indifference to the question, the orator became furious and refused to offer him a meal. This shows how ironic that charity actually was, since agreeing with the orator was the requisite. Later on when Candide’s teacher Pangloss is consoling the victims of the Lisbon earthquake using his philosophy, an agent of the inquisition sentences Pangloss and Candide to an auto-da-fé where …show more content…
Showing the corruption of this religious sect that kills and brands anyone who does not agree with their religion. When Candide is reunited with his beloved Cunegonde, she tells him of how she was held as an unwilling mistress to Don Issachar and the Grand Inquisitor, two men of supposed religious devotion. The two religious men having Cunegonde as their mistress conflicts with their religion. Later when on ship, Cunegonde realises her diamonds had been stolen, the old woman suspects “it was that reverend Franciscan who slept in the same inn as us last night” (pg.23). A Franciscan friar stealing would conflict with the vow of poverty Franciscans undertake. The old woman reveals that she is the “daughter of Pope Urban X”, evidently showing that the father defied his requirement of celibacy (pg.25). The old woman also reveals that she, her mother and their chambermaids were subjected to a humiliating and intrusive inspection by supposedly “religious gentlemen the Knights of Malta”. An immoral act that would not be expected from religious gentlemen. These women were sold to Morocco and on their journey were attacked by pirates. The “Italian maids and [her] mother cut to