Religious Satire in Voltaire's Candide

During Voltaires lifetime, traditional social institutions and government systems held power. Arguably the close to honored of those was the Catholic Church, which was considered sacred and above the state in subordination and importance. Although Voltaire was a deist, he despised the Church clergy for its corruption, impiousness, and hypocrisy. Having been sexually use by teachers while attending a Jesuitic school, he harbored a special hatred towards the Jesuits. Yet his abhorrence of ethics extended past Catholicism. Voltaire condemned Protestant clergy in a lot the said(prenominal) course as Catholic priests. Furthermore, although in theory Voltaire believed in unearthly equality, he held strongly anti-Semitic views, even trade Jews dire in his Dictionary of Philosophy. Muslim clerics were described in much the same way. Clearly, Voltaire hated all religious institutions and customs. In his most satirical and important work, Candide, he incessantly mocks not moreo ver the Catholic Church, but withal Protestants, Jews, and Muslims. Voltaires sharpest criticism was order at the Catholic Church. His relationship with the Church was one of constant ill will (Candide, Religion, pg. 13), and in Candide, he attacks all aspects of its social social organization and doctrines. When Pangloss explains how he contracted syphilis, he states that Paquette received this drink from a very learned Franciscan monk...who owed it to a marquise...

who caught it from a Jesuit (Candide, Chapter 4, pg. 48). This passage, apart from being a parody of script genealogies, illustrates the deficien cy of celibacy of respectable Church members! , contrary to their birth doctrines. Voltaire shows the promiscuousness of the Catholic clergy in several other instances, such(prenominal) as through and through the Grand Inquisitor who hypocritically has a mistress, Cunegonde. The author also introduces the daughter of a Pope, who fails to help her place of her hardships. In Chapter Ten, Cunegondes jewels argon stolen by a venerable Franciscan who slept... If you want to learn a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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