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 men burned alive for not eating bacon, had Cunegonde locked away as a sex slave; Secondly there was Friar Giroflee who always kept a prostitute by his side. As for their hypocritical nature, they preach to all men, even slaves, that "we are all of us children of Adam-blacks as well as whites." While preaching that all men are equal in view of the church they have no moral dilemma with the enslavement and brutal treating of the men who work the fields in the New World. .
The European social structure is the cause of most of the pain endured by the people. The only location in the world that did not have these two power structures was the city of El Dorado. Nobility and organized religion were both absent here and consequently created the only society that contained a happy, content population. Ironic that civilizations native to the Americas, such as El Dorado, were all destroyed by the colonizing Europeans.