Hypocrisy In Candide
Scrutinizing Candide in context of the larger scope of Western thoughts and movements, the book is no doubted very critical of many different social institutions of the time. Yet, while criticizing many of these aspects including the class system, religion, and the hated monarchy in France; Candide still has bias and “unenlightened” thoughts that the revolutionary movement in France was ultimately based on. Although the philosophers wanted to work through conventional forms, including the monarch and even the church, by doing so they were in fact not revolutionary in their beliefs because they did not attempt to go outside of the system of tyranny and oppression to obtain their new ideas. While in Candide there are many different scathing
…show more content…
Look at for example, the inhumanity and duplicity of the clergy, and most particularly the Inquisitor in hanging and executing his fellow citizens over mere philosophical differences. Moreover, he then orders the flogging on Candide for merely listening with an air of approval and therefore in some way proving himself implicit and blasphemy. The Church officials in Candide are portrayed as being some of the most sinful of all citizens. They are engaging in homosexual affairs, having mistresses and stealing jewels. Indeed, possibly the most outrageous example of hypocrisy in the Church is the face that the Pope has sworn celibacy and yet, has a daughter. In these situations, Voltaire is poking fun at the Church and its behavior and comes up with several of these ironic and satirical situations in the novel, there is definitely an element of high comedy about such actions and one can get the sense that philosophers, like Voltaire, were merely working through the system that they appeared to detest instead of working against it in a more proactive way. The theme of actual revolutionary action or words versus static speculation is yet another theme that is rampant throughout the novel and is seen not only in Candide’s satirical accounts of the Church hypocrisy, but directly of philosophy as
Look at for example, the inhumanity and duplicity of the clergy, and most particularly the Inquisitor in hanging and executing his fellow citizens over mere philosophical differences. Moreover, he then orders the flogging on Candide for merely listening with an air of approval and therefore in some way proving himself implicit and blasphemy. The Church officials in Candide are portrayed as being some of the most sinful of all citizens. They are engaging in homosexual affairs, having mistresses and stealing jewels. Indeed, possibly the most outrageous example of hypocrisy in the Church is the face that the Pope has sworn celibacy and yet, has a daughter. In these situations, Voltaire is poking fun at the Church and its behavior and comes up with several of these ironic and satirical situations in the novel, there is definitely an element of high comedy about such actions and one can get the sense that philosophers, like Voltaire, were merely working through the system that they appeared to detest instead of working against it in a more proactive way. The theme of actual revolutionary action or words versus static speculation is yet another theme that is rampant throughout the novel and is seen not only in Candide’s satirical accounts of the Church hypocrisy, but directly of philosophy as