James Brown was correct when he sang “this is a man’s world.” François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire), in his 1759 story Candide or Optimism (Candide), uses the different gender’s experiences to explore the importance of class and gender in order to survive in the harsh society. The emphasis on the destructive situations of the characters in the story can help one understand the difference in the gender roles.
Candide shows that women are used only for beauty, sexual desires, entertainment for higher nobility, forced to use their beauty as a survival mechanism, and treated as a meal...literally. The women of Candide barely had a chance at survival. This reason alone is why they were treated poorly and thrown around like a used up ragged doll. Miss Monime, a very well-respected beautiful actress, was considered a queen in the acting world while she was still alive. When she died she was thrown out like she lived on the streets her whole life. Even if a woman does defy society and make a living on her own without a man “they are respected while still attractive, and thrown on the dunghill when they are dead” (Voltaire 416). Candide came upon a group of girls that were treated as sex slaves by “heroes” (Voltaire 423). The Bulgars “disemboweled girls, who had first satisfied the natural needs of various heroes” and then killed them (Voltaire 428). The maidservant, Paquette, was required to do as the higher nobility told her to. She was forced to sleep with many men that made her obtain a disease that she “received the
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The women were forced to become complacent in a society of male domination. The men were able to run the show and treat life as if it was invaluable. Regardless of the difference in genders, they both had a mentality based on survival. Voltaire’s unique use of genders allows one to better understand the role that each male and female had in this harsh