Voltaire's Candide As A Dystopian Novel

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A dystopian novel is a literary genre that satirically criticizes existing societies and taken for granted beliefs. The word dystopia has Greek origin and is made up of two morphemes “dys” meaning “bad” and “topia” meaning “place”. The word describes a harsh environment, namely society . The dystopian fiction presents a society which despite its antagonism, is not challenged by citizens. On the contrary, it is viewed as the best of all possible worlds. Indeed, even though individuals are constantly controlled by an oppressive political or religious ideology and dehumanized, they still abide by the imposed rules and never question them. The protagonist of the dystopian novel tries throughout the plot to question the utility and fairness of the established socio-political …show more content…

Voltaire questions people’s blind obedience and submission to religious creeds despite their fanaticism. Religious institutions, no matter their origins are depicted as corrupt and intolerant. Candide discovers first the corruption of the Catholic Church in the character of the old woman who turns to be the Pope’s daughter. Indeed, the Pope who is supposed to be the model for Christian followers and who preaches celibacy and austerity has an illegitimate daughter and lives in luxury. The old woman who took care of Candide after his flogging in Lisbon is “the daughter of Pope Urban X and the Princess of Palestrina" (42), who grew in magnificent palaces "so magnificent that all the castles of [the] German barons couldn't have served as its stable" (42).and wore dresses "worth more than all the splendor in Westphalia". It is not surprising, however, to learn that a great number of the Catholic church clergy

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