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Voltaire on Gender

Her companion, who is simply named the Old Woman, offers this advice. .
             "You have it in your power to be the wife of the greatest nobleman in South America, who has a splendid mustache. Are you in the position in which you can flaunt the luxury of unflinching loyalty? You were raped by the Bulgars; a Jew and an Inquisitor have enjoyed your favors. Misfortunes bestow certain rights. I confess that were I in your position, I would not harbor the least scruple at marrying the governor and thereby securing Captain Candide's fortune. (41) ".
             These women understand that in the 1800s they had very little power; only through men may they exert any influence. The female characters in Candide are of little importance to the action of the story. The narrator embraces a male perspective and does not endow any of the women with any interesting or redeeming qualities. The Old Woman, being ugly and world-weary does not even earn a name. Paquette is merely described as "a pretty and obedient brunette. " (5) She is pronounced obedient not because of her duties as a chambermaid, rather because she is quite willing to submit to the men in the baron's castle.   Cunegonde, Paquette, and the Old Woman are not intricate characters.
             The subject of rape is a prevalent theme in Candide. All of the female characters suffer through it on at least one occasion.  When Cunegonde describes the attack on her family's castle and her subsequent rape she states that it is "the customary way of doing things. " (23) The narrator describes another violent scene: "Girls who had been disemboweled after having sated the natural needs of some of the heroes were breathing their last. " (9) The rape of women is viewed as "natural " and the rapists are "heroes " of the story. This perspective highlights how little power women possessed at that time. The characters in Candide seem to accept the rape as an unfortunate, but common occurrence.


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