Candide · Theme
Critique of Religious Hypocrisy
How Candide develops Critique of Religious Hypocrisy.
Voltaire satirizes organized religion through corrupt clergy, the Inquisition's autos-da-fé, the hypocrisy of friars and Jesuits, and the gap between religious doctrine and the cruelty or greed of its practitioners.
Where it surfaces
- How Candide Made His Escape from the Bulgarians, and What Afterwards Became of Him
The orator who preaches charity refuses to help Candide and his wife pours excrement on him, while the Anabaptist James shows true Christian kindness.
- IV: How Candide Found His Old Master Pangloss, and What Happened to Them
Pangloss traces his syphilis to a Grey Friar, a Jesuit, and other religious figures, satirizing the moral failings of the clergy.
- How the Portuguese Made a Beautiful Auto-Da-Fé, to Prevent Any Further Earthquakes; and How Candide Was Publicly Whipped
The auto-da-fé is portrayed as a cruel and absurd ritual meant to prevent earthquakes, highlighting the hypocrisy and irrationality of religious authorities.
- VIII: The History of Cunégonde
The Grand Inquisitor, a religious authority, engages in a sordid arrangement with a Jew and uses the auto-da-fé for personal intimidation.
- IX: What Became of Cunégonde, Candide, the Grand Inquisitor, and the Jew
The Grand Inquisitor, a religious authority, is killed while visiting his mistress, and his body is given a dignified burial while the Jew's is thrown on a dunghill.
- XI: History of the Old Woman
The knights of Malta and the pirates' religious rituals are depicted as hypocritical and brutal, mocking organized religion.
- XII: The Adventures of the Old Woman Continued
The Iman's sermon justifying cannibalism and the Old Woman's identity as a Pope's daughter highlight the corruption and absurdity within religious institutions.
- XIV: How Candide and Cacambo Were Received by the Jesuits of Paraguay
The Jesuit Commandant, a religious figure, lives in luxury while the indigenous people eat from wooden dishes, highlighting hypocrisy.
- XVI: Adventures of the Two Travellers, with Two Girls, Two Monkeys, and the Savages Called Oreillons
The Oreillons' hatred of Jesuits and Candide's mistaken identity as a Jesuit underscore the hypocrisy and violence associated with religious orders.
- XVIII: What They Saw in the Country of El Dorado
El Dorado has no monks, no religious disputes, and no persecution, contrasting sharply with the religious intolerance and hypocrisy seen elsewhere in the novel.
- Of Paquette and Friar Giroflée
Friar Giroflée, a Theatin, admits his hatred for the convent and his dissolute life, exposing the hypocrisy of religious vows.
- Chapter XXVIII: What Happened to Candide, Cunégonde, Pangloss, Martin, etc.
The Baron is condemned for a trivial act of bathing, and Pangloss is punished for picking up a bouquet in a mosque, exposing the absurd and hypocritical severity of religious laws.
- Endnotes
Endnotes discuss the Inquisition's auto-da-fé, the rejection of bacon as a sign of Judaism, and the treatment of actors as excommunicated persons.
