As the Enlightenment continued to impact Europe and the surrounding areas, people began to think independently, which lead to women’s desires for more rights. However, in Voltaire’s Candide, the place of women in society is subjugated to the home. Likewise, they are favored for their beauty and not wit. By examining Cunégonde and the Old Woman, two minor characters in the novella, their depictions portray Voltaire’s image of the female role in Enlightenment Europe, as one were women are known and respected for their beauty and are proficient in their homemaker abilities.
Arguable, one of the most important minor character’s in the novella is Cunégonde, Candide’s love, as Candide must travel to find her, which thus constructs the narrative. When we are first introduced to Cunégonde, she is described as “rosy-cheeked, fresh, plump, and appetizing.” Voltaire begins by describing her physical attributes. This shows that women of this time were most respected for their beauty. Voltaire furthermore criticizes women for being fascinated by science and learning. He states that Cunégonde “observed breathlessly the repeated experiments performed before her eyes…And she turned back to the house all excited, all distracted, all consumed by the desire to become more instructed in science…” It is at this moment that Cunégonde and Candide get caught kissing and Candide gets thrown out of the house. Voltaire makes these connections and shows that women who indulge in the sciences make poor decision and are unable to conduct themselves in the correct manor of grace.
During this time, women were unable to enjoy the luxury of education at university, and through this example of Cunégonde, Voltaire shows what he believes will happen if women are able to be educated. At the end of the novella, Voltaire again illustrations the importance of beauty, but more importantly the role of women in society. At the end of the novella, when Candide finally reunites with Cunégonde, he sees her appearance: “ [a] swarthy complexion, bloodshot eyes, withered bosom, wrinkled cheeks, and peeling red skin…” She is no longer young and beautiful, and Candide “ha[s] no desire to marry Cunégonde.”[footnoteRef:5] Men found her worthiness in her beauty and now that she has lost that, she is no longer desirable. The text states that the sole reason Candide married her was because of “the Baron’s extreme arrogance.”
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Candide wanted to prove that he could stay true to his word of marrying Cunégonde. Despite her appearance, which is expressed multiple times in the last chapters, Cunégonde “baked excellent pastries.” Voltaire once again shows that women’s rightful place is in the home and not becoming educated. Through the minor character of Cunégonde, Voltaire expresses his belief that the value of women should be placed in their beauty and homemaking skills, rather than their wit and intelligence.
In a similar fashion, Voltaire reinforces these ideals through the character of the Old Woman. When readers first meet her, she has taken Candide into her home after he has been whipped. She takes care of him and brings him back to health. In these moments, Voltaire shows readers the place of women in society. The Old Woman has the skills to revitalize Candide. Without the Old Woman, Candide would have died, and because of her place in society as a homemaker, she can serve Candide and move forward his narrative. Through this idea of women, Voltaire reiterates to readers the role he believes woman should have – a homemaker. Similar to Cunégonde, the Old Woman was once prized for her beauty. She states that “the women who dressed and undressed [her] fell into ecstasies when they behold [her] from the front and from the rear, and any man would have desired to be in their place.”Her beauty is what characterized her and now that she is ugly, she has no ability to find a husband. Her role in the novella, as with Cunégonde is to push the male narrative forward, and both characters show how they were valued in society with their beauty and homemaking skills.
During the Enlightenment, men continued to debate the role of women in society and their rationale. The Enlightenment brought about the ideas of equality, but those ideas did not include women, instead it rested on the social hierarchy of white males. The examples of Cunégonde and the Old Woman show that women were appreciated for their beauty, and their role in society rested in their skills as a homemaker. As the Enlightenment ended and the Revolution raged, women began asking for rights, which included the ability to seek employment outside the home.
Overall, while Cunégonde, the Old Woman, and Candide have seemingly different roles and are respected for different attributes, they share the common plot of having been taken from their better, former life and being placed in situations where they must fend for themselves. While these characters share this similarity, women in the novella having minor roles and are present to assist the major, male characters in their plot progression. In Candide, Voltaire portrays women as dependent on their beauty and believes that they should stay at home and not receive education. While this may seem shocking to the modern reader, this type of suppression continued into the 19th and 20th century.
