Religious Satire in Voltaire's Candide

During Voltaires lifetime, traditional social institutions and government systems held power. Arguably the nigh esteemed of those was the Catholic Church, which was considered sacred and above the state in condition and importance. Although Voltaire was a deist, he despised the Church clergy for its corruption, impiousness, and hypocrisy. Having been sexually usage by teachers while attending a Jesuitical school, he harbored a special hatred towards the Jesuits. Yet his abhorrence of morals extended past Catholicism. Voltaire condemned Protestant clergy in more the said(prenominal) manner as Catholic priests. Furthermore, although in theory Voltaire believed in unearthly equality, he held strongly anti-Semitic views, even trade Jews fearsome 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 compl etely the Catholic Church, but excessively 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 system 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 preterm it of celibacy of respectable Church members! , contrary to their birth doctrines. Voltaire shows the sleeping around of the Catholic clergy in several other instances, such(prenominal) as 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 ar stolen by a venerable Franciscan who slept... If you want to bind a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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