Women in Voltaire’s Candide Essay -- Exploitation of women in Candide

In Candide Voltaire discusses the exploitation of the female race in the 18th century through the women in the novel. Cunegonde, Paquette, and the overage Woman suffer through rape and knowledgeable exploitation regardless of wealth or political connections. These characters possess precise little complexity or importance in Candide. With his characterization of Cunegonde, Paquette, and the Old Woman Voltaire satirizes gender roles and highlights the impotence of women in the 1800s.Cunegonde is the daughter of a crocked German lord. She is described as extremely beautiful (Voltaire. 5) and is repeatedly referred to as the fair Cunegonde. (39). She is the typical damsel-in-distress a woman who is completely reliant on male protection and often fainting at the sight of anything the least while distressing. She is a vapid ravisher and completely obsequious to whomever she happens to belong to at the time. However, Voltaire does not blame her foolish naivet on her femininity. C andide himself is terribly innocent and is ineffective to make decisions without the advice of a third party. In a way, Cunegonde accepts her situation in life better than Candide does. She knows that as a woman in the eighteenth century she has few options if she wishes to survive and she is not above using her beauty to her advantage. She never questions or philosophizes like many of the male characters. Her acceptance of the inner slain truth she finds herself in belies an understanding of the limited options women had at the time.Women in the 1800s had very few choices for advancement in life. They could either marry well or they could become the mistress of a powerful man or both. Cunegonde becomes the mistress of the Grand Inquisitor, a Bulgar captain, and the... ...ir first encounter and believes that she had no choice further to accept the governors offer. She states, An honorable woman may be raped once, just now it only makes her virtue stronger. (24) For her part sh e does love Candide that it is a shallow love, more akin to lust. She wants to be faithful to Candide, but only if it will support the lifestyle that she is accustomed to.The women of Voltaires Candide emphasize the exploitation of females in the 1800s. Cunegonde, Paquette, and the Old Woman are raped, forced into prostitution, and sexually exploited. Women are valued for their beauty and can only succeed if they bring in pretty face to recommend them. Women in the nineteenth century exist for the pleasure of men and are subjugated to these men.Works CitedVoltaire. Candide Or, Optimism. Trans. Peter Constantine. young Library ed. New York Random House, 2005