Candide

Candide The novel Candide by Voltaire is a criticism of the European way of life. Everything from the noblemen who rule over the population to the church which holds influence over the noblemen are shown to be corrupt, hypocritical and arrogant. The first example of the nobilities’ arrogance is the reason that Candide is an illegitimate child. His father has only 71 quarterings to his name and is therefore not of pure enough blood to wed Candide’s mother who has proof of 72 quarterings. The great Baron of Westphalia whose “castle had not only a gate, but windows” was the wealthy only in comparison to the peasants of the impoverished town. The church is a most influential body in Europe at this time and is perhaps the most corrupted as well. Of all the characters in the book, those that have pledged their life to the church and its teachings are perhaps the most promiscuous. First there was the Inquisitor in Spain, who had two candide, men, church, world, two, quarterings, population, perhaps, over, noblemen, life, hypocritical, first, european, el, dorado, work, windows, whose, whites, while, westphalia, wed, wealthy, way, voltaire, view, treating, town, time, therefore, teachings, structures, structure