الأحد، 29 يناير 2017

Women in Candide


                        Voltaire is a French Enlightenment writer who used his writing to question, attack, challenge, and change his society because of  that he was known as an evil person. He was exiled most of his life out of France. So, he lived most of his life travelling mostly in Europe. When he went to Switzerland, he wrote the story Candide under a fake name because of what the novel discusses and challenges the optimism philosophy and women role at that time (Fraser, 2012, p172,173). Voltaire used the novel Candide to not  just to attack  the optimism philosophy and challenge their believers ,but also to highlight women’s position and their role in the society in the 18th century. He used three female  characters in his novel. Cunegonde, Paquette and the old women who reflected the social practices at that time, like what it is called as tradition marriage which is based on two families or institution arranged marriage by the head of the two families or the institution because of common political or financial benefit (Neil,  2012, p6). Also, to reflect on the cultural beliefs, women are as sex objects, their values are based on their external beauty, ignoring the value of their intellectual capacity, and what was represented in Candide’s characters as flat females with no change except in their appearance, that is why females in Candide have little complexity in the novel.


                        In the 18thcentury, Alexander Pope and Leibniz are two philosophers who were rationalists. A century which was built on god’s awareness, who knows everything, and perfect who can do nothing wrong, unlike humans who have limited knowledge and are imperfect creatures. They claimed  that the existing of suffering and pain in the world are because whatever it is happens. It happens because of the great God of the world since he is aware of it. But in case of something bad happened like the Lisbon Earthquake, it happened because of the god, and it is his plan that we are not aware of it (Fraser,  2012,p 179, 181). So, how much sufferings and pain we have faced, we have to believe that it all happened because of god which is clear on what Pope has said “Whatever is, is Right”. He also said “All partial evil , universal good” (Fraser, 2012,p182, 183). While they gave religious reasons for human being why they are being malicious toward one another, the existing of greed, cruelty, and warfare because our nature has been corrupted since the original sin which made  us  responsible for the existing of all bad things.  Also, our will that have always led us to act badly. Meanwhile for the existing of diseases, pains,  and hunger because of the cause and effect in the world. If you did something bad, something terrible will happen to you as well as the opposite (Fraser,  2012, p183, 184).On the other hand, there is Voltaire who has seen their beliefs of optimism are wrong, and  against it because it bluffs and tricks people. His philosophy is based on empirical which means he concludes and draws his philosophy from his previous experience in life. Moreover, he created Candide to carry his opinion of optimism, while making Pangloss carries Leibniz and Pope Philosophy. Dr Pangloss who invited, convinced and kept repeating, not just to the leading character, but also to the rest of the characters about optimism and how it all for the great god, while they examined it by what they were going through in the novel. The characters have examined Leibniz and Pope’s philosophy of optimism by making them go through sufferings that happened in reality like Lisbon Earthquake and the Seven Years War. He  also used Pope’s words against him and Leibniz “This is all for the best” responding to the sufferings that happen; like when he said it after the Earthquake, which clearly made fun of them. Moreover, it reflected his thoughts on optimism, and to make us re-think of optimistic philosophy. What is the best for all of them? What could be the best concluding from an Earthquake that killed thousands of people? And if God is good or bad? Is he really the one who is responsible for everything bad that have happened, and happening to us? And why god does this to us? (Fraser, 2012, p.178,179). At the end of the story, Voltaire gives us his opinion and his conclusion by Candide who concludes that, humans being can do something good in this world and not all sufferings are caused by god or neutral, but there are also a lot of sufferings that was caused by humans. Moreover, humans need to work on their garden so they can work, create, and make their own happiness. ( Nisbet, 2013, P. 179).


                        Voltaire was considered to be one of the first writers who speaks on behalf of women in the 18th century. He gives them voice to tell their own stories from their own perspective. Voltaire has discussed  the concept of women at that time when they are  being treated as sex objects, slaves to the male society. Also who have no equality, or opinions in their life through three characters Cunegonde, Paquette and the old woman. They have been through a lot in their journeys in the novel, and their development  to emphasize the unfairness treatment to women at that time. As I said before women were ranked based on their beauty leaving no space for other skills to flourish. For example ,first is Cunegonde who is in the beginning of the novel was described as “rosy- cheeked, was fresh, plump and appetizing’’ while Candide described her as “extremely beautiful” comparing it with the end when Voltaire  said that “she unaware of how ugly she had become, no one have told her” while Candide described her and said  “ her eye bloodshot, her breasts sunken, her cheeks lined , her arms red and chapped, was seized with horror announce  she is became ugly and have no intention on marring her out of  love anymore but because he made a promise to her which make clear that when her beauty gone his love for her gone as well” (Voltaire and C uffe 2006, p3,88,89) . Second is the old woman who was un-named by Voltaire even though she was once a princess, who had a high class life, but later on she had gotten a lot of sufferings by getting raped, stabbed, and sold as a slave after she was gotten bored of by her master, and described as being old and ugly (Voltaire and Cuffe 2006, p.24, 25). Lastly is Paquette who was no more than “a pretty and obedient brunette”, which suggested that they were flat characters that we do not know anything about their personalities or the way they think. Moreover, we only know their appearances in which we can make convictions of the flat characters in the novel, and the role of women in the 18th century.  Women were forced to have flat position in society, no matter of them or their family position. From the three characters that was gave in Candide, we can see that the class and values in their society, compared to men was depended on their beauty. Beauty means  everything  in the 18th century, in which women gets  married if they were beautiful and  belongs to high class, and if they do not they become a mistress to men in high position as well, or become a prostitute for a living (Voltaire and Cuffe 2006, p. 4, 88, 89).  From here I can see that Voltaire is trying to attack and send a message to his society to highlight the attitudes about the gender role of women in their society trying to stop it and to bring equality to women. Their story’s development suggested that, women can survive like how the women in Candide did. For example, Voltaire gave them the opportunity to narrate in his novel so that we can hear their voices, inequality, and the unfairness that they have been through. Also, the reader of that time fall sympathy for them, and tried to bring them their rights. (Voltaire and Cuffe  2006,p,19,25).


                        The first female in Candide’s novel is Cunegonde, a woman who have been through a lot of sufferings and terrible experiences. She watched her father getting cut by his  throat by buglers, then her mother got chopped into pieces, and she is being rapped. She was taken as a prisoner and was treated as maid, slave, and mistress. She got sold several times after her master’s got bored of her. Voltaire has pictured her as a sex object, being shared between two men (Voltaire and Cuffe 2006, p19, 20). What she went through have made a relationship connection to her name, which gave her different meanings. The first is Henry II, virtuous wife which clearly have a sexual signal.  Second is that it has some kind of a reference which is a sexual plaything (Fraser, 2012, p.185).Cunegonde’s character has  similarities and differences from fairy tales. The similarities are both have beautiful appearances, and  very desirable  to men. While the differences are by the extravagant sufferings,  and  the struggles that Cunegonde  have been through to make fun of fairy tales, and to clarify that they do not have a realistic story, and there is no such thing as living happily ever after which is an impossible thing in real life. Another difference is that Candide did not propose to her out of love, but out of pity. That is the reason that shows us that she is not a romantic heroine.  We can see how Voltaire contrasted the ideas of  optimism through Cunegonde’s sufferings. If whatever  suffering happens to the individuals it is all for the greater good. We here ask ourselves, What is the good thing that could come out of  suffering like that? At the end of the novel Cunegonde  was delivered by Candide who paid for her freedom then married her, and lived in the Garden, but it is not like any other gardens such as ‘’the Garden of Eden’’ or the garden in ‘’Thunder-ten-tronckh’’. It is in the garden that Candide and other characters had to work to achieve their own happiness. Cunegonde in this garden worked as pastry chef.


                        Second  character is Paquette as a female in the 18th century who was a maid, had no high class family nor a man to marry her. The only thing that she could ever survive with is by being a mistress to Pangloss. She got seduced by her confessor, then  left the castle.  She became a mistress to a doctor and got beaten by his jealous wife. She went to prison, and to  get out of it, and she had to become a mistress to the judge. It gave us a peak and focused our attention on how she was being without a husband at that time which was an impact on her. The most important point is that she worked as a prostitute to survive,  not by her choice, but because of the cruel world; she said to Candide “Yesterday I was beaten by an officer of the law; today I must seem in good humor to please a monk” (Voltaire and cuffe 2006, p,73).The significance of  Paquette is that she is an extreme example for all the women in the novel. We can generalize her character to  any other women to tell the reason why they are being like that, agreeing to be a mistress to men who only see them for their physical beauty no matter who they are or what is their position. Men who are  buying, selling, raping and kidnapping women.  The reason that Paquette accepted to be a prostitute even though she was disgusted, and did not want to be like that, her awareness of  the level of men and women in her society shows how much powerful she is. The reasons of the existing of the unfairness to  women at the time can be for cultural and for their traditions, boys and girls who educated them, the difference, and the possession of men and women in the society. The other reason is the education, in the 18th century women who had the chance to get some education they did  not get educated about their own rights or their value as part of the society. The third reason is that there was no laws at that time to protect women, like what we saw with Paquette (Bates, D, J 1995, p8 to 10). There is also a religious reason, like in Christianity, a person who has the highest position in church are possessed by men like pope, while sisters are taking care of the orphans, they think that women have to be obedient to God, family, husband, and society. Now I see Paquette from a new perspective, she did not do whatever she wanted, but she did what her society forced her to do, and she did what she has to do, as well as to reflect on what women have to do to survive(  (Bates, D, J 1995, p 41) At the end of the story, Paquette was  delivered  by Candide, who gave her money and then she wasted them. After that she went and lived with Candide, Cunegonde and the rest of the characters in the Garden as well. She is working as an embroidered (Voltaire and cuffe 2006, p93). So, women’s status at that century were possessed by men, either that man is their family, husband, lover, or costumer, there was no escape from that ugly truth. Until a writer like Voltaire highlights it and tries  to change it.



                        In conclusion we find that it is clear that Voltaire have approached the gender role through the characterization of Cunegonde and Paquette. It shows  how women were treated in the 18th century, from having inequality to misconduct, and what the society, and the cultural forced them to go through.







References
-Nisbet, H. B. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. 1st ed. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2013. Print.
-Fraser, R, (2012). Voltaire, Candide, or optimism in: The Renaissance and long eighteenth century. 1sted: The Open University.
-Voltaire, and Cuffe, T. (2006) Candide or Optimisim. 1st ed  London: penguin group.
-Wanddering Mind, The Position of Women in Voltire’s Candide Sakridge. Umwbloge.org , date of access 11/25/2016

-Bebrah J, Bates, B,A. , 1995 The Portrayal of Women in Selected Contes of Voltaire


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