Examples Of Satire In Candide

Satire, or Misinterpretation Satire, one of writing's most incomprehensible genres. On the outside, Satire may seem to be just an overly dramatic story. However, on the inside, Satire is a profound form of social commentary that stresses societal issues through over exaggeration. One of the genre's most famous literary works is Candide by Voltaire. Many people may interpret the novel as a tale about the misadventures of a boy named Candide attempting to be with his true love, Madame Cunégonde. Yet, a closer analysis of the book indicates that the author attempts to convey his perspective on life through the novel. Since Voltaire lived at a time of religious turmoil and monarchs, such as the enlightenment and King Frederick the Great, it is

Although skeptical about religious rituals, Voltaire believed in Deism, the belief that a powerful being created the universe, but let everything else run its course. Deism during Voltaire's time period defied the status quo. Differing itself from a religion, Deism has no religious rituals and is a philosophy based on observations and rational thought ("Voltaire-Biography"). The author blatantly outlines his stance on religion in the novel. Here, the main character Candide just escaped the grasps of the wretched Bulgars and is seeking refuge, "...seeing the man who doubted that the pope was the Anti-christ, poured out on his head a chamber pot full of... 'Merciful Heaven! To what excess ladies will carry the zeal of religion"' (Voltaire 10). Since Candide does not agree with the orator's belief that the Pope is the Antichrist, the orator's wife decided to dump a bucket of waste on Candide's head. In this situation, the author employs satire by over exaggerating the intolerance religious officials have for people who do not agree with their religious beliefs. Although not as disgusting as dumping waste on people's head, the author does imply that some religious groups will do terrible deeds to get rid of anybody who disagrees with their belief. Furthermore, Voltaire disapproves religion by questioning hierarchal rankings in these organizations. In this part of the

Such affairs include Voltaire being exiled to Sully-Sur-Loire after he published a satirical poem criticizing the prince regent' daughter, the duchesse De Berry, for her gluttony and vice. Soon after Voltaire came back from being exiled, he was locked up in the Bastille, this time for making harsher criticisms towards the duchesse, comparing her sins to that of Oedipus (Davidson 15). As such, it would be to no surprise if Voltaire acts hostile towards the nobility in his novel. Here, the rhetor is setting up the scene for the novel, "The baroness, whose weight of some three hundred and fifty pounds had made her a figure of considerable importance, carried out the honors of the household..." (Voltaire 4). At the end of this statement, Voltaire intentionally makes a pun about the baroness' size. A person of a considerable figure figuratively means someone who is highly respectable; however, in this case, the author intends readers to take the same statement in a literal sense, indicating that the baroness is morbidly obese rather than respectable. He also attacks the nobility by stating how they all eat heartily while the rest of the population struggles to put food on their table. The author further mocks the nobility, implying that they are too prideful to think rationally. In chapter 29, Candide has just reunited with the love of his life, Cunégonde, "'I will