Lily Sleichter
Professor Edward J. Gallagher
FYS: Tales from France
November 30th, 2014 Rape and Sexual Exploitation in Candide
In Candide by Voltaire one reoccurring theme is the theme of rape and sexual exploitation, the three main characters were victims of this, Cunégonde, the old woman, and Paquette were are all raped or forced into sexual slavery or both. They way women are treated is terribly and in that time women were viewed as objects to be played with and owned. The three main women go through terrible conditions and are treated very badly by the men that own them. In Voltaire’s time women only had to options they could either marry well or they could become the mistress of a powerful man. They had no other choice but to pick one of those. Cunégonde, one of the main characters is the daughter of a German baron who is one of Candide’s supporters, she is young and beautiful. Candide falls in love with her and spends much of the book wanting to get back to her. One day she is talking to Candide and explains that the Bulgars killed her family, and a…show more content… In this book the raping of women is viewed as something that is natural and the rapists are heroes in the story in a way. They don’t seem to be punished for doing it. This just shows how woman had basically no power compared to men. It also shows how the women kind of just accepted rape and that it was unfortunate but that it was an every day thing. In Paquette’s case the way she was the most affected by what happened to her because it ruined her entire life and she had to be a prostitute which she can only do for so many years because everyone is so obsessed with the idea of beauty so once she gets to a certain age she will no longer be able to do that so she will be poor. These three women were the women who stood out the most because of their