Analyse the way women are treated in Candide. Are gender roles an Essay

Analyse the way women are treated in Candide. Are gender roles an object of satire for Volataire, and if so, what problems andor solutions did he identify - Essay Example Cunegonde is the female protagonist of the novel and she is described as "aged seventeen, was rosy-cheeked, fresh, plump and tempting", in the beginning of the novel. This itself sets pace for and acts as a revelation of Voltaire's satirical take on the mere 'objectification' of women. Further, Candide falls in love with her, owing to her good looks. For this, he is banished from the house of the Baron. Later, Cunegonde falls prey to the exploitation of Bulgar soldiers. As the novel progresses, we find that Cunegonde is constantly being shipped to Constantinople or is made a slave and exploited. The author recurrently brings to our notice that men were a superior clan, while women were merely their counterparts, who had no prominent role or more meaning to their lives apart from succumbing to the carnal desires of the superior males. This gender pattern was a great source of ridicule for many authors and Voltaire certainly does highlight this societal pattern and ridicules it in his satirical novel. In the process of satirising the objectification of women, Voltaire does come to a conclusion regarding the same. He puts forth two exemplary characters; that of Candide and Cunegonde.