Francois Marie Arouet, later known as Voltaire, was born on November 21, 1964. Throughout his life he wrote and published 50 to 60 tragedies and comedies, including one of his most famous, Candide. Voltaire is known as one of the greatest satirist ever. Satire in the Merriam Webster Dictionary is defined as, “biting wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose vice or folly” (pg. 464). Candide is filled with satire against optimism. Although, this is a target among many others. He also satirizes religion, politics, and war. His religious satire is present throughout the entire work. I will present several examples of this mockery along with the underlying reasons for Voltaire’s sarcasm.
Religious leaders involved in sexual activity is a large part of Candide. One of the most obvious examples was when Pangloss apparently contracted a sexually transmitted disease from Paquette. She had traced the disease back to a Franciscan or a Jesuit. These men were supposed to have taken a vow of celibacy. Voltaire’s angle here with this satire was that the actions of these men were scandalous and these practices were actually quite common in their time. (Jonas) He felt that if one could not honor the vows he took then why should these people be taken seriously. They were the very men who were supposed to represent their respective churches, and instead they were making a mockery of their religion.
Another prime example was when Cunegonde provided sexual services to both the Grand Inquisitor and a Jewish man named Don Issachar in an odd time-share. Both of these men were prominent leaders in their own religions and yet they were acting out in a very non-religious manner. Not only were they breaking their vows of celibacy, but they were also involved in the prostitution of a woman. Here, Voltaire is pointing out the hypocrisy in religion. (Jonas)
Here is yet another example of religious leaders breaking their own rules. It was mentioned that “the Old Woman” was an illegitimate child of Pope Urban X. This man was never actually a Pope, but what it was that Voltaire was implying still has the same effect. The Pope is possibly the man with the most religious influence over the world, and he himself has consciously violated everything he stands for. Popes are not allowed to be married, let alone father a child. (Delumeau, pg. 204)
The Lisbon earthquakes, which are historically factual, illustrates satire towards the Catholic church. The earthquakes were a devastating catastrophe and the Catholic church’s response was auto-de-fe. These “acts of faith” were the hanging of several innocent people with the belief that it would prevent more earthquakes. On the exact same day another earthquake occurred. (Jonas) So, innocent people were killed unnecessarily because of a superstitious belief of the church.
When Candide and Cacambo discover a beaten African man, they learn that he was the servant of a religious man. The African man was told “every Sunday that we are all sons of Adam, black and white”. (Voltaire, pg. 552) Voltaire points of the satire in this by replying with, “I am no genealogist; but if these preachers are right, and we must all be remote cousins, and you must admit no one could treat his own flesh and blood in a more horrible fashion.” (Voltaire, pg. 552) He points out that the preachers of his time had no problem giving a powerful sermon one minute, and then turning around and violating every word that had come out of his mouth the next.
Voltaire also used satire in Candide to attack the persecution and hatred towards Anabaptists during the eighteenth century because of their radical religious beliefs. When Candide was in Holland he found himself with no work or food. This was a Christian place so he asked one of the Protestant citizens for some bread. The Protestant told him, “You don’t deserve to eat” go you scoundrel, you wretch, never come near me again!” (Voltaire, pg. 524) The man’s wife also dumped a bucket of waste on Candide’s head. An Anabaptist, named Jacques, witnessed this scene and in turn invited him to his own home. He served Candide bread and beer and also gave him some money. Later on in the story the Anabaptist saw a sailor fall into the ocean and quickly helped him back to the ship. In the course of this heroic scenario Jacques was thrown into the ocean and the sailor let him die without even looking at him. The Anabaptist’s kindness resulted in his death. (Jonas) This man was hated by all of society because of his religious beliefs, yet he was kind to others.
No one knows for sure what motivated Voltaire to attack religion in this way. One reason may have been his Jesuit education. From the age of 10 until 17 he was enrolled in The Jesuit College of Louis Le-Grande. While he was receiving this Christian education, he gradually began to reject these Christian views. Another reason could have been when he was forced to move from Paris to Holland and fell in love with a Protestant woman. His father did not agree with her religious beliefs and forced Voltaire to return home to Paris. This greatly upset him and could have given him the emotions necessary to satirize religion. (Thompson) I suppose we will never know for sure what led to his hatred of organized religion.
Some say that he mocked religion because he believed that religious organizations, especially the Catholic Church, were corrupt. He felt that these organized religions were useless and designed to control people. The church leaders liked to be in control of the members, while at the same time benefiting monetarily from them. In Candide he showed how much better a religion could be without a specific leader. Eldorado was the perfect place to live. There was not a thing wrong and everyone was happy. Religion was still a big part of the people’s lives. The only difference was their religion had no bishops, priests, or monks to control the people. This was a town of complete equality in everything. (Weitz, pg. 16)
Voltaire himself was active in a specific religion. It was Deism. Deism is an eighteenth century belief that God made the universe, but then left it to run on its own. Voltaire himself thought that one could not prove the existence of God. He thought that the order and harmony of the universe strongly suggested that it had been created by a supreme intelligence. Voltaire held on to these beliefs for almost 60 years. (Thompson) He felt that his religion was supremely superior to others, because he included no attack against Deism in his work.
As one can see Voltaire filled his novel, Candide, with attacks and criticisms on religion. His satire is shown in many different examples throughout the novel. He attacked religious prejudices by showing an example in which they falsely judged people, he attacked the corruption of the clergy by writing about the daughter of a wealthy pope, and he attacked the complexity of religion by showing the benefits of a simpler religion in Eldorado. In all reality his satire isn’t necessarily only about the faults in religious belief, but also on the corrupt governing body of religion and the nobility that corrupts it.
